One week after losing head football coach Jerry Kill to the University of Minnesota, NIU officially introduced Wisconsin defensive coordinator Dave Doeren as the new head coach of the Huskies.

Tom Matukewicz remains the interim head coach of the Huskies going into the uDrove Humanitarian Bowl against Fresno State on Saturday. Doeren won’t begin his duties as the NIU head coach until the Badgers finish up their season at the Rose Bowl against TCU.

NIU Associate Vice President Director of Athletics, Jeff Compher expressed confidence, prior to introducing Doeren, that he had found the right person to represent NIU football.

“This process has been swift, time consuming and very rewarding,” Compher said. “I thought we needed, experience, credibility, desire, enthusiasm and continuity. Dave Doeren has been a recruiting coordinator at several stops where he’s been a defensive coordinator, and he’s currently taking a team to the Rose Bowl.”

Before spending the last five seasons with the Badgers, Doeren spent time at Kansas (2002-2005), Montana (2000-2001), Southern California (1998-1999), and Drake (1995-1997). As the secondary and recruiting coordinator in Montana, Doeren helped lead the Grizzlies to a FCS National Championship in 2001.

Doeren has gone to a bowl game as an assistant coach in seven of the last eight college football seasons. In Madison, he has been in charge of the 22nd ranked defense in the country in 2010.

Compher had been in contact with Doeren for the last week about the opening, but it wasn’t until Sunday that the NIU Athletic Director officially extended the job offer.

“I knew he wanted the job because he spent two hours digging himself out of his driveway yesterday and then he spent two hours through a blizzard to get here,” Compher said.

While his willingness to brave a blizzard impressed Compher, Doeren’s ability to recruit in the Midwest represented one of the key factors in Compher’s decision. A Kansas native, the ties that Doeren has formed over his career impressed Compher. After being introduced, Doeren shared his philosophy on recruiting.

“It doesn’t matter how many stars are attached to your name, that doesn’t determine how great a player is,” Doeren said. “It’s about going out there and trying to find the right fit. If we need to hold five scholarships one year, we’ll do that because we’re going to make sure we have the right guys for this team.”

Introduced to the team on Monday, Doeren wanted the Huskies to know early on what he expects of them as head coach.

“I had the opportunity to meet the team and the first thing I told them is that they should be very proud of what they have done here,” Doeren said. “We also talked to the players about embracing the tradition and creating new ones here.”

Even though the Huskies could have held off on the announcement until after the college football season, Doeren wanted the move to be announced prior to his team’s Rose Bowl appearance.

“To be in the Rose Bowl and to have Kirk Herbstreit talking about Dave Doeren going to NIU,” Doeren said. “I thought it would be big for this university.”

At the conclusion of the season, Doeren’s first order of business will be to put together a coaching staff. The new head coach stated that he is interested in sitting down with all the current NIU coaches about positions on his staff. Doeren maintains, though, that his staff won’t be put together in haste.

“Hiring nine guys as fast as I can is not the smartest thing I can do,” Doeren said. “There are a few guys that I have offered positions, but you’re going to get some guys that want to be here.”