On a cold December day, 347 sunrises ago, Jerry Kill entered the Yordon Center.

He had been in this building before. Just three months earlier, the coach delivered a press conference as his Southern Illinois football team defeated the Huskies 31-24.

But on this day, Kill traded his maroon and white polo for a cardinal and black jersey. On Dec. 13, 2007 Kill was introduced as the 20th head football coach at NIU.

After 12 seasons at the helm, former Huskie head coach Joe Novak retired.

During his reign, Novak raised NIU’s program from the bottom to one that won the MAC West, won a bowl game and, at one time, was nationally ranked.

Yet, in his last season, the former coach’s line-up finished the 2007 campaign with a 2-10 record, losing six games by a touchdown or less.

Kill recognized the challenge before him. Not only was he expected to bring the NIU program back to where it had once been, but he had to convince the players, fans and community that he was the one to do it.

“I want everybody to know that there’s nobody who is going to fill coach Novak’s shoes, I’m just going to try to fit in those shoes,” said Kill during his Dec. 13, 2007 press conference. “I hope his shoes are big enough to let me slip a foot or two in.”

Kill is on his way to leaving a similar impression upon NIU football.

Currently, the 2008 Huskies are 6-5 and looking to win their seventh game of the year against Navy. If NIU reaches seven wins, the chances of a post-season look good.

ESPN.com predicts the Huskies, with seven victories, will head to the Independence Bowl.

Sports Illustrated is guessing a seven-win NIU squad will head off to the New Mexico Bowl.

Changing the system

The turnaround hasn’t been easy. The former SIU head coach brought with him a new coaching staff, new system and, most importantly, new attitude. Kill had to convince these players to buy into his fresh scheme.

The coach quickly gained a friend in this transition as the 2007 MAC MVP, Larry English, bought into the system. The senior defensive end and captain, English spoke out in support of Kill’s system to his team. Many of the players listened and followed suit.

But not everyone was so quickly converted.

“It’s like anything in life that you do when you have new people come in and say, ‘Hey, we’re doing some things this way,’ Kill said. “It takes some longer than others.”

As winter turned into summer, some players were still not sold on the new system. One of these was wide receiver Marcus Perez.

With the Huskies gearing up for their season opener against Minnesota, Kill decided to bench the senior.

His reason – the wide receiver hadn’t practiced as hard as he could have the week before.

After the 31-27 loss, an upset Perez met with Kill. The wide receiver pleaded his case, telling Kill all he wanted to do was help the team win.

Kill understood Perez’s anger over the situation. But the 47-year-old coach made it known that either Perez would change his attitude in practice, or he would be left off the field come game day.

“He was like ‘I’m not going to change, I’ve been doing it like this for so many years and either you’re going to do it my way or you’re not going to do it,'” Perez said. “So I listened to what he said, and I started practicing harder.”

After a week of strong performance in practice, Kill came up to Perez. He told Perez he would have a chance to play against Western Michigan.

The wide receiver grabbed at the opportunity, catching six passes for a team-high 77 yards.

Things haven’t slowed down this season as Perez leads the team with 28 receptions for 400 yards.

“I think Marcus Perez is a great example,” English said of those who have bought into Kill’s system. “He’s improved a lot this year. He really focused on getting better at each practice.”

Kill has transformed the NIU program from ESPN.com’s bottom 10 to a possible bowl competitor.

Not everyone bought into his philosophy from the get-go, but there are few now who doubt what Kill has done.

And for those who didn’t believe in Kill right away — that challenge is a reason he coaches.

When Kill sees one of his players finally understanding his lesson, he knows he’s done his job.