Kill heads north to replace Novak

DeKALB - Northern Illinois University Athletic Director Jim Phillips poured over 1,261 resumes searching for the ideal candidate to replace football coach Joe Novak. All Phillips had to do was travel a few hours south on Interstate 57 to find the school's 20th head football coach. Seventeen days after Novak's retirement announcement, Phillips introduced Jerry Kill as the new head football coach at Northern Illinois Thursday. Kill, 46, turned the once-morbid SIU program into a Division I-AA juggernaut, leading the Salukis to five straight playoff berths. Kill guided Southern Illinois to the Football Championship Subdivision semifinals (formerly Division I-AA), but the Salukis fell to Delaware Saturday to finish with a 12-2 mark. Donning a ne