ESPN: Jerry Kill provided a lesson in resilience

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BleedGopher

BleedGopher

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per ESPN:

Every time Kill suffered a seizure and missed time, many would assume he'd finally lost his fight with the debilitating condition.

And we were usually wrong.

Until Tuesday when Kill "just ran out of juice."

But not before he showed the naysayers his resilience.

Epilepsy didn't stop Kill. Kill kicked its tail for six-plus years after many thought he was finished on that field in Minneapolis.

For years, I wondered why Kill kept going after that day. Turns out, he was just tougher than we realized.

So Tuesday wasn't a retirement.

As a reporter who followed Kill through his worst days, it was a coronation for someone who'd pulled himself off the mat more times than I ever imagined a person could.

http://kwese.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/21820228/jerry-kill-provided-lesson-resilience

Go Gophers!!
 

Great article. Coach Kill has blessed all of us fans with so many great lessons. I wish him all the best.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

Kill was a Gopher so he will always have a special place in my heart. That said, at some point, he 'fighting against the disease' because a selfish one. He placed a ton of uncertainty on the Gopher team and I am sure Rutgers will feel the same way. He needs to weigh the good he adds as a coach vs. the unnecessary distraction he causes. In that way, he reminds me of a prize fighter that hung around too long. He never should have taken the Rutgers job without a true commitment to gut out more than a couple of years. Hopefully, he has the support system around him to stop him from trying his hand at coaching at the D1 level again. It is not good for him or the team he coaches at this point.
 

csom_1991 said:
Kill was a Gopher so he will always have a special place in my heart. That said, at some point, he 'fighting against the disease' because a selfish one. He placed a ton of uncertainty on the Gopher team and I am sure Rutgers will feel the same way. He needs to weigh the good he adds as a coach vs. the unnecessary distraction he causes. In that way, he reminds me of a prize fighter that hung around too long. He never should have taken the Rutgers job without a true commitment to gut out more than a couple of years. Hopefully, he has the support system around him to stop him from trying his hand at coaching at the D1 level again. It is not good for him or the team he coaches at this point.
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Wondering if you've ever battled a disease or been on the medications around them? I don't disagree with your thoughts, but often those battling disease, pain, taking medications can't process situations clearly. They become "fighters". Kudos to the schools that worked with Kill to help him try to lead as normal life as possible.
 

Pat: Coaching wouldn't cut Jerry Kill a break

Kill's ongoing struggle with epilepsy caused him to retire as the Gophers head coach seven games into the 2015 season. He spent a year working as a football administrator in the Kansas State athletic department.

"Football is an addiction, and I'm an addict,'' Kill said. "I had been seizure-free for over a year, when this Rutgers deal came up. I said to Rebecca, 'I want to try it again. I might be able to handle it.' "

http://www.startribune.com/coaching-wouldn-t-cut-jerry-kill-a-break/465576853/

Go Gophers!!
 


Apparently Jerry Kill was on 1500 with Doogie and Judd in the 11 o'clock hour today. Might have to go back and listen to the podcast.

While curious as to what he had to say, I wonder would another market have such an obsession with the opinions of a former coach who has not been around the program in 3 years? And yes, I understand he announced his retirement due to health reasons yesterday and maybe that is what they discussed.
 

BleedGopher said:
Pat: Coaching wouldn't cut Jerry Kill a break

Kill's ongoing struggle with epilepsy caused him to retire as the Gophers head coach seven games into the 2015 season. He spent a year working as a football administrator in the Kansas State athletic department.

"Football is an addiction, and I'm an addict,'' Kill said. "I had been seizure-free for over a year, when this Rutgers deal came up. I said to Rebecca, 'I want to try it again. I might be able to handle it.' "

http://www.startribune.com/coaching-wouldn-t-cut-jerry-kill-a-break/465576853/

Go Gophers!!
Click to expand...

Yes, that was a great write-up today. Important parts here as well:

Chris Ash was entering his second season at Rutgers and was looking for an offensive coordinator. The Scarlet Knights were 0-9 in the Big Ten in 2016; meaning, as was his custom in five stops as a college head coach, Kill wasn't walking into a cushy job as a coordinator.

"We won three Big Ten games this year,'' Kill said. "I'm not sure how that happened, except we had some fighters on this team.''

Overall, the Knights were 4-8, and the toughest of those losses to take was against a MAC team, Eastern Michigan, in the second game. That was also the game in which Kill was run over on the sideline and wound up being hospitalized.

"That's where it started,'' Kill said Wednesday, referring to a return of the struggle with epilepsy.

By midseason, the epilepsy doctors that have done exceptional work for Kill were telling him to step away again — that the return to coaching had proven to be a negative for his health.

"I said, 'I'm not doing that again in the middle of a season; I'm going to coach to the finish,' " Kill said.

There were a couple of adjectives added to the quote, even with Rebecca listening to the phone call from a couple of feet away.

Kill found himself worn down again at the end of the season.

"I was eating good stuff, like the doctors wanted, but I only know one way to coach,'' he said. "You can't back off. And the guy here [Ash] is all-out. You can't be the coach on the staff that's going home early.''

A week after Rutgers finished with a 40-7 loss to Michigan State, Kill told Ash that he was going to retire again from coaching.

"It was going to become official on a Monday,'' Kill said. "I was feeling depressed. Then, our daughter Tasha had our first grandchild — Emery Ann. I flew to Illinois on Sunday, and held that beautiful baby girl in my arms, and everything was fine.''

The details of Kill's retirement were finalized and Rutgers announced it Tuesday.

"I wanted it out there before signing day,'' he said. "There were a couple of quarterbacks I'd recruited, and I didn't want it to seem like we were pulling a fast one. I've been a straight-up guy for 30-plus years of coaching, and that wasn't going to change.''
Click to expand...

The Kills and Hercules were headed from New Jersey back to Marian, Ill., and their home on a lake. The football addiction remains, and Kill wouldn't object to a consulting job like he had at Kansas State.

"I had a great setup there, with Coach [Bill] Snyder,'' Kill said. "The problem was, Coach and the athletic director, John Currie, didn't get along at all, and I was in the middle.''

The John Currie that wound up at Tennessee and turned the football coaching search into a national laughingstock before being fired?

"Yeah, that one,'' Kill said.

Asked if he talks with Tracy Claeys, Kill's replacement who was fired after one 9-4 season in 2016, Kill said:

"All the time. I think Tracy has a couple of things out there right now. I'm hoping he'll be back in a good situation as a defensive coordinator very soon.''

There is another important issue confronting the 56-year-old Kill:

"All the seizures have given me short-term memory loss,'' he said. "I have to deal with that. My daughter is a speech therapist, and there are some methods to slow it down.''
Click to expand...


Yikes on the memory loss! Hope it isn't as bad as it sounds, or something that can be treated to full recovery. Really hope he won't try coaching again.

The admin position sounds great. Wonder if he'll try to work something like that when Claeys gets picked up again for DC, at whatever school that happens to be.
 

Stan The Caddy said:
Apparently Jerry Kill was on 1500 with Doogie and Judd in the 11 o'clock hour today. Might have to go back and listen to the podcast.

While curious as to what he had to say, I wonder would another market have such an obsession with the opinions of a former coach who has not been around the program in 3 years? And yes, I understand he announced his retirement due to health reasons yesterday and maybe that is what they discussed.
Click to expand...

I wonder if another market would have such disdain for a man's attempt at living his dream because the potential of seeing someone have a seizure is offensive to them in some way....then have the audacity to call HIM selfish.

People care because he transcends football. He's touched lives in the community. Every kid who's come in contact with the man would run through a wall for him. His life work was not only coaching football, but inspiring kids to grow into great men. He's loved.

On top of that, he drug this program out of the gutter and is a key reason why Fleck just landed his highly touted recruiting class. The facilities are 100% on Kill, his advocacy for them, and his fundraising efforts while the his AD was making a mockery of the athletic department.

I don't know why so many curmudgeonly, self-righteous, people care that others are inspired by the man enough to hear what he want to say, even though he's no longer coaching a meaningless game at a lower tier B1G program.

As an uncle to a child with debilitating epilepsy, considering all he's done for that cause (not only charitable work, but just being an inspiration), Jerry Kill is more than welcome in my community any time. Not only would I not bitch and complain the he was there, but I'd give him the shirt off my back if he was in need.
 

Heracles said:
I wonder if another market would have such disdain for a man's attempt at living his dream because the potential of seeing someone have a seizure is offensive to them in some way....then have the audacity to call HIM selfish.

People care because he transcends football. He's touched lives in the community. Every kid who's come in contact with the man would run through a wall for him. His life work was not only coaching football, but inspiring kids to grow into great men. He's loved.

On top of that, he drug this program out of the gutter and is a key reason why Fleck just landed his highly touted recruiting class. The facilities are 100% on Kill, his advocacy for them, and his fundraising efforts while the his AD was making a mockery of the athletic department.

I don't know why so many curmudgeonly, self-righteous, people care that others are inspired by the man enough to hear what he want to say, even though he's no longer coaching a meaningless game at a lower tier B1G program.

As an uncle to a child with debilitating epilepsy, considering all he's done for that cause (not only charitable work, but just being an inspiration), Jerry Kill is more than welcome in my community any time. Not only would I not bitch and complain the he was there, but I'd give him the shirt off my back if he was in need.
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I hope you were not responding to what I posted. Nowhere did I call Kill selfish. I guess I should have been more clear in my post. I meant the fascination with Kill's opinion of the Gopher program. He has not been involved in 3 years. Things were going the wrong way, especially off the field and in recruiting under TC. It does Jerry no good to chime in with his negative feelings towards the administration.

I completely understand the interest in his personal story and it would be completely appropriate to discuss that in an interview. It is sad that a disease prevented him from doing what he loves.
 



Stan The Caddy said:
Apparently Jerry Kill was on 1500 with Doogie and Judd in the 11 o'clock hour today. Might have to go back and listen to the podcast.

While curious as to what he had to say, I wonder would another market have such an obsession with the opinions of a former coach who has not been around the program in 3 years? And yes, I understand he announced his retirement due to health reasons yesterday and maybe that is what they discussed.
Click to expand...

Jerry Kill was well liked and was respected for his frankness, honesty and work ethic. In time would have broken the long legacy of incompetence with the administration in regards to athletics. Jerry Kill still maintains a foundation here and will have permanent connections here that are close to the U. He was a football coach, rarely controversial, and made no promises. focused on the basics first. This is why he is still talked about in this market.
 


Stan The Caddy said:
Apparently Jerry Kill was on 1500 with Doogie and Judd in the 11 o'clock hour today. Might have to go back and listen to the podcast.

While curious as to what he had to say, I wonder would another market have such an obsession with the opinions of a former coach who has not been around the program in 3 years? And yes, I understand he announced his retirement due to health reasons yesterday and maybe that is what they discussed.
Click to expand...

Lots of schools make a big deal out of their old coaches, particularly the relatively successful ones.
 

A_Slab_of_Bacon said:
Lots of schools make a big deal out of their old coaches, particularly the relatively successful ones.
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Agree. What is a little weird about the Kill situation is that there are those that act like when Claeys got fired the administration was somehow firing Kill as well. It is almost like some choose to ignore the fact that he left, he wasn't fired.

I have personal reasons for why I will never be a true fan of Kill but I respect what he did at the U. It is a shame that health forced him to retire twice but hopefully now he will finally be able to find peace outside of the world of coaching.
 



I finally had the chance to listen to the interview. I encourage people to listen to it. Kill goes on and on, because he was asked, about how PJ talking culture really bothers him. He is still clearly upset at Claeys being fired and how it was handled. He flat out said his issue is with, "Mark Coyle and the President." He described Tracy as the "fall guy."

The interview went 19 minutes and it ended very oddly. Judd basically cut him off because they were way over time and past break.
 

Stan The Caddy said:
I finally had the chance to listen to the interview. I encourage people to listen to it. Kill goes on and on, because he was asked, about how PJ talking culture really bothers him. He is still clearly upset at Claeys being fired and how it was handled. He flat out said his issue is with, "Mark Coyle and the President." He described Tracy as the "fall guy."

The interview went 19 minutes and it ended very oddly. Judd basically cut him off because they were way over time and past break.
Click to expand...

A solid percentage of fans agree Coyle didn’t handle the firing well and PJ could have been more clear what he was talking about regarding culture when he was first hired on. We also know some here don’t see any issues at all, seemingly because the ends justify the means. Different people have different standards of social decorum and self awareness. Our political climate should crystallize that for even the most obtuse.
 

Pompous Elitist said:
A solid percentage of fans agree Coyle didn’t handle the firing well and PJ could have been more clear what he was talking about regarding culture when he was first hired on. We also know some here don’t see any issues at all, seemingly because the ends justify the means. Different people have different standards of social decorum and self awareness. Our political climate should crystallize that for even the most obtuse.
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Well said. Fleck should have framed his initial comments about his goals for the program more carefully.
 

MNVCGUY said:
Agree. What is a little weird about the Kill situation is that there are those that act like when Claeys got fired the administration was somehow firing Kill as well. It is almost like some choose to ignore the fact that he left, he wasn't fired.

I have personal reasons for why I will never be a true fan of Kill but I respect what he did at the U. It is a shame that health forced him to retire twice but hopefully now he will finally be able to find peace outside of the world of coaching.
Click to expand...

Did he kick your dog? What?
 


Heracles said:
I wonder if another market would have such disdain for a man's attempt at living his dream because the potential of seeing someone have a seizure is offensive to them in some way....then have the audacity to call HIM selfish.

People care because he transcends football. He's touched lives in the community. Every kid who's come in contact with the man would run through a wall for him. His life work was not only coaching football, but inspiring kids to grow into great men. He's loved.

On top of that, he drug this program out of the gutter and is a key reason why Fleck just landed his highly touted recruiting class. The facilities are 100% on Kill, his advocacy for them, and his fundraising efforts while the his AD was making a mockery of the athletic department.

I don't know why so many curmudgeonly, self-righteous, people care that others are inspired by the man enough to hear what he want to say, even though he's no longer coaching a meaningless game at a lower tier B1G program.

As an uncle to a child with debilitating epilepsy, considering all he's done for that cause (not only charitable work, but just being an inspiration), Jerry Kill is more than welcome in my community any time. Not only would I not bitch and complain the he was there, but I'd give him the shirt off my back if he was in need.
Click to expand...

Agree 100%. Those that trash Kill should take stock of their words, look in the mirror and judge themselves against their statements. When you consider what he did with the community, facilities and the team, he did more in a short time than any coach in recent history.
 

Kill laid the foundation where PJ Fleck is standing on right now. Kudos to him for making the Athletic Village a reality and for starting the rebuilding of the football team.

He is an important step in the building of the Gopher Football to prominence. He deserves credit for all that he has done.

He took a job no body wanted. I think he was even surprised how much worst the program was. From kids not going to classes, administrative issues, football team in disarray, to facilities issues, etc...

It is hard to imagine what would have been if he did not have epilepsy. Would he have taken the program to the level of Wisconsin's? We will never know. I don't know if his level of recruiting would have reached PJ Fleck's.

Look at the four programs ahead of of the Gophers - Wisconsin with Chryst, Iowa with Ferentz, Northwestern with Fitz, and Nebraska now with Frost. This is how I rate the programs in order of best to worst.

Any of these programs would have been consistent like Wisconsin's and compete with the likes of tOSU, Penn State, and Michigan and win with regularity. Wisconsin, Iowa, and Northwestern are solid programs with coaches who can evaluate talent and coach well. That is how tough it is in the B1G.

Incidentally, Minnesota, Purdue, and Illinois are the programs that have suffered through coaching instability. Wisconsin under Alvarez' oversight has a system in place where you could plug-in another coach with success.

If it is tough for Ferentz and Fitz, it certainly will be a tough climb for the Gophers under Kill. I have been looking at some interesting data from the past seven years. I will post the results of at a later date.

One equalizer that PJ Fleck can provide is exceptional recruiting, great leadership of the coaching staff, and strong marketing & communications skills. Can PJ Fleck recruit at the talent level that is enough to overtake teams ahead of the Gophers? Time will tell. It is very promising.
 


Pompous Elitist said:
You can’t throw out an accusation like that and not back it up.
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See, that is where you are wrong, I have my reasons but they are personal and not anything that would alter the opinions of anyone here, so there is nothing to be gained by going into it. I understand that is vague but that is all I am willing to say about it.

I respect the job Kill did in cleaning up the Brewster mess and I am sorry his career was ended the way it was. I sincerely hope he can find a new role that makes him happy now that coaching is off the table for him.
 

Let’s build the statue already!
Just because some are optimistic about our current staff, doesn’t mean that they hate the Kill regime. Kill did an excellent job in progressing football at the U, but that doesn’t mean he didn’t have a few blemishes (i.e. offense).
We will never know what could have happened, but we do know we currently have. I understand there are many avid Kill fans, but there comes a time to live in the present and put past idols on the shelf.


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