NIC-10's 100 Greatest Football Players: No. 56 - Jim Randall, Jefferson

Coach Joe Blume turned Jefferson into a 1980s football power with a simple formula - a wishbone running attack and using his best athletes on a punishing defense.

Jim Randall was the power rusher that made life miserable for running backs and quarterbacks on Blume's back-to-back conference champions. 

With Randall leading the defensive charge, the J-Hawks went 6-2 in the NIC-10 in 1984, tying Hononegah and Boylan for the conference title. Jefferson gave up just 64 points in nine games. In 1985, with Randle making first team All-NIC-10 at linebacker, Jefferson was 8-1 to win the title outright and finished 9-2 overall.

There are lots of teams who had better records than the 1985 J-Hawks, but no team had to navigate a tougher conference. East and Hononegah finished in a tie for third with Belvidere at 6-3. Hononegah would go on to make the IHSA Class 4A state championship game and East would win the IHSA Class 5A state title. Jefferson was bumped up to Class 6A, where it fell in the second round to Buffalo Grove.

A Rockford School District team wouldn't win a NIC-10 football title again until Auburn in 2015.

In the 1980s, Jerry Pettibone was turning Northern Illinois University into a mid-major power by mining NIC-10 talent. Randall headed to DeKalb where he was teammates with fellow NIC-10 stars Reggie Harris of East (No. 90 on our list), Vernon Sims of West, former Jefferson teammates Earl Upton and Greg Heidel (No. 89 on our list), Kevin Frazier of Freeport, Robbie Russell of Harlem and Matt Kentner and Mike Strasser of Hononegah.

Randall lettered for four years in DeKalb and was a starter his final two years at outside linebacker and defensive end. His final three seasons the Huskies went 22-11, earning Pettibone a bigger job at Oregon and sending NIU into a tailspin under Charlie Sadler.

No. 56 - Jim Randall, Jefferson
Year	Level	School	Accomplishments	Points
1984	High School	Jefferson	Winning Team	1
			Conference Champion	1
1985	High School	Jefferson	First Team All-Conference	2
			Conference Champion	1
			Playoff Team	1
1986	College	Northern Illinois	Letter Winner in NCAA Div. 1	3.5
1988	College	Northern Illinois	Letter Winner in NCAA Div. 1	3.5
			Winning Team	1
1989	College	Northern Illinois	Letter Winner in NCAA Div. 1	3.5
			Starter	1
			Winning Team	1
1990	College	Northern Illinois	Letter Winner in NCAA Div. 1	3.5
			Starter	1
			Winning Team	1
Total				25

NIC-10's 100 Greatest Football Players