Former ISU defensive lineman and Redbird assistant coach Travis Niekamp begins his eighth season as the team's defensive coordinator and inside linebackers coach in 2025. Niekamp previously served as outside linebacker, safeties and defensive tackles coach for head coach Todd Berry at Illinois State (1998-99).
The Redbird defense was particularly stout against the run in 2024, ranking fourth in the conference in rushing yards given up per game at 157.1. The group also finished year fifth in the league in defensive efficiency at 135.7, and featured a pair of All-American players in safety Keondre Jackson and middle linebacker Tye Niekamp.
The 2023 season saw the Redbirds have nine new starters on defense, but that group came together quickly to become one of the best in the MVFC. The Redbird defense ranked No. 3 in the country in sacks per game and ranked No. 16 in tackles-for-loss per contest. That effort was led by senior Josh Dinga and All-American outside linebacker Amir Abdullah, who went on to finish ninth in the voting for the Buck Buchanan Award.
In 2022, the Redbirds were once again among the top defenses in the Missouri Valley Football Conference and the FCS. Illinois State ranked No. 10 in total defense (318.5 ypg) and No. 11 in scoring defense, allowing just 20.4 points per game to opponents. The Redbird defense also got to opposing quarterbacks regularly, ranking No. 5 in the country with 3.18 sacks per contest thanks to a dominant effort from outside linebacker Zeke Vandenburgh, who led the country in sacks per game and went on to be named the 2023 Buck Buchanan Award winner as the top FCS defensive player in the country.
In his first season as the helm of the Redbird defense, Niekamp's defensive unit was one of the best in the Missouri Valley Football Conference and the FCS. The Redbirds ranked in the top 10 of the FCS in team passing efficiency defense (No. 9 - 105.23) and scoring defense (No. 10 - 20.0 ppg) and finished the year ranked No. 13 in total defense (309.8 ypg). ISU also ranked second in the conference in nearly every defensive category behind eventual national champion North Dakota State.
Niekamp spent two seasons as part of the coaching staff at Montana prior to returning to Illinois State, serving as the Grizzlies’ special teams coordinator and linebackers coach. He joined head coach Bob Stitt’s staff in January of 2016, and in his first season at Montana, Niekamp coached linebacker Josh Buss, who finished the 2016 season as Montana’s leading tackler. Buss posted 20 tackles for loss, a national best among sophomores, and earned a place on the HERO Sports FCS Sophomore Defensive All-America first team.
Prior to heading to Montana, Niekamp served as Louisiana-Monroe’s co-defensive coordinator in 2015 for Berry, as well as the Warhawks’ special teams coordinator and linebackers coach from 2013-2015. In 2012, Niekamp served as ULM’s tight ends coach.
No stranger to the Northwest, Niekamp also served as linebackers coach at Washington State from 2007-2011, in addition to serving as the Cougars' director of football development. Prior to his time in Pullman, he was the linebackers coach and special teams coordinator at Eastern Washington from 2004-2007.
Following his playing career as a defensive lineman at Illinois State (1994-1997), Niekamp joined the coaching staff and helped the Redbirds earn a spot in the NCAA FCS playoffs in 1998, before winning the program’s first Gateway Conference title and reaching the FCS semifinal game in 1999. In 2000, he moved with Berry to the United States Military Academy as tight ends coach (2000-03).
A native of Stevens Point, Wisconsin, Niekamp and his wife, Tracy, have three children -- Tye Dalton, Dexter Kole and Brooke Ryan.
