The Chicago Tribune: English's second language: Defense for Northern Illinois

"I spent my whole last summer trying to figure out how to block Larry," Kill said, recalling preparations for his Southern Illinois team's trip to DeKalb in Week 2 last season. "So I do know Larry."

So do a lot of others, including a number of NFL teams as well as those who draw up watch lists for the Bronko Nagurski (best college defensive player) and Ted Hendricks (best college defensive end) awards.

The Daily Chronicle: Viewpoint: NIU football truly begins this week

1. Who starts at quarterback?

We still don’t have an answer to this question. Dan Nicholson took a lot of reps last week and said his sore throwing shoulder was fine. Chandler Harnish took the majority of the reps with the No. 1 offense. The guess here is Harnish will start, but does Kill want to go into his first game, in a hostile environment, with an untested freshman?

The Courier News: Kill rolling up his sleeves, bringing hands-on approach to Huskies

Dwarfed by a majority of his players, the bespectacled Northern Illinois coach sports a straw hat to protect his bald head from the hot sun. He may hit pause -- but rarely stops -- moving from group to group to take a "hands-on" approach.

"They're paying me a lot of money to get the job done, so I want to make damn sure I know what the hell is going on," said Kill, who left Southern Illinois after seven years last December to succeed the retiring Joe Novak.