I can't tell you all how many titles I could have used for this blog post. Killer Instinct, In For The Kill, Teach Me How To Kill, etc. However, there may be one universal saying that all Gopher fans can say right now...
"Who the hell is that???"
For the second time in the past five years, Gopher fans know nothing about the guy who was just hired as the head coach of the football program. Well, let's get that out of the way...
Jerry Kill has been at Northern Illinois for the past three seasons where he went 23-16 for the Huskies. Last season, he went 10-3 and lead the Huskies to a top 25 ranking. Before that Kill posted winning records at several FCS schools. He has been a head coach for 16 seasons.
Ok, so why is he at Minnesota?
Well, first off all, Minnesota athletic director Joel Maturi made a mistake by saying that he wanted to make a "Tubby Smith type hire" when replacing Tim Brewster. That made Gopher fans drool about names that were unrealistic in their coaching search. Yes, there were coaches available who were "big names", but that brings me to my next point.
University of Minnesota football is not an attractive job at the moment...
First, the university is changing presidents who, like a coaching staff, will want his own guy in there. I'm thinking that the president of the university made this decision rather than Maturi himself.
Second, the U of M has a shrinking athletic budget. They didn't have a lot of money to make a big name come to Minnesota. So if you were hoping for Chris Petersen (Boise State), Gary Patterson (TCU), or Brady Hoke (San Diego State), be aware that there were big buyouts associated with all three.
Finally, the Gophers have no recent success or tradition to speak of to make the job attractive. Yes, they have a giant stadium (which is REALLY nice, by the way.), but the product that plays in it hasn't produced a coach with a winning record since Murray Warmath left in 1971 with a 97-84-10 record. So that means that the Gophers couldn't even make Lou Holtz a winning head coach. Ouch.
Yes, the Gophers have won 18 Big Ten Championships, but the last came in 1967. The fan base is incredibly dormant. (Does anybody under the age of 80 know what SKI-U-MAH means?) The stadium they play in is half empty on Saturdays...and I could go on for a while.
All of this means a lot, but when you look at it, Kill does fit the description of the anti-Brewster, which is what Maturi wanted to hire.
1) As I mentioned before, Maturi wanted to hire a guy who had experience at the D-I level. When Brewster came on board a couple seasons ago, he had no previous head coaching experience and hadn't even been a coordinator. Kill, meanwhile, has been a head coach for 16 years coming into his new job.
2) Kill brings stability to the program, which it hasn't had in a very long time. Remember that Brewster had changed coaches almost annually, especially at the coordinator level. Kill's assistants have stayed with him for most of his coaching adventure. It's not known whether they will join him at Minnesota, but I think it's a good possibility.
3) Kill is a rebuilder. In all of his stops, Kill has rebuilt a program. His most recent stop, Northern Illinois was supposed to be on the decline. He wound up going 6-7, 7-6, and 10-3. Not terrible for a guy that has a lower level of talent. Well, supposedly.
Look, it's not a big name, but patience will be required. Kill has a solid team coming back next year as the Gophers don't lose much on either side of the football. Players should improve, and maybe those two wins at the end of the season will provide some sort of momentum. We'll see what he can do. Brewster did put some talent on this team and maybe Kill can trot the Gophers out and pick up that first win of the season in his debut!
Oh wait...they play at USC. Well, maybe the next week!
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