Kill on halftime: "If people don't agree with it, I'm not a very good coach, I guess"

[50PoundHead]

If Coach Kill was commander of the Pacific fleet in WWII during the period before the planned Japanese Midway strike, we would all be speaking Japanese. Kill would have withdrawn to Pearl Harbor with the remaining flat tops. That was the prudent thing to do and relatively risk free. It is almost un-American to go through life risk free.

Well, that was good for Diet Pepsi out the nose! Good one.

Lots of good comments here. I really respect Kill a bunch and he's done a good job, but if anyone is surprised by the comment, they weren't paying attention very closely during his first couple of seasons. I remember when he called the fake field goal on 4th and a mile early in his tenure and when the press asked about it during the post-game press conference, he just snapped back "Well, it's worked before" ignoring all context and the fact that he was now coaching in the B1G. It was a really stupid call and he defended himself. Most coaches do that and he's no different in that respect. This quote, while disappointing, is kind of expected (at least to me).

We paid dearly for every mistake yesterday and we made a ton of them. And all of the mistakes weren't huge physical errors. Maxx's illegal motion early in the first half was a killer.

As for our WR problem, is Pat Poore actually a good coach or recruiter? I honestly don't know, but he surely hasn't elevated any of our guys' performance.

 

[jamiche]

I'm pretty disappointed to read that Kill actually said something like that, as it seems so unlike him to respond to a question in such a defensive manner as that. I'd have appreciated had he been much more circumspect and reflective in response to a valid question like that. As others in this thread have noted, I take that as being a measure of him being really upset with what happened yesterday, but still. It's unbecoming of him, and if he's the type of person I believe him to be, he probably wishes he could take it back. Hey, haven't we all in the heat of emotion said things we might later wish we never had? Anyhow, I agree with those who opine that fundamentally, that sequence at the end of the first half seemed to show a lack of faith, or confidence, or trust in his players to be able to successfully run a few plays to at least try and get into FG range, and so his players had every right to feel angry about that, and I was glad to see they were. This is not week one of the season. The training-wheels are already off, Jerry, so let your team play. If the unthinkable happens in that situation, utter disaster strikes and your QB throws a pick-six, well then hey and ah well, at least you went down fighting and trying as opposed to sitting on the ball, and you showed your players that you trusted them enough to give them the chance to try. If a coach can't trust his players to be able to execute simple football plays in an end of half situation like that by this point in the season, to me that just begs the question, when will he ever?

Kill has gone 5-5 in games that mattered this year and, until yesterday afternoon, was coronated by a success starved fan base for having achieved statistical mediocrity in an average conference. He was very effectively scouted and outcoached by Mizzou and it could have been worse but for Leidner's best performance of the year a Williams' amazing play. Kill has built a legit defense but his offense continues to plod and his QB is a statue. Because of the weather conditions at TCF our offense will never look like Oregon's (would be fun, though) but it can't continue to look like 1961 either.

The best things Kill could do at this point is publicly walk that comment back because he let his team and fan base down by being outcoached on a national stage and find a QB with an accurate arm and quick feet. Maybe Demry is that guy.

 

[GophersInIowa]

Well, that was good for Diet Pepsi out the nose! Good one.

Lots of good comments here. I really respect Kill a bunch and he's done a good job, but if anyone is surprised by the comment, they weren't paying attention very closely during his first couple of seasons. I remember when he called the fake field goal on 4th and a mile early in his tenure and when the press asked about it during the post-game press conference, he just snapped back "Well, it's worked before" ignoring all context and the fact that he was now coaching in the B1G. It was a really stupid call and he defended himself. Most coaches do that and he's no different in that respect. This quote, while disappointing, is kind of expected (at least to me).

We paid dearly for every mistake yesterday and we made a ton of them. And all of the mistakes weren't huge physical errors. Maxx's illegal motion early in the first half was a killer.

As for our WR problem, is Pat Poore actually a good coach or recruiter? I honestly don't know, but he surely hasn't elevated any of our guys' performance.

Poore isn't the WR coach anymore. Him and Brian Anderson switched this year so Poore coaches RB's.

 

[50PoundHead]

Poore isn't the WR coach anymore. Him and Brian Anderson switched this year so Poore coaches RB's.

Thanks. Shows you how much I pay attention to the second-tier assistants. I still wonder about why our WRs haven't gotten better. Barker is arguably the best WR during the Kill era. Wolitarsky has been hurt and Jones was new to the position and probably should have been red-shirted. I hope the crop of red-shirts from this year can provide us with a reliable outside threat in the passing game. Lacking that has really hampered the offense's performance.

PS--Looking at Rivals, it appears Poore is our primary "Texas guy" for recruiting purposes and it's always good to have one of those.

 

[GophersInIowa]

Thanks. Shows you how much I pay attention to the second-tier assistants. I still wonder about why our WRs haven't gotten better. Barker is arguably the best WR during the Kill era. Wolitarsky has been hurt and Jones was new to the position and probably should have been red-shirted. I hope the crop of red-shirts from this year can provide us with a reliable outside threat in the passing game. Lacking that has really hampered the offense's performance.

PS--Looking at Rivals, it appears Poore is our primary "Texas guy" for recruiting purposes and it's always good to have one of those.

Yeah, my guess would be a combination of guys not developing and us losing talent receivers (Harbison and McDonald).

 

[march madness]

Anyone have any clue why we cannot run a wr screen, te screen, or have forbid rb screen to the side or middle? We are so vanilla and yesterday we could pass a little. Jet sweep handoff, Cobb up the middle, or Leidner and Maxx roll weakside for a 5 yard dump pass. That is 75% of our offense.

 

[gregbrady]

My guess is we have lined up like that all year long and have never seen that happen. I don't think it was an easy call to make either. That was a perfect kick. If he kicks it just a tad softer or harder it probably doesn't work. It wasn't as easy of a play as you're making it out to be in my opinion.

They were offsides too by the way.

It seems like Coach Kill is always having flashbacks to the NDSU game during his first year here, when Gray gave up a pick 6 to end the half. I have two issues with the way the end of the half went.
1. Since this is a basically an exhibition game and a chance to start the new year on a great note, why not work on hurry-up offense for the future? It seems like you don't get a lot of time to work on these things at full speed and this was a perfect time to do it. Especially after making a first down right away. With three timeouts left, you don't have to pass to the sidelines and risk the pick-6 type of int's, you can go over the middle where, yes you might get picked off, but a TD is not likely for the other team. It seems like would only enhance our chance to score in end of game situations where we really need a TD to tie or win the game.
2. It seemed by the reaction of the players that they were upset. Reading minds like I am able to do, I bet that they had worked on hurry up stuff and some trickeration stuff and the players were like 'give us a chance, let's run some of those plays that we've worked on the last two weeks'.

I believe in Coach Kill and hopefully he and the staff learn from this. Seems like they took a ton of chances in the first Houston bowl against Texas Tech, where was that offense?

 

[Indi1006]

Anyone have any clue why we cannot run a wr screen, te screen, or have forbid rb screen to the side or middle? We are so vanilla and yesterday we could pass a little. Jet sweep handoff, Cobb up the middle, or Leidner and Maxx roll weakside for a 5 yard dump pass. That is 75% of our offense.

I've said it in another threads but I don't think wide receiver play was an issue yesterday we had players running free. That said, we certainly do need an upgrade in that area and hopefully it's on its way. I think that our offense spotters occasionally because Limegrover is not a talented play caller. I think some people have it and some don't and I don't think he does and we're stuck with him because he certainly not going anywhere.

 

[MNVCGUY]

2. It seemed by the reaction of the players that they were upset. Reading minds like I am able to do, I bet that they had worked on hurry up stuff and some trickeration stuff and the players were like 'give us a chance, let's run some of those plays that we've worked on the last two weeks'.

This was one of the first times since Kill has been here that I can recall players showing visible signs of frustration. Leidner and Cobb were pissed about how we ended the half and it was very clear from body language that they wanted to be more aggressive there. Kill has forgotten more about football then I or anyone else on this board will ever know but in this instance he seems to be in the extreme minority of those that think they made the right decision laying up before halftime. Hindsight being 20/20, getting three points in that situation could have been huge in the final outcome.

 

[stocker08]

Plenty of time left on the clock. Had the script been flipped and we had been up 10-7......I have little doubt that Mizzou or many other wouldn't have used that time. As someone else said......along with the TO's......we had tons of time. Shows very little confidence in your players when you squander a possession like that.

And the "well we are getting the ball at half" excuse is bull****. You get that possession regardless (except in our case).

 

[short ornery norwegian]

Let's see - a conservative coach made a conservative decision - and people are surprised/upset.

You can't have it both ways. If the team wins, Kill's a great coach. if the team loses, he screwed up. Did Kill tell Wilson to rough the passer on 3rd down? Did Kill tell Jones to fumble the punt return?

coaches coach, and players play. Yes, coaches have an impact on the outcome of games, but players have a bigger impact. Missouri's players made more plays than the Gopher players. Missouri won the game.

 

[wdgold]

Let's see - a conservative coach made a conservative decision - and people are surprised/upset.

You can't have it both ways. If the team wins, Kill's a great coach. if the team loses, he screwed up. Did Kill tell Wilson to rough the passer on 3rd down? Did Kill tell Jones to fumble the punt return?

coaches coach, and players play. Yes, coaches have an impact on the outcome of games, but players have a bigger impact. Missouri's players made more plays than the Gopher players. Missouri won the game.

They weren't even given a chance

 

[Iceland12]

Let's see - a conservative coach made a conservative decision - and people are surprised/upset.

You can't have it both ways. If the team wins, Kill's a great coach. if the team loses, he screwed up. Did Kill tell Wilson to rough the passer on 3rd down? Did Kill tell Jones to fumble the punt return?

coaches coach, and players play. Yes, coaches have an impact on the outcome of games, but players have a bigger impact. Missouri's players made more plays than the Gopher players. Missouri won the game.

Here for some people, it's all about having it both ways. Coaches are responsible for recruiting, they always pick the right guy and are the reason kids choose to play for the U. Coaches do a great job and any kid they don't get it is do to other factors. They are the mastermind behind all victories and the players are responsible for all losses. When players have a good game it's because they were "coached-up" and when they have a bad game it's because of their physical and mental errors.

That is not only the mantra for many around here, it is also Nick Saban's personal creed.

 

[GophersInIowa]

They weren't even given a chance

You really believe that? If that were true, we would have lost 50-0.

 

[ProfessorBum]

Let's see - a conservative coach made a conservative decision - and people are surprised/upset.

You can't have it both ways. If the team wins, Kill's a great coach. if the team loses, he screwed up.

In fairness, there are plenty of people on the board who have gone out on a limb to not have it both ways. Even when the team is winning, some on the board have dared to express suspicion that Kill, despite being a good guy with a good coaching record over his career, may not be the "great" coach we've been longing for. When those posters do speak up and are in any way critical after a win, they get lambasted by others with "scoreboard!" Now we lose, and in an embarrassing way on national television (...the only B1G team not to hold serve yesterday) and those who are suspicious of Kill as the Messiah are supposed to just shut up?

Look, I like Jerry Kill. One of my degrees is from NIU so I was aware of him before he came to the U of M and liked him there too. I think he's been good for the program and I'm willing to give him more time. But the loss yesterday, and some of the coaching decisions, rightly frustrate fans. I'm not sure Kill's proponents have the high ground to tell his critics "move along...nothing to see here."

 

[UpnorthGo4]

Kill was out-coached yesterday. By a long shot. There is no other way to look at it. He needs to own up to his shortcomings as a coach. This was an eminently winnable game for the Gophers. First and foremost, he let his players down with his unwillingness to trust them to make plays. Then he let Gopher fans down with his in-game decisions and pathetic comments at the press conference after the game. First class coaches ALWAYS accept responsibility when their team loses. Kill failed in every way a coach can yesterday.

 

[1983]

Wow...a lot of bashing here. I didn't think this was going to happen today.

Its going to happen when your dealing with a pessimistic, glass half empty attitude that is prevalent on these discussion boards.

 

[bleedsmaroonandgold]

Its going to happen when your dealing with a pessimistic, glass half empty attitude that is prevalent on these discussion boards.

In any football game, there are two possible outcomes. Yesterday, we got the bad one, so of course people are going to be upset. I think the attitude would be just as positive if we had won the game as it is negative having lost it.

 

[Bisker82]

Coach Kill is a good coach; he is, however, not a great coach. Limegrover is grossly inefficient as an OC. If Coach Kill wants to take this program to a higher level, he needs to part ways with Limegrover. My guess is that won't ever happen. For those who think we are going to continue to progress with the status quo, you may want to re-evaluate your expectations.

 

[nasa35]

Coach Kill is a good coach; he is, however, not a great coach. Limegrover is grossly inefficient as an OC. If Coach Kill wants to take this program to a higher level, he needs to part ways with Limegrover. My guess is that won't ever happen. For those who think we are going to continue to progress with the status quo, you may want to re-evaluate your expectations.

YES!

Can'[t stand the OC

 

[bleedsmaroonandgold]

Coach Kill is a good coach; he is, however, not a great coach. Limegrover is grossly inefficient as an OC. If Coach Kill wants to take this program to a higher level, he needs to part ways with Limegrover. My guess is that won't ever happen. For those who think we are going to continue to progress with the status quo, you may want to re-evaluate your expectations.

After setting a low baseline in year one, Coach Kill has never regressed at the U in terms of conference or total wins, and has improved one or both of those numbers every year so far. Can we at least wait until he has had one season of not improving before we declare that it is unrealistic to expect continued improvement?

 

[Halsey Hall]

I never understand the "but what if Mitch throws a pic six?" line of thinking. He could throw an interception that gets returned any time he throws the football, that doesn't mean we should never pass. Just make sure he is coached to know that we are running a hurry up, but not a panic, and that it is still ok to scramble or throw it away because we don't desperately need a score.

BRILLIANT!!!!!!

Actually, you're better off chancing a throw at the end of the half because the other team has less time to score.

People still talk about Denny Green taking the knee. Now all we'll remember from this game is, "We get the ball to start the 2nd half so why risk scoring?"

 

[Halsey Hall]

YES!

Can'[t stand the OC

We hear about people wanting Claeys, but you never hear anyone wanting the Lime Man

 

[Gopherwatcher]

It was pointed out on more than one occasion during the broadcast yesterday that obviously our offense is not where we want it to be yet. Kill and Limegrover brought that up during their interviews with the ABC crew during the week. They started out building the special teams (although they were very poor yesterday), and then they built the defense. Now they are starting the focus more on building the offense. It takes time. You can't recruit 50 new players each season. In two years, if we are still having this conversation about the offense, then I'll be concerned. How many of you can remember the last time before this season an announcing crew raved about our defense and especially our secondary??

 

[goldengophers]

It was pointed out on more than one occasion during the broadcast yesterday that obviously our offense is not where we want it to be yet. Kill and Limegrover brought that up during their interviews with the ABC crew during the week. They started out building the special teams (although they were very poor yesterday), and then they built the defense. Now they are starting the focus more on building the offense. It takes time. You can't recruit 50 new players each season. In two years, if we are still having this conversation about the offense, then I'll be concerned. How many of you can remember the last time before this season an announcing crew raved about our defense and especially our secondary??

The ST was by far far the worst unit yesterday, this logic is flimsy at best. Matt Limegrover and those under him aren't focused elsewhere.

 

[tikited]

Not sure why people are so upset about the conservative decisions before the half? This is what Kill does. I don't agree with it, but he did the exact same thing in the Wisc. game and others before that. I have more of a problem with the lame trick plays we attempted. Kill and co. do not have a knack for those at all.

 

[Gopherwatcher]

The ST was by far far the worst unit yesterday, this logic is flimsy at best. Matt Limegrover and those under him aren't focused elsewhere.

Flimsy logic? So you disagree with how Coach Kill has put together his rebuilding plan. Of course Limegrover is focused on the offense, but they have focused their recruiting efforts on defense. Anyone who can't see that, doesn't understand rebuilding a football team.

 

[bleedsmaroonandgold]

Not sure why people are so upset about the conservative decisions before the half? This is what Kill does. I don't agree with it, but he did the exact same thing in the Wisc. game and others before that. I have more of a problem with the lame trick plays we attempted. Kill and co. do not have a knack for those at all.

And we ended the game with the same result as in the Wisconsin game. We gave up at the end of the first half against Wisconsin and were perfectly happy to take our lead into the half. Then, we managed to turn the ball over anyway even though we were playing to not turn the ball over. Wisconsin exhibited a different attitude, psyched to have one more chance to score points before the half, they drove almost instantly to field goal range and hit one (despite the fact that we had milked most of the clock ourselves running it down). Then, they got to go to Indianapolis.

 

[stocker08]

In fairness, there are plenty of people on the board who have gone out on a limb to not have it both ways. Even when the team is winning, some on the board have dared to express suspicion that Kill, despite being a good guy with a good coaching record over his career, may not be the "great" coach we've been longing for. When those posters do speak up and are in any way critical after a win, they get lambasted by others with "scoreboard!" Now we lose, and in an embarrassing way on national television (...the only B1G team not to hold serve yesterday) and those who are suspicious of Kill as the Messiah are supposed to just shut up?

Look, I like Jerry Kill. One of my degrees is from NIU so I was aware of him before he came to the U of M and liked him there too. I think he's been good for the program and I'm willing to give him more time. But the loss yesterday, and some of the coaching decisions, rightly frustrate fans. I'm not sure Kill's proponents have the high ground to tell his critics "move along...nothing to see here."

Jerry Kill is a fantastic coach. He turns coal into diamonds. Considering what he has done in four years........none of us have any reason to doubt him. However........doubt comes with the territory when you coach at this level. I have no doubt. I do have questions.

Is Kill simply employing his players as he sees fit.....or will this be the same conservative gameplan years into the future?

I don't have the answer. But I CAN tell you this.........we won't win any big ten championships with the conservative clock control gameplan. At some point......we'll need to attack the opponent. Great teams know what's coming with this current offense. They can stop it. Funny......considering that Claeys doesn't seem to be that conservative. He's constantly switching it up.

My guess is that the coaching staff simply doesn't trust the offense yet. If they did.....they would have tried to score some points before the half. Kill/Limey don't trust Leidner. Maybe as the talent improves........the reigns will loosen.

 

[Gopherwatcher]

Jerry Kill is a fantastic coach. He turns coal into diamonds. Considering what he has done in four years........none of us have any reason to doubt him. However........doubt comes with the territory when you coach at this level. I have no doubt. I do have questions.

Is Kill simply employing his players as he sees fit.....or will this be the same conservative gameplan years into the future?

I don't have the answer. But I CAN tell you this.........we won't win any big ten championships with the conservative clock control gameplan. At some point......we'll need to attack the opponent. Great teams know what's coming with this current offense. They can stop it. Funny......considering that Claeys doesn't seem to be that conservative. He's constantly switching it up.

My guess is that the coaching staff simply doesn't trust the offense yet. If they did.....they would have tried to score some points before the half. Kill/Limey don't trust Leidner. Maybe as the talent improves........the reigns will loosen.

I agree with pretty much everything here. I don't think that Kill trusts his offense... yet. Hopefully that changes. I am most looking forward to those redshirt receivers next season. Hopefully that will allow Limegrover to open up the passing game some. I just hope that Leidner finds more accuracy on his deep throws. There were too many times this season that he missed a wide-open receiver for a sure TD.