Northern Illinois hires Kill away from Southern Illinois

DEKALB, Ill. (AP) -Jerry Kill is the new football coach at Northern Illinois, less than a week after he had Southern Illinois in the FCS semifinals.

Northern Illinois introduced Kill on Thursday as the successor to Joe Novak, who retired last month after 12 seasons as coach of the Huskies. Kill was 56-32 in seven seasons at Southern Illinois.

Southern Illinois plays in the Football Championship Subdivision, formerly I-AA. The Salukis lost 20-17 to Delaware last Friday.

The Huskies finished 2-10 this season in the Mid-American Conference.