Posted by: Josh Kendall on December 31, 2012

The moment Bob Cole would never arrive and the moment many college football fans and analysts don't think should arrive is almost here.

Northern Illinois will play in the Orange Bowl on Tuesday night, and Cole, the Huskies quarterbacks coach, doesn't care who doesn't like it.

"That doesn't bother us at all. There are probably a lot of angry people out there, but there are 120 of us in the hotel that are really happy about the whole deal," Cole said during a news conference this weekend. "We don't really care what anybody else thinks. We won a lot of games. We did what we were supposed to do."

Cole didn't believe Northern Illinois would actually earn a bid to a BCS bowl bid until the final moment, he said.

"I was getting texts at like two o'clock, three o'clock in the afternoon, saying, 'Are you going to the Orange Bowl?' I was like, 'Hell no, we are not going to the Orange Bowl,'" he said. "Then when I saw it on TV, that's when I actually believed it."

The Huskies coaching staff has seen a lot of change in its preparation for the game with Dave Doeren heading off to coach N.C. State, and Rod Carey being promoted to head coach.

"Coach Carey went from offensive line coach to offensive coordinator to head coach in four months," Cole said. "I'm not sure that's ever happened before in college football. To the kids' credit, they stayed focused."

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Josh Kendall is a staff writer for CoachingSearch.com and has covered the SEC for more than 15 years for papers such as the Athens Banner-Herald, Macon Telegraph, and The State. He’s the father of two boys who he’s hoping don’t inherit his wide receiver frame and offensive guard feet. Follow @EyeOnCoaches on twitter and send your feedback to josh@coachingsearch.com