Tye Niekamp, junior inside linebacker for national championship game-bound Illinois State University, knows how to tackle anyone carrying a football.
His teammates know, especially since he leads the team with 155 tackles. His opponents are aware. And so is the Missouri Valley Football Conference (MVFC), thus naming Niekamp this year’s Defensive Player of the Year.
Niekamp’s physicality is not lost on Redbird football head coach Brock Spack, but his appreciation goes beyond that.
“He’s the quarterback of our team on defense,” Spack said. “He knows the defense. He knows the defense around him, and he can direct (the Redbird defense) better that way.”
Niekamp and his teammates have stepped up to help Illinois State advance to the FCS national championship game for the second time in program history January 5, at 6:30 p.m. CST, against No. 2-seeded Montana State in Nashville, Tennessee.
“There’s a lot of excitement right now. We’re excited for Nashville,” Niekamp said. “We’ve been playing so well all the way around, but I feel like there’s still more room to improve, especially on the defensive side.”
Assistant coach Travis Niekamp ’98, an Illinois State defensive lineman (1994-97) in his playing days, is in his eighth season as the team’s defensive coordinator and inside linebackers coach. Tye Niekamp is coached directly by his father. So, what makes the son so good at this game?
“He is very driven and very competitive, and I think he’s got really good instincts for the game of football,” Travis Niekamp said. “Obviously, he has some physical traits, but mostly it’s the mental side of it where he probably excels more than some other guys who are really good athletes. I think Tye has a really good head for it.”
Travis Niekamp’s coaching career took the family to several places, including Washington, Montana, and Louisiana. But Normal is now the family’s hometown, and it’s the place where both Niekamp boys, Tye and younger brother Dexter, played football at Normal Community High School. Dexter, a redshirt freshman, is also a linebacker at Illinois State. Tye Niekamp loves playing in front of people he’s known for years.
“We moved all over the place with my dad’s job, but the people here are really special—it’s really true, and that is a lot of fun,” he said. “Dexter being here is great, and I think we’ll all look back on this in 10-15 years as something special.”
On the field, before the ball is snapped, Tye Niekamp has a lot of responsibilities.
“I’m looking at everything, the O-line, what the quarterback is doing, looking for certain keys, and helping get guys lined up,” he said. “And then I have to be ready in time to be where I need to be. But I’m instinctive on the field, and that helps me play inside linebacker.”
It also helps that he was introduced to the college game when he was little boy.
“I’ve been around the game a long time and would go to practice with my dad,” he said. “So, I have always had an idea of how to play the game.”
His dad agrees.
“This is his third year starting for us, and he’s always gotten better and better,” Travis Niekamp said. “His familiarity with the defense, what we’re doing, why we’re doing things has helped him play faster but has also helped him with the other guys.
“I think that’s where his leadership comes into play as far as him being, to a degree, like another coach on the field.”
Preparing to play for a national title, Tye Niekamp still gets excited about the competition that happens throughout a game.
“I love how competitive the sport is,” he said. “Every single play is a competition with the running back or the tight end or whoever it is. I want to win that rep, which, you can’t win them all. You just have to move on and get ready for the next play and try to win that next rep. And you can’t let it bother you if you make a mistake.”
As the leader of a defensive unit he described as an “extremely tight bunch of guys,” he preaches that philosophy to his teammates.
“One bad play doesn’t define the whole game,” he said. “A perfect example was when we gave up a touchdown to North Dakota State on the first play of the game. You just have to let it go and let it happen. They didn’t do much after that.”
He’s referring to the 78-yard touchdown pass that the Bison completed on their first offensive play of the game in the second round of the FCS playoffs that put the Redbirds down 7-0. From that point, Illinois State only gave up 101 yards of total offense and came back to win 29-28 over the No. 1 seed on the road in Fargo, North Dakota.
“This season is special for sure, all of them are,” Tye Niekamp said. “But that way we squeezed into the playoffs (as an unseeded, at-large bid), and we’re still playing. It’s just—get in the dance and anything can happen.”
Tye Niekamp was named a first-team selection to the 2025 Stats Perform FCS All-America Team, and Dexter Niekamp was named to the FCS Football Central Freshman All-American Team. With such prestigious awards, there might be some thought given to family legacy, but the Niekamps aren’t thinking like that. They’re too busy playing and coaching.
“Between the three of us, regardless of what happens, the rest of our lives we’ll always be tied to Redbird football,” Travis Niekamp said. “Myself as a player and as a coach, and my sons as players. And I think that’s pretty special.”
FCS Championship game
Illinois State (12-4) faces No. 2-seeded Montana State (13-2) in the FCS national championship game Monday, January 5, at 6:30 p.m. CST, at FirstBank Stadium (Vanderbilt University) in Nashville, Tennessee.
Cheer on the Birds
Visit the official Redbird Championship Headquarters at GoRedbirds.com/Nashville to learn more about how you can join the journey for a national championship.
To request your spot in the Illinois State fan section, order tickets through the Illinois State Ticket Office. The deadline to receive priority seating is 11 a.m. December 29.
Follow the action
The national championship game will be televised live on ESPN. Several watch parties are planned in Bloomington-Normal and across the country. The game will also air live on WJBC AM 1230 / 102.1 FM / 98.9 FM WJEZ / The Varsity Network.
Read more about the Redbird football team’s historic 2025-26 playoff run and follow our coverage of the national championship game at News.IllinoisState.edu.
