Bob Stein says Kill rescued and righted a football program riddled with incompetence

[BleedGopher]

per Joe Christensen's Tuesday article:

Bob Stein, a local attorney and two-time former All-America linebacker for the Gophers, said via e-mail, “The bottom line for me is one question, ‘Is he performing competently?’ … He has done a very good job, in my opinion, rescuing and righting a football program riddled with incompetent leadership and coaching for 10 years.”

Stein has been critical of Kill’s predecessor, Tim Brewster, along with former Gophers AD Joel Maturi.

“They had no teaching, no culture, no integrity, no discipline, terrible institutional support and really bad players when [Kill] arrived,” Stein said. “They are more talented, better coached, and much more disciplined on and off the field.”

http://www.startribune.com/sports/gophers/224005851.html

Go Gophers!!

 

[Texas-Gopher]

And in addition to that, I like coach Kill representing my U. I don't know that I'd go two steps out of my way to meet any other college football coach but I would like to meet Jerry Kill, see what he's all about. I like what I see.

 

[EG#9]

I don't even know where to begin. Tim Brewster was 3-5 in the B1G IN YEAR 2, he was 3-5 in the B1G IN YEAR 3. I am of the opinion that 3-5 is not acceptable BUT we've seen nothing better than 2-6 so far from Jerry Kill. I am so sick of hearing how Jerry Kill is doing these great things when the facts show recruiting has been at the very bottom of the B1G and the B1G performance has not been better than what we saw in Brewster's 4th and final year when the team went 2-6.

You can defend Jerry Kill's ability/right to coach the Gophers without giving credit for things that have not yet been accomplished.

 

[GopherInPittsburgh]

I don't even know where to begin. Tim Brewster was 3-5 in the B1G IN YEAR 2, he was 3-5 in the B1G IN YEAR 3. I am of the opinion that 3-5 is not acceptable BUT we've seen nothing better than 2-6 so far from Jerry Kill. I am so sick of hearing how Jerry Kill is doing these great things when the facts show recruiting has been at the very bottom of the B1G and the B1G performance has not been better than what we saw in Brewster's 4th and final year when the team went 2-6.

You can defend Jerry Kill's ability/right to coach the Gophers without giving credit for things that have not yet been accomplished.

Jerry Kill would have been 3-5 in the B1G in Year 2 if he got to face Indiana, Illinois, and Purdue like Brewster did.

 

[EG#9]

Jerry Kill would have been 3-5 in the B1G in Year 2 if he got to face Indiana, Illinois, and Purdue like Brewster did.

Different Illinois team in 2008, that was a good road win over (I believe a ranked at the time) a team that finished 3-5 in the conference.

 

[Costa Rican Gopher]

I don't even know where to begin. Tim Brewster was 3-5 in the B1G IN YEAR 2, he was 3-5 in the B1G IN YEAR 3. I am of the opinion that 3-5 is not acceptable BUT we've seen nothing better than 2-6 so far from Jerry Kill. I am so sick of hearing how Jerry Kill is doing these great things when the facts show recruiting has been at the very bottom of the B1G and the B1G performance has not been better than what we saw in Brewster's 4th and final year when the team went 2-6.

You can defend Jerry Kill's ability/right to coach the Gophers without giving credit for things that have not yet been accomplished.

I agree with you to some extent. It's admirable that he has our players are back on track academically. I certainly think Kill is a great role model. I agree with his brick-by-brick philosophy of rebuilding the program & love the depth we're building. I am especially thrilled that we've seen so few penalties this year. That was a big pet-peeve of mine. Brewster took so much heat for the undisciplined play, yet Kill hadn't done any better until this year & seemed to get a free pass. Many a time I looked at a friend & said "Wasn't Kill supposed to fix this?". I mean, talent has nothing to do with discipline & I was admittedly frustrated that the past two seasons had seen no real improvement. This year is noticably different. Yes, we're playing vanilla right now so there's not a ton that should confuse our players (That's part of coaching right, simplifying things for the players so they can succeed?), but the difference is marked.

That said, I've heard people go so far as to say we should extend Coach Kill right now & I scratch my head at that suggestion. Forget the seizures, at some point he has to win some games. I sat next to a smart guy at the last game (I presume he's a poster here?) who said "The schedule the next two years is brutal". I said "We play in the B1G, when is the schedule not brutal?". He listed off the teams we get to play the next two years & he made a great point, but that got me to thinking. As much as I love the direction of the program, there's always going to be an excuse & until he wins some games he's really not distanced himself from Brewster. If Maturi taught us one thing it's "Don't go extending people just to extend them".

I personally laid a good sum of money that we'll win more than 6.5 games this year so I'm a believer, just saying that isn't perfect & that an extension at this point is crazy talk.

 

[gophervet]

I don't even know where to begin. Tim Brewster was 3-5 in the B1G IN YEAR 2, he was 3-5 in the B1G IN YEAR 3. I am of the opinion that 3-5 is not acceptable BUT we've seen nothing better than 2-6 so far from Jerry Kill. I am so sick of hearing how Jerry Kill is doing these great things when the facts show recruiting has been at the very bottom of the B1G and the B1G performance has not been better than what we saw in Brewster's 4th and final year when the team went 2-6.

You can defend Jerry Kill's ability/right to coach the Gophers without giving credit for things that have not yet been accomplished.

While everything you said about Tim Brewster's record is correct, I am going to counter that argument with these points:
1) How many of Tim Brewster's big recruits truly panned out? I do not give a crap if you have the #1 ranked recruiting class if everyone one of the players either: a) does not make it into school; b) does not stay in school for academics, legal reason, etc. or c) just plain sucks. If you want to win any type of recruitment argument; give me a post-graduation recruitment ranking.
2) Jerry Kill has accountability and discipline. We have something like 7 penalties in 3 games. Look at that stat and compare it to the 3 personal fouls a game in the Brew-ball era. We kick players off (even 4-star recruits!) our team that are not following Jerry Kills rules and our academic record really speaks for itself. Accountability and discipline are two things that cannot even be compared between the two.
3) Tim Brewster was an ass-clown. He was a snake oil salesman that could not coach. He just talked. Those people exist in every aspect of life, and our naive AD fell for the act. Just like in every aspect of life, those type of people are eventually discovered and are dismissed (hopefully, without doing too much damage) and move on to sell their snake oil elsewhere. We have the title of head coach, recruiting coordinator is a different position and Tim Brewster was given the title of the former.

So while you are correct that Tim Brewster was "3-5 in the B1G IN YEAR 2". Do we really need to make a checklist to say who is a better coach. Now I am not saying that Jerry Kill is going to take us to National Championships, but even if 3 conference wins is as good as Jerry Kill every does; he is still, at least in light of the way things can be perceived and considered factual at this time, 10 times the coach of Tim Brewster and someone that I am proud to stand behind and have lead our program. If he never does any better and things stay as they are now, I will say it was not meant to be and best of luck to your future endeavors (that is if I actually spoke to him and had an opinion that mattered).

I am not anointing Jerry Kill as our savior, but if we are going to reduce ourselves to giving a true comparison of Tim Brewster to Jerry Kill; I will take 100 years of Jerry Kill as our head coach over a bag of *&^!#*&^!#*&^!#*&^!#*&^!#*&^!# like Tim Brewster.

 

[dinkything]

… He has done a very good job, in my opinion, rescuing and righting a football program riddled with incompetent leadership and coaching for 10 years.”

Stein has been critical of Kill’s predecessor, Tim Brewster, along with former Gophers AD Joel Maturi.

“They had no teaching, no culture, no integrity, no discipline, terrible institutional support and really bad players when [Kill] arrived,” Stein said. “They are more talented, better coached, and much more disciplined on and off the field.”

http://www.startribune.com/sports/gophers/224005851.html[/QUOTE]

ironic these words come from 1/2 of "Wolfenstein"...whose 'leadership' in the late '80's and early '90's set the T-Wolves franchise back by decades. still tying to dig out from Stein's regime.

 

[EG#9]

While everything you said about Tim Brewster's record is correct, I am going to counter that argument with these points:
1) How many of Tim Brewster's big recruits truly panned out? I do not give a crap if you have the #1 ranked recruiting class if everyone one of the players either: a) does not make it into school; b) does not stay in school for academics, legal reason, etc. or c) just plain sucks. If you want to win any type of recruitment argument; give me a post-graduation recruitment ranking.
2) Jerry Kill has accountability and discipline. We have something like 7 penalties in 3 games. Look at that stat and compare it to the 3 personal fouls a game in the Brew-ball era. We kick players off (even 4-star recruits!) our team that are not following Jerry Kills rules and our academic record really speaks for itself. Accountability and discipline are two things that cannot even be compared between the two.
3) Tim Brewster was an ass-clown. He was a snake oil salesman that could not coach. He just talked. Those people exist in every aspect of life, and our naive AD fell for the act. Just like in every aspect of life, those type of people are eventually discovered and are dismissed (hopefully, without doing too much damage) and move on to sell their snake oil elsewhere. We have the title of head coach, recruiting coordinator is a different position and Tim Brewster was given the title of the former.

So while you are correct that Tim Brewster was "3-5 in the B1G IN YEAR 2". Do we really need to make a checklist to say who is a better coach. Now I am not saying that Jerry Kill is going to take us to National Championships, but even if 3 conference wins is as good as Jerry Kill every does; he is still, at least in light of the way things can be perceived and considered factual at this time, 10 times the coach of Tim Brewster and someone that I am proud to stand behind and have lead our program. If he never does any better and things stay as they are now, I will say it was not meant to be and best of luck to your future endeavors (that is if I actually spoke to him and had an opinion that mattered).

I am not anointing Jerry Kill as our savior, but if we are going to reduce ourselves to giving a true comparison of Tim Brewster to Jerry Kill; I will take 100 years of Jerry Kill as our head coach over a bag of *&^!#*&^!#*&^!#*&^!#*&^!#*&^!# like Tim Brewster.

This is the exact type of thought process I don't understand. You are countering a factual argument with an emotional one. What if Jerry Kill is selling snake oil? It's in his best interest to say things were terrible when he got here, to throw the previous guy under the bus. If Jerry Kill never does better than 3-5 in the B1G, then he's not a better coach than Tim Brewster. I won't defend the hiring of Tim Brewster or the firing. That said, when Tim Brewster was fired I thought the message was clear: you no longer get 5 years (or 10 years or whatever) at Minnesota to start competing in the conference. Lets hope it's a non issue, but IF this team goes 2-6 or even 3-5 this year and Jerry Kill is not on some level of a hot seat then he's not being held to the same standard that Tim Brewster was.

Quick thoughts on each of your points:

1. Some of the higher ranked recruits were flops (Hayo Carpenter) and others had unfortunate medical situations (Gjere, Maresh). MarQueis worked out (should have worked out better), Hageman worked out, Stoudermire, Carter, Lawrence, Brock (for a year) and others. If every class brought in the level of talent of Brewster's first two classes, we'd be in great shape. Jury is still out on Kill's recruits obviously, but he has had his own misses from the JUCO ranks (Gillum, Moulton, Harris) and has a QB on scholarship who shouldn't be there.

2. Discipline is great if it results in more wins. I don't think we necessarily saw more discipline in years 1 and 2, but it's certainly a bright spot so far in year 3. As for academics, Brewster was also credited with turning around the academic situation at the "U" early in his tenure.

3. You don't like Tim Brewster, perfectly understandable. I will learn to like anyone who starts winning football games at Minnesota. Glen Mason could have continue to walk around with his nose in the air if he was competing for B1G championships, Tim Brewster could have continued to use the word "tremendous" at every turn as long he was competing for titles occasionally. The same is true for Jerry Kill.

 

[maxwellsmart]

I don't even know where to begin. Tim Brewster was 3-5 in the B1G IN YEAR 2, he was 3-5 in the B1G IN YEAR 3. I am of the opinion that 3-5 is not acceptable BUT we've seen nothing better than 2-6 so far from Jerry Kill. I am so sick of hearing how Jerry Kill is doing these great things when the facts show recruiting has been at the very bottom of the B1G and the B1G performance has not been better than what we saw in Brewster's 4th and final year when the team went 2-6.

You can defend Jerry Kill's ability/right to coach the Gophers without giving credit for things that have not yet been accomplished.

It's right there for all to see. Improved fundamentals. Increased discipline. Better speed. Coaching staff stability. True leadership. Get over the won-lost dog and pony show and take a look.

 

[Maximus]

Different Illinois team in 2008, that was a good road win over (I believe a ranked at the time) a team that finished 3-5 in the conference.

Not ranked.

 

[MNVCGUY]

I don't even know where to begin. Tim Brewster was 3-5 in the B1G IN YEAR 2, he was 3-5 in the B1G IN YEAR 3. I am of the opinion that 3-5 is not acceptable BUT we've seen nothing better than 2-6 so far from Jerry Kill. I am so sick of hearing how Jerry Kill is doing these great things when the facts show recruiting has been at the very bottom of the B1G and the B1G performance has not been better than what we saw in Brewster's 4th and final year when the team went 2-6.

You can defend Jerry Kill's ability/right to coach the Gophers without giving credit for things that have not yet been accomplished.

I'm right there with you on this one. I will say that as a head coach Kill is light years ahead of Brew because he has had lots of experience, a stable coaching staff and knows how to manage and run a program. Brewster was learning on the job and never should have been hired as a head coach without any experience as a coordinator or head coach at a lower division.

That being said I think the praise that is heaped on Kill to this point boarders on ridiculous. Those terrible players Stein talks about have been the best players on each of Kill's teams to this point. I don't know if Kill is going to be the guy to turn things around or not. The main thing he has brought to the program is stability in the coaching staff to this point. That is a great thing for the players but at some point that also has to turn into wins on the field, otherwise you just have a group of people who have been coaching together for a long time but can't develop a competitive team at the Big Ten level.

People think I hate Kill because I am critical of him. I don't hate the guy, I am just not as sold on him as many of the posters in here seem to be. There is no doubt Kill is a better head football coach than Brewster but to date his on the field results have not been even to the level of Brewsters and in regards to talent Kill inherited far more talent than Brew did when he took over.

 

[lakesgopher]

I'm right there with you on this one. I will say that as a head coach Kill is light years ahead of Brew because he has had lots of experience, a stable coaching staff and knows how to manage and run a program. Brewster was learning on the job and never should have been hired as a head coach without any experience as a coordinator or head coach at a lower division.

That being said I think the praise that is heaped on Kill to this point boarders on ridiculous. Those terrible players Stein talks about have been the best players on each of Kill's teams to this point. I don't know if Kill is going to be the guy to turn things around or not. The main thing he has brought to the program is stability in the coaching staff to this point. That is a great thing for the players but at some point that also has to turn into wins on the field, otherwise you just have a group of people who have been coaching together for a long time but can't develop a competitive team at the Big Ten level.

People think I hate Kill because I am critical of him. I don't hate the guy, I am just not as sold on him as many of the posters in here seem to be. There is no doubt Kill is a better head football coach than Brewster but to date his on the field results have not been even to the level of Brewsters and in regards to talent Kill inherited far more talent than Brew did when he took over.

Absolutely agree!

 

[Maximus]

Kill inherited far more talent than Brew did when he took over.

Could you provide evidence of that?

I see Brew getting a running back coming off a 1,200 yard season. What did Kill get at that position?

I see Brew getting a receiving corps led by the No. 1 and No. 4 receivers in school history. Kill had McKnight, McGarry, Brandon Green as his top 3 receivers.

Had VanDeSteeg (13 sacks in previous two seasons) and Steve Davis (13.5 sacks in previous two seasons) at defensive end.

Jack Simmons at tight end coming off a monster bowl game. Dom Barber in the defensive backfield. Three starters back on the oline.

 

[Iceland12]

Originally Posted by EG#9
I don't even know where to begin. Tim Brewster was 3-5 in the B1G IN YEAR 2, he was 3-5 in the B1G IN YEAR 3. I am of the opinion that 3-5 is not acceptable BUT we've seen nothing better than 2-6 so far from Jerry Kill. I am so sick of hearing how Jerry Kill is doing these great things when the facts show recruiting has been at the very bottom of the B1G and the B1G performance has not been better than what we saw in Brewster's 4th and final year when the team went 2-6.

You can defend Jerry Kill's ability/right to coach the Gophers without giving credit for things that have not yet been accomplished.

I agree with you to some extent. It's admirable that he has our players are back on track academically. I certainly think Kill is a great role model. I agree with his brick-by-brick philosophy of rebuilding the program & love the depth we're building. I am especially thrilled that we've seen so few penalties this year. That was a big pet-peeve of mine. Brewster took so much heat for the undisciplined play, yet Kill hadn't done any better until this year & seemed to get a free pass. Many a time I looked at a friend & said "Wasn't Kill supposed to fix this?". I mean, talent has nothing to do with discipline & I was admittedly frustrated that the past two seasons had seen no real improvement. This year is noticably different. Yes, we're playing vanilla right now so there's not a ton that should confuse our players (That's part of coaching right, simplifying things for the players so they can succeed?), but the difference is marked.

That said, I've heard people go so far as to say we should extend Coach Kill right now & I scratch my head at that suggestion. Forget the seizures, at some point he has to win some games. I sat next to a smart guy at the last game (I presume he's a poster here?) who said "The schedule the next two years is brutal". I said "We play in the B1G, when is the schedule not brutal?". He listed off the teams we get to play the next two years & he made a great point, but that got me to thinking. As much as I love the direction of the program, there's always going to be an excuse & until he wins some games he's really not distanced himself from Brewster. If Maturi taught us one thing it's "Don't go extending people just to extend them".

I personally laid a good sum of money that we'll win more than 6.5 games this year so I'm a believer, just saying that isn't perfect & that an extension at this point is crazy talk.

Yep and Yep.

 

[Iceland12]

… He has done a very good job, in my opinion, rescuing and righting a football program riddled with incompetent leadership and coaching for 10 years.”

Stein has been critical of Kill’s predecessor, Tim Brewster, along with former Gophers AD Joel Maturi.

“They had no teaching, no culture, no integrity, no discipline, terrible institutional support and really bad players when [Kill] arrived,” Stein said. “They are more talented, better coached, and much more disciplined on and off the field.”

http://www.startribune.com/sports/gophers/224005851.html

ironic these words come from 1/2 of "Wolfenstein"...whose 'leadership' in the late '80's and early '90's set the T-Wolves franchise back by decades. still tying to dig out from Stein's regime.[/QUOTE]

No BLEEP! That's exactly what goes through my head every time Stein starts making declarations about management incompetence. Even when's he's right, he should just shut the hell up. It's like listening to Charlie Sheen or Lindsey Lohan giving career or lifestyle advice.

 

[GopherSteak]

I went fishing with my uncle's and grandpa yesterday and we were all upset that the press wanted Kill to step down. There are few coaches like him, and chances are most won't consider coming to the U. Don't let him go Norwood.

 

[dpodoll68]

Brewster was learning on the job and never should have been hired as a head coach without any experience as a coordinator or head coach at a lower division.

He did have experience as a head coach at a lower division.

People think I hate Kill because I am critical of him.

No, it's because you do hate him. Scarcely a post goes by without some sort of dig or yet another reminder how Kill's job isn't safe.

 

[Iceland12]

Could you provide evidence of that?

I see Brew getting a running back coming off a 1,200 yard season. What did Kill get at that position?

I see Brew getting a receiving corps led by the No. 1 and No. 4 receivers in school history. Kill had McKnight, McGarry, Brandon Green as his top 3 receivers.

Had VanDeSteeg (13 sacks in previous two seasons) and Steve Davis (13.5 sacks in previous two seasons) at defensive end.

Jack Simmons at tight end coming off a monster bowl game. Dom Barber in the defensive backfield. Three starters back on the oline.

Yeah, the cupboard was a little bare when Kill came in. The handwriting was on the wall for Brewster during that 3rd season. The feeling was he was going to be gone sooner than later and that sentiment must have been going around the country during those recruiting seasons. He got some players, but not the numbers or quality he got early on. Always will wonder what would have happened if he had been able to keep all the Assistants that he originally brought in. His Head Coaching "skills" probably hastened their departures anyway.

That said Mason inherited more talent than Brewster did and Mason himself said, time and time again, how Gopher Fans should be prepared for a "major rebuilding job" starting in 2007. He was certainly right.

That's a part of history that seems to be constantly rewritten both nationally and locally.

 

[e.bigelow]

Different Illinois team in 2008, that was a good road win over (I believe a ranked at the time) a team that finished 3-5 in the conference.

Ya, I also believe 'Big Time Timmy Brew' & Joel Maturi called that one a 'progam changer'. Look at how that ended up. I guess they were right.

 

[Iceland12]

Ya, I also believe 'Big Time Timmy Brew' & Joel Maturi called that one a 'progam changer'. Look at how that ended up. I guess they were right.

"Big Time Timmy"? Why Mr. Bigelow, been listening to Mr.Reusse?

Oh as an aside to that, Reusse on the Sunday night show and again yesterday, was pretty adamant that Kill's seizures should certainly NOT mean that he should be unseated as Head Coach. Made a pretty rational argument for it too. Yeah, I know....

 

[e.bigelow]

"Big Time Timmy"? Why Mr. Bigelow, been listening to Mr.Reusse?

Oh as an aside to that, Reusse on the Sunday night show and again yesterday, was pretty adamant that Kill's seizures should certainly NOT mean that he should be unseated as Head Coach. Made a pretty rational argument for it too. Yeah, I know....

Haha! I know, I went a little over board there!

I moreso got that from that ESPN commerical with Tim Lincecum (sp?) where he is trying to record a voice mail on his office phone and calls himself 'Big Time Timmy Jam'. Just made me think that Brewster would have recorded something like that on his voice mail.

 

[GophersInIowa]

I don't even know where to begin. Tim Brewster was 3-5 in the B1G IN YEAR 2, he was 3-5 in the B1G IN YEAR 3. I am of the opinion that 3-5 is not acceptable BUT we've seen nothing better than 2-6 so far from Jerry Kill. I am so sick of hearing how Jerry Kill is doing these great things when the facts show recruiting has been at the very bottom of the B1G and the B1G performance has not been better than what we saw in Brewster's 4th and final year when the team went 2-6.

You can defend Jerry Kill's ability/right to coach the Gophers without giving credit for things that have not yet been accomplished.

You have a valid opinion. I can't speak for others but the reason I am excited about the future under Kill is:
1. Kill seems to have a much better handle on the program. Most reports have been that everything is way more organized with clear set goals in mind. It didn't seem to be that way under the old coach.
2. Way more stability than there was under Brewster. Changing coordinators/philosophies all the time is a huge deal. Like I said above, it seems that Kill and his staff know exactly what they want to accomplish short and long term.
3. It seems that players are recruited to fit the system under Kill. I also get the feeling that we will end up seeing a lot more guys who play 4 or 5 years for the program than we did under the old regime.
4. It's only natural for fans to be excited about the future of their team. Is it sometimes overly-optimistic? Probably, but that's what being a fan is all about as far as I'm concerned.

I included the word "seem" several times, so obviously we don't know with 100% that these things are true. But from my observations, and the reports we've seen, this is the conclusions I've come up with. Now, ultimately it comes down to wins and losses, and that will determine his success or failure as our coach.

 

[wait!what?]

Jerry Kill - at best, Gophs win the a National Championship albeit that stupid playoff which I think is total garbage. At worst? he builds a program of good tryhards. which is something we can be proud of.

 

[John Galt]

I don't even know where to begin. Tim Brewster was 3-5 in the B1G IN YEAR 2, he was 3-5 in the B1G IN YEAR 3. I am of the opinion that 3-5 is not acceptable BUT we've seen nothing better than 2-6 so far from Jerry Kill. I am so sick of hearing how Jerry Kill is doing these great things when the facts show recruiting has been at the very bottom of the B1G and the B1G performance has not been better than what we saw in Brewster's 4th and final year when the team went 2-6.

You can defend Jerry Kill's ability/right to coach the Gophers without giving credit for things that have not yet been accomplished.

You are conveniently ignoring the fact that Brewster had the two worst teams (2007 and 2010) in the 125 years of Gopher football.

 

[dpodoll68]

You are conveniently ignoring the fact that Brewster had the two worst teams (2007 and 2010) in the 125 years of Gopher football.

It's opinion-based, of course, but I think most would agree that 1983 was far worse than 2007, and 2010 doesn't even belong in the conversation.

 

[John Galt]

It's opinion-based, of course, but I think most would agree that 1983 was far worse than 2007, and 2010 doesn't even belong in the conversation.

Brewster was what, 1-6 or 1-7 when he was fired in 2010 which included a home loss to South Dakota? It's speculation, but they likely would have finished 1-11 with him as coach.

 

[Bayfieldgopher]

You have a valid opinion. I can't speak for others but the reason I am excited about the future under Kill is:
1. Kill seems to have a much better handle on the program. Most reports have been that everything is way more organized with clear set goals in mind. It didn't seem to be that way under the old coach.
2. Way more stability than there was under Brewster. Changing coordinators/philosophies all the time is a huge deal. Like I said above, it seems that Kill and his staff know exactly what they want to accomplish short and long term.
3. It seems that players are recruited to fit the system under Kill. I also get the feeling that we will end up seeing a lot more guys who play 4 or 5 years for the program than we did under the old regime.
4. It's only natural for fans to be excited about the future of their team. Is it sometimes overly-optimistic? Probably, but that's what being a fan is all about as far as I'm concerned.

I included the word "seem" several times, so obviously we don't know with 100% that these things are true. But from my observations, and the reports we've seen, this is the conclusions I've come up with. Now, ultimately it comes down to wins and losses, and that will determine his success or failure as our coach.

You may want to add that under Coach Kill player retention has improved markedly. Which in turn should provide the program with greater stability, smaller recruiting classes and better depth. Of course, the quality and development of those players is important as well.

 

[GreasyGopher]

I don't even know where to begin. Tim Brewster was 3-5 in the B1G IN YEAR 2, he was 3-5 in the B1G IN YEAR 3. I am of the opinion that 3-5 is not acceptable BUT we've seen nothing better than 2-6 so far from Jerry Kill. I am so sick of hearing how Jerry Kill is doing these great things when the facts show recruiting has been at the very bottom of the B1G and the B1G performance has not been better than what we saw in Brewster's 4th and final year when the team went 2-6.

You can defend Jerry Kill's ability/right to coach the Gophers without giving credit for things that have not yet been accomplished.

How'd Brewster's first year and last year go? Kill has done several things that have advanced the program but the fact of the matter is that he's gonna have to win or all the other good things he has done for the football team will take a backseat . If he doesn't succeed (which i think he will), he will at least have left the program in a better spot for the next coach. There's more to fixing a program than the on field product and Brewster left the team in shambles in essentially all aspects. Unfortunately, improvement in the record book is the last result seen.

While the record books have yet to show an improvement, it is impossible to argue that the University of Minnesota Golden Gopher football team has not benefitted from Kill's presence. Case in point-Rashede Hageman.

 

[GophersInIowa]

You may want to add that under Coach Kill player retention has improved markedly. Which in turn should provide the program with greater stability, smaller recruiting classes and better depth. Of course, the quality and development of those players is important as well.

That's kinda the second point I was making in 4. But you said it a lot better than I did.