UNI head coach Mark Farley, once known as the "walk on from Waukon," has led Panther football to five top-five national finishes in the nine seasons he has been at the helm of the program.  Heading into his 10th year as the Panther mentor, Farley never has felt more at home.  Through his leadership, the Panthers have returned to the glory days when they won seven straight conference titles and made seven consecutive FCS playoff appearances in the decade of the '90s.  In Farley's nine years at the helm, UNI has won at least a share of five Missouri Valley Football Conference titles.  UNI has also advanced to the quarterfinals (2003, 2007), semifinals (2001, 2008), and the national title game (2005), in each of those five seasons.  Eight of Farley's nine Panther teams have finished the season ranked in the top 25, including five in the top five.  It is very clear that coach Farley has returned Panther football to its rightful home among the FCS elite.  Farley guided the Panthers to yet another top-25 finish in 2009, as UNI was ranked No. 18 in the final Sports Network poll.

In 2008, Farley directed the Panthers to back-to-back conference championships for the first time since the 1995-1996 seasons.  The Panthers posted a mark of 12-3 overall and earned a No. 3 seed in the NCAA FCS Playoffs.  UNI scored a pair of playoff wins over Maine and New Hampshire to up Farley's postseason record to 9-5 since he took over the program in 2001.

The Panthers' 2007 season will go down in the books as one of the finest ever.  UNI became the first team in the 23-year history of the Gateway Football Conference to post a perfect 11-0 regular season.  UNI also became the first Gateway team to record a perfect 6-0 mark in road games.  The Panthers attained the No. 1 ranking in the Sports Network poll and held the top spot for the final six weeks of the regular season.

As a result of the Panthers' success in 2007, fans came out in droves to the UNI-Dome.  UNI set a single-season average attendance record by drawing 16,118 fans per game.  Also, for the first time in school history, UNI sold out three straight games in the Dome beginning with a Homecoming crowd of 17,074 vs. Southern Illinois, followed by Youngstown State with 16,528, and Indiana State with 16,624.

When the year was done, the accolades rolled in with Farley earning National Coach of the Year honors in winning the Eddie Robinson Award, an honor given to the top FCS coach by The Sports Network.  Farley was also named the 2007 Bruce Craddock Gateway Coach of the Year.