After reviving the SIU football program from near death, Jerry Kill is leaving the program to become the head coach of Northern Illinois.

Kill was announced the 20th coach of the Huskies Thursday at a press conference in DeKalb and succeeds Joe Novak as NIU coach, who retired in November after 12 years of service.

NIU Athletic Director Jim Phillips said the interview process was thorough but found the right candidate.

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“We wanted a person with high character, a proven winner and somebody that was very passionate about college football,” Phillips said. “Someone who put emphasis on academics and behavior. I think we have without question found someone with all those characteristics.”

The announcement comes five days after Kill and the Salukis were ousted from the NCAA Football Championship Series playoffs.

Kill said the position was a good fit.

“You don’t want to go where it’s not a fit,” he said. “It’s more about winning and being in a situation where you are comfortable and I feel comfortable here.”

Kill denied reports he was leaving for Northern Illinois or Colorado State, which he had also been rumored to coach for, after SIU’s loss to Delaware Saturday.

At the press conference, Kill said he was contacted after the Salukis season had ended.

Kill said he was excited about the opportunity to coach in I-A college football, a lifelong dream of his, and is happy to coach somewhere where football was important.

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“I am very thankful to the president and coach Novak for giving me this opportunity,” Kill said. “I want everybody to know that there is nobody that can fill coach Novak’s shoes, but I will try.”

Kill said he hopes the now vacant coaching job at SIU will be done from within the program.

“(SIU) needs some new energy,” he said. “I got a couple assistants that can give them that juice, but this is the type of juice that Coach Kill needs.”

Kill’s quality character in the southern Illinois area was no secret to many. While with SIU, Kill stressed the importance of producing a quality person just as much as producing a quality football team.

Phillips said Kill’s character was a major selling point for his hire.

“Simply put, he is a winner,” Phillips said. “His record speaks for itself. More importantly, he is a quality person with a great family who will continue the tradition that Coach Novak has built here at Northern Illinois.”

Kill leaves behind a program in SIU that has gone to the playoffs the last five seasons and has become one of the best programs in the Football Championship Series.

SIU Athletic Director Mario Moccia said he was happy for his former coach and wished him all the luck in his new coaching venture.

Moccia said SIU tried to retain Kill but admitted that a school like NIU had more resources to deal with.

“We tried to do everything we could from a financial standpoint and I think it was aggressive in order to try and keep him in the hierarchy of coaches in I-AA coaches,” he said. “But at the end of the day, Northern just proved to have some challenges that he wanted to accept.”

Kill served seven seasons as head coach for SIU and is credited with reviving the football program by recording a 55-32 record.

Kill said he will bring his lunch pale and hard hat attitude he made popular at SIU to Northern Illinois and said his players will be expected to play hard all the time.

“I won’t win a popularity contest at times but we are not in it to win a popularity contest, we are in it to win football games,” he said.

Check back with siude.com for more updates throughout the day.