GopherLady
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I saw the highlights of the Jerry Kill interview, but this is something that is a must listen, or you can read my recap (not verbatim, but as close as I could get). Judd, Doogie and PMac asked some really good question, and Kill gave candid answers.
Also, before you jump on Kill, remember...people are requesting him, he's not begging media to have him on. I love how honest he is, how much he gave to the program, and how much he cares about the kids. He doesn't seem bitter, but caring of these coaches and their families.
If you can, listen to it here, tone is important -> http://www.1500espn.com/gophers-2/2...key-judd-will-never-step-foot-inside-stadium/
Here you go, I bolded some of the highlights:
• What was your reaction?
It wasn't just Tracy, it was the whole staff, families, kids, etc…you never want anyone to lose a job, nobody thinks about those other things, the families. I was shocked, the coaching profession was shocked. I got so many calls from around the country. It shocked the college football scene.
I don't know all the details about everything. I talked about my support for my coaches, they're my family. The response I have is pretty much shock, I'm still in shock. I think the thing, I didn't listen to the whole press conference, but my understanding was the athletic director talked about class and integrity, is that correct? Yes. I guess my comment is - I was part of that program of people, and the program has been run in a 1st class manor, I don't think there's anyone in the country that would argue that. If you make a statement like that, you need to go back, Mark wasn't here when we started, he could talk to Joel Maturi and see where it started and where it's gone to. He hasn’t been there. They're not building that new facility because of him, a lot of work went into that by a lot of people. To call people out like that, you've gotta know them. I think he may have come to one practice, he doesn't know the players, they don't know him. To call people out like that…I don't think that's professional, but that's my opinion. I'm sure he's a respected AD and all that, I'm just saying how I feel, there's a better way to do that. We all understand that people get fired, if Tracy's not the guy and didn't reach expectations, then say that….but to go on about integrity and class. He doesn't know those families. Those families go to church, they raise good children, I think that's a little overboard. If you want to fire a guy, that's their choice, but I think there's a right and wrong way to do this. They knew they were going to do this a long time ago, everyone acts like no one talks to anybody. Coach Kill is pretty well connected to most coaches in the college world, there's been a lot of talking going on, I'm not going to go any further than that. You don't fire a coach, unless you have somebody that's ready to go. Sometimes you just start out and lay things on the line. We all accept going a different direction…that's the way it is, but what's most disappointing, over the last 6 years, for me, let me tell you something, we have done nothing buy represent the state of MN, my wife and I have a foundation there, coaches have given every ounce they've had, to say it's a classless program. There was a situation that happened here recently, yes there has been. A lot of FB programs have situations like that, could it be handled better? Yes. I can comment about the character and class and type of people that have been running that program, they are good people. You're a parent whether you think you are or not. As a coach, you've gotta deal with it. If they say he didn't run the program well enough, fine, I say go somewhere else and move where it's warmer. That's fine. But when you go publicly at a news conference and you talk about the integrity of people…that's the case, correct? Judd: yes.
• Was Tracy fired because of this? Or was this actually a decision the school was trying to make?
It's hard for me to predict what the administration was thinking. A lot of times, the athletic director is new and wants to go a different way. He wanted to do that at Syracuse and fired another guy I know. He's the boss, he's got a right to do that, in coaching you accept that. I was lucky, I survived 3 of them without getting fired. Sometimes management wants to go a different direction. I imagine winning the bowl game made it more difficult. It's just my opinion, but I believe their decisions were made long before that. An educated guess.
• From Tracy's standpoint, and the way the boycott played out…someone has to step in and say, this is what the ramifications may be. Could this have been handled differently on Tracy's end?
Like I said, I'm not there every day, I don't know everything that's happened since November. When someone's called me about something, my opinion is, life here at Kansas State you know what's going on, it's been laid out very upfront, we only have 14 sports, in my office we have an attorney that represents just the athletics. There's a communication that goes on when a situation occurs, that happens immediately. You have an attorney that tells you what you need to do, and how you need to handle it. I mentioned that to one of the administrators there, it's a great idea to have that. My understanding was that Tracy was in San Diego, from a standpoint, you've got to get out in front of that situation before it comes where it did. There must have been a huge lack of communication. When you have a big company and something breaks down, the 1st thing you do, you don't look at the employees, you look all the way to the top. You've got to have everyone work together to solve it. At Kansas State, the way we're set up, it wouldn't happen. They are on top of those type of things.
• Disappointed in how Kaler has handled all this?
I'm going to be partial because that's my family. I can't answer the fact, because I don't know how it was communicated from the beginning. I am disappointed sometimes when things happen, and you look at other programs, sometimes you've gotta stick (missed the next part). I just think, if they were honest all the time, and told Tracy, this is where you stand, and this is how you'll lose your job, but if you didn't do that, let him sit there for a week, have his guts turn inside out, how would you like that to happen? Everyone makes mistakes. I'm sure Tracy would say he made mistakes, I make mistakes every day. Admit them and learn from them. I don't know how much President Kaler was involved, but I know he was. I feel bad for everybody, in the fact that we couldn’t get it worked out, where it came to this because it's going to hurt the football program. It already has. You've got some tough situations still to deal with. 10 kids that still have to go through a process, a situation there that have got to be solved, some angry people, parents, etc. It seems like it's been one thing to another. From Norwood's situation to everything else, one thing after the other. It's just too bad that with the football program, and the type of people that I know that are in it, and people talking about how Coach stood up for his team. Let me ask you a question if you had a son that was on that team, what are you gonna do, if you don't stand up for your team, you're a (cut out - think he said loser).
We're throwing one guy under the bus, I don't think that's right. That's my opinion. Of course, I'm partial. It's a great place, but you're talking about a place that doesn't have an attorney in the athletic department. I'd think you'd have one. I think there's one African American cop on campus, when I was there, there was none. Why? Don’t ask me that question, I'm just telling you. That gets into some issues when I was there with Tubby. There's just issues that are very sensitive with all parties. You're dealing with some real sensitive issues that go deeper than just football.
• You inherited a dumpster fire, it took years to turn that around, what's the disappointment now, it's gone basically.
I care about the kids, and they hire a good coach, keep the kids around, and continue to build what we did. Any coach would want that. Regardless of what you think of administration, those coaches coach because of the kids. That's why they coach. Every one of them wants the program to progress and get better, no one wants to see it go down the tubes. We put a lot of years into that program, it was a lot of sweat, it wore my ass out, and it's worn a lot of other people out. Sometimes you're fighting within yourselves more than everyone working together to to a common cause. You work harder inside the gates of MN than outside the gates, you're fighting something every single day. It doesn't have to be that way. Until they get everyone to work together and be on the same page, it's not going to happen. The work that we put into it, I hope it pays off down the road, I hope it doesn't slip. There are a lot of people that have done a lot there, a lot of people have gone…Beth Goetz did a lot of work there, no one talks about what she had to go through. There's a lot of people that have gone through there to make that program better. I'll tell you right now, that program right now is better, a lot better than it was when I came in. There's no question about that. It's a LOT better. Would you all agree to that?
• Phil: Compared to the guy that had the coaching job before you, we'd all agree! We have 30 seconds or a minute left…you worked with PJ Fleck before at NIU….Kill:
I'm not going to get into any of that about coaching and who's coaching. I think there are some things that have been done wrong that shouldn't have been done, so I'm not going to go there. I've seen it happen with Tubby and Tracy. I just hope everyone doesn't forget that for a program that doesn't have a lot of class and integrity, how many people have gotten in trouble, check the GPA out, check the APR out…think of all the good things that have happened to the program. I certainly haven't forgotten about the good people of Minnesota, I continue, and a lot of people around there continue to raise money for epilepsy, cancer, and anybody else I can help. I would be blind if I said I was not disappointed in how this thing was handled. If I'm at Rutgers still, whatever, but I won't be stepping foot back in the stadium, and I won't be stepping back at the University. My wife and I will not. We gave our best to the state of MN, we'll always come to MN, my daughter is there, we love MN and I'll go to every baseball game, pro football game, anything else, but I will not ever be in that stadium or that complex, and they're building a new complex and we had a lot to do with that, I won't ever see it. I wish them all the luck in the world, and hope the decision that Mark made was right, and I do hope the program is where it can be straight forward, I'm a straight forward guy.
Also, before you jump on Kill, remember...people are requesting him, he's not begging media to have him on. I love how honest he is, how much he gave to the program, and how much he cares about the kids. He doesn't seem bitter, but caring of these coaches and their families.
If you can, listen to it here, tone is important -> http://www.1500espn.com/gophers-2/2...key-judd-will-never-step-foot-inside-stadium/
Here you go, I bolded some of the highlights:
• What was your reaction?
It wasn't just Tracy, it was the whole staff, families, kids, etc…you never want anyone to lose a job, nobody thinks about those other things, the families. I was shocked, the coaching profession was shocked. I got so many calls from around the country. It shocked the college football scene.
I don't know all the details about everything. I talked about my support for my coaches, they're my family. The response I have is pretty much shock, I'm still in shock. I think the thing, I didn't listen to the whole press conference, but my understanding was the athletic director talked about class and integrity, is that correct? Yes. I guess my comment is - I was part of that program of people, and the program has been run in a 1st class manor, I don't think there's anyone in the country that would argue that. If you make a statement like that, you need to go back, Mark wasn't here when we started, he could talk to Joel Maturi and see where it started and where it's gone to. He hasn’t been there. They're not building that new facility because of him, a lot of work went into that by a lot of people. To call people out like that, you've gotta know them. I think he may have come to one practice, he doesn't know the players, they don't know him. To call people out like that…I don't think that's professional, but that's my opinion. I'm sure he's a respected AD and all that, I'm just saying how I feel, there's a better way to do that. We all understand that people get fired, if Tracy's not the guy and didn't reach expectations, then say that….but to go on about integrity and class. He doesn't know those families. Those families go to church, they raise good children, I think that's a little overboard. If you want to fire a guy, that's their choice, but I think there's a right and wrong way to do this. They knew they were going to do this a long time ago, everyone acts like no one talks to anybody. Coach Kill is pretty well connected to most coaches in the college world, there's been a lot of talking going on, I'm not going to go any further than that. You don't fire a coach, unless you have somebody that's ready to go. Sometimes you just start out and lay things on the line. We all accept going a different direction…that's the way it is, but what's most disappointing, over the last 6 years, for me, let me tell you something, we have done nothing buy represent the state of MN, my wife and I have a foundation there, coaches have given every ounce they've had, to say it's a classless program. There was a situation that happened here recently, yes there has been. A lot of FB programs have situations like that, could it be handled better? Yes. I can comment about the character and class and type of people that have been running that program, they are good people. You're a parent whether you think you are or not. As a coach, you've gotta deal with it. If they say he didn't run the program well enough, fine, I say go somewhere else and move where it's warmer. That's fine. But when you go publicly at a news conference and you talk about the integrity of people…that's the case, correct? Judd: yes.
• Was Tracy fired because of this? Or was this actually a decision the school was trying to make?
It's hard for me to predict what the administration was thinking. A lot of times, the athletic director is new and wants to go a different way. He wanted to do that at Syracuse and fired another guy I know. He's the boss, he's got a right to do that, in coaching you accept that. I was lucky, I survived 3 of them without getting fired. Sometimes management wants to go a different direction. I imagine winning the bowl game made it more difficult. It's just my opinion, but I believe their decisions were made long before that. An educated guess.
• From Tracy's standpoint, and the way the boycott played out…someone has to step in and say, this is what the ramifications may be. Could this have been handled differently on Tracy's end?
Like I said, I'm not there every day, I don't know everything that's happened since November. When someone's called me about something, my opinion is, life here at Kansas State you know what's going on, it's been laid out very upfront, we only have 14 sports, in my office we have an attorney that represents just the athletics. There's a communication that goes on when a situation occurs, that happens immediately. You have an attorney that tells you what you need to do, and how you need to handle it. I mentioned that to one of the administrators there, it's a great idea to have that. My understanding was that Tracy was in San Diego, from a standpoint, you've got to get out in front of that situation before it comes where it did. There must have been a huge lack of communication. When you have a big company and something breaks down, the 1st thing you do, you don't look at the employees, you look all the way to the top. You've got to have everyone work together to solve it. At Kansas State, the way we're set up, it wouldn't happen. They are on top of those type of things.
• Disappointed in how Kaler has handled all this?
I'm going to be partial because that's my family. I can't answer the fact, because I don't know how it was communicated from the beginning. I am disappointed sometimes when things happen, and you look at other programs, sometimes you've gotta stick (missed the next part). I just think, if they were honest all the time, and told Tracy, this is where you stand, and this is how you'll lose your job, but if you didn't do that, let him sit there for a week, have his guts turn inside out, how would you like that to happen? Everyone makes mistakes. I'm sure Tracy would say he made mistakes, I make mistakes every day. Admit them and learn from them. I don't know how much President Kaler was involved, but I know he was. I feel bad for everybody, in the fact that we couldn’t get it worked out, where it came to this because it's going to hurt the football program. It already has. You've got some tough situations still to deal with. 10 kids that still have to go through a process, a situation there that have got to be solved, some angry people, parents, etc. It seems like it's been one thing to another. From Norwood's situation to everything else, one thing after the other. It's just too bad that with the football program, and the type of people that I know that are in it, and people talking about how Coach stood up for his team. Let me ask you a question if you had a son that was on that team, what are you gonna do, if you don't stand up for your team, you're a (cut out - think he said loser).
We're throwing one guy under the bus, I don't think that's right. That's my opinion. Of course, I'm partial. It's a great place, but you're talking about a place that doesn't have an attorney in the athletic department. I'd think you'd have one. I think there's one African American cop on campus, when I was there, there was none. Why? Don’t ask me that question, I'm just telling you. That gets into some issues when I was there with Tubby. There's just issues that are very sensitive with all parties. You're dealing with some real sensitive issues that go deeper than just football.
• You inherited a dumpster fire, it took years to turn that around, what's the disappointment now, it's gone basically.
I care about the kids, and they hire a good coach, keep the kids around, and continue to build what we did. Any coach would want that. Regardless of what you think of administration, those coaches coach because of the kids. That's why they coach. Every one of them wants the program to progress and get better, no one wants to see it go down the tubes. We put a lot of years into that program, it was a lot of sweat, it wore my ass out, and it's worn a lot of other people out. Sometimes you're fighting within yourselves more than everyone working together to to a common cause. You work harder inside the gates of MN than outside the gates, you're fighting something every single day. It doesn't have to be that way. Until they get everyone to work together and be on the same page, it's not going to happen. The work that we put into it, I hope it pays off down the road, I hope it doesn't slip. There are a lot of people that have done a lot there, a lot of people have gone…Beth Goetz did a lot of work there, no one talks about what she had to go through. There's a lot of people that have gone through there to make that program better. I'll tell you right now, that program right now is better, a lot better than it was when I came in. There's no question about that. It's a LOT better. Would you all agree to that?
• Phil: Compared to the guy that had the coaching job before you, we'd all agree! We have 30 seconds or a minute left…you worked with PJ Fleck before at NIU….Kill:
I'm not going to get into any of that about coaching and who's coaching. I think there are some things that have been done wrong that shouldn't have been done, so I'm not going to go there. I've seen it happen with Tubby and Tracy. I just hope everyone doesn't forget that for a program that doesn't have a lot of class and integrity, how many people have gotten in trouble, check the GPA out, check the APR out…think of all the good things that have happened to the program. I certainly haven't forgotten about the good people of Minnesota, I continue, and a lot of people around there continue to raise money for epilepsy, cancer, and anybody else I can help. I would be blind if I said I was not disappointed in how this thing was handled. If I'm at Rutgers still, whatever, but I won't be stepping foot back in the stadium, and I won't be stepping back at the University. My wife and I will not. We gave our best to the state of MN, we'll always come to MN, my daughter is there, we love MN and I'll go to every baseball game, pro football game, anything else, but I will not ever be in that stadium or that complex, and they're building a new complex and we had a lot to do with that, I won't ever see it. I wish them all the luck in the world, and hope the decision that Mark made was right, and I do hope the program is where it can be straight forward, I'm a straight forward guy.
