JOLIET, Ill. --- Mike Uremovich is climbing the ladder.

The seven-year head coach of the University of St. Francis met with school officials Friday afternoon to inform them that he has accepted a position as the special teams coordinator at NCAA I Northern Illinois University.  He made the announcement to his team a few hours later. 

"It has always been a dream of mine to go back to NIU and I am thankful to (NIU head coach) Dave Doeren for this opportunity," said Uremovich, who served as a graduate assistant coach in the Huskies program in both 2001 and 2002.  "Dave is a great coach, runs a great program from top to bottom and has a tremendous staff."

Uremovich begins his new job on Wednesday.

 "I can't say that this came as a surprise," said USF director of athletics Dave Laketa.  "It did in the sense that it came (Friday), but I knew that Mike was going to walk in my office sooner rather than later.  He was too good of a coach not to have opportunities at bigger schools."

"Just as I was excited to hire him as our coach seven years ago, I am equally excited for him, his wife Katie and his three children now.  What a great opportunity for them, while still being able to be close to their families."

Uremovich took over the Saints' program in 2005 at the age of just 28 years old, becoming only its third head coach.

Seven years later, Uremovich guided the Saints to their most successful season in the 26-year history of the program.  Not only did USF win a school-record 10 games, including its first-ever victory over an NCAA I  Football Championship Series (FCS) team in Georgia State University, but the Saints also advanced to the NAIA FCS for the first time since the program's second season.  There, the Saints captured their first-ever playoff victory – a 21-17 win over No. 6-ranked Morningside College  (Iowa) – before falling to No. 1 Marian University (Ind.), 49-7, in the quarterfinal round.

USF also earned its first conference title in 2011 sharing Mid-States Football Association – Midwest League honors with Grand View University (Iowa).

A program that had won just four games over a three-year span prior to his arrival, Uremovich opened his first season at USF with two straight victories.  However, it was his fourth season where the real turnaround began.  That year – 2008 – Uremovich led the Saints to a 7-4 record, the school's first winning season since St. Francis coaching legend Gordie Gillespie directed the Saints to a 6-5 mark in 2001.

USF opened the 2008 campaign with four straight wins and stood 5-1 after its first half-dozen contests.  That gained the Saints national attention, earning a national ranking for the first time since the 1991 season.  They stayed in the NAIA Football Coaches' Top 25 Poll for five straight weeks with as high of a rating as No. 18 on Sept. 29.  The highlight of the season was a come-from-behind 24-21 upset victory over then No. 8-ranked Saint Xavier University on the road (Sept. 11).  The Cougars were the highest ranked foe to ever fall to St. Francis up to that point.

After slipping to 3-8 in 2009, the Saints started off slow in 2010 (1-3) before reeling off six wins in a row, including come-from-behind upsets of MSFA – Midwest League powers St. Ambrose University (Iowa) and McKendree University.  The win over St. Ambrose snapped an 11-game losing streak against the Bees and the victory over McKendree was USF's first in a dozen meetings with the Bearcats.

The six-game winning streak propelled the Saints to a shot at their first-ever conference title in the final week of the season only to have six turnovers in a 24-7 loss to William Penn University (Iowa) put a damper on St. Francis' second seven-win season in three years.

"I want to thank the entire USF community and especially our student-athletes for the past seven years.  Together we have turned around the football program and put it in a position to compete for a national championship year in and year out," said Uremovich.  "As proud as I am of the wins, I am more proud of the progress that we have made in the classroom and in the community.  We have built a model program that everyone associated with this great university can be proud of."

The improvement off the field included 22 players earning NAIA Scholar-Athletes status in the last four seasons and a total of 29 in Uremovich's seven years.  Only eight Saints had been honored by the NAIA in the previous 14 years of the Scholar-Athlete program.  Recipients must be juniors or seniors and carry a cumulative grade point average of 3.50 or higher.

In addition to the individual success in the classroom, Uremovich was proud of the fact that his team earned a cumulative gpa of 3.01 in the spring of 2009 and nearly missed repeating that success each of the last two springs.

"Those numbers, besides the wins, speak volumes as to what Mike did for us," said Laketa.  "He didn't just coach football.  He built a program and ran it the way it is supposed to be done with class, dignity, integrity, accountability and a commitment to academics.  Everyone came out a better man after being in his program."

Uremovich went 27-19 over his last four seasons after rebuilding the program from the ground up.  Overall, he was 33-45.

"I have always told our coaches and student-athletes that the program is bigger than any one person and I am no different," closed Uremovich.  "They will go on and continue to build what we have started the past seven years.  They will not miss a beat next fall and will again be in the hunt for a national championship.  I have a feeling they are going to win the whole thing."

St. Francis finished the 2011 season ranked No. 8 in the NAIA Football Coaches' Postseason Top 25 Poll.

USF assistant head coach and defensive coordinator Joe Curry will serve as the interim head coach until a new coach is named.  The search process will begin immediately.