Jerry Kill’s comments and responses to questions by Sid Hartman and Dave Mona on today’s Sports Huddle:
1) Sid asked about the bowl defeat of Ohio State and Michigan: Jerry Kill replied, “I think Ohio State is Ohio State . . . (OSU) some shortness on defense . . . Michigan is going through some changes . . . I think there’s more parity (in Big Ten).” Kill said Ohio State is still the most athletic team in the conference and he expects Urban Meyer will correct their problems on defense.
2) Sid asked about recruiting (mentioned Jeff Jones and his reported complimentary comments about coach Kill): “Things are going good,” replied Kill in his response on recruiting. He said this is the “dead period” in recruiting and will be until January 16. The coaching staff will meet tomorrow and begin their evaluation of the past season. Next Sunday Kill will be attending the National Coaches Convention (Sunday through Wednesday). The following day begins the home stretch of recruiting before signing day. The coaches will be busy finishing up their recruiting for the 2014 class; an extremely busy time.
3) Sid asked what the players are currently doing: Kill said they’re off and will return to school January 16, “They’ll go through six weeks of conditioning (leading up to the start of spring ball).” Kill also said they’re going to do things differently this spring: They’ll practice up to spring break and then finish up after spring break. He referenced last year being inhibited practice wise because of the snow and having to practice indoors for most of the spring-ball period.
4) Sid asked about Jamel Harbison and if he would return to the team: Kill tersely stated he will be back and “You gotta do things in a certain way.” He said Harbison is still learning and must be able to do everything (he wasn’t referring to Harbison, only. He said that was the case for all players that play or start, “must learn”).
5) Sid asked if any of Kill’s coaches are leaving for other jobs: Kill said he didn’t know. He added that this is a busy time of year with many coaching changes . . . “domino effect.” He said some of his coaches have coached with Charlie Strong. If a coach can improve his situation he fully supports the coach. If you lose a coach, you replace him and move on. He also said when he’s at the National Coaches Convention he’ll receive a 100 business cards from coaches looking for jobs or to improve their coaching situation. (IMO, it didn’t sound as though he expects to lose any of his coaches, however, as he said, it’s a busy time with all the coaching changes that take place in December and January).
6) Mona asked if he were interested in the Viking job: Kill (laughing) responded, “I’m here at Minnesota.” He did say he hopes the Vikings have success in their search and on the field, especially now that they’ll be playing at TCF Bank Stadium for the next couple seasons. He also acknowledged he is a Kansas City Chief fan.
7) Mona referenced a question of a few weeks back, concerning recruits reporting early: Kill said they’ll have two early arrivals and possibly a third. He said a linebacker (juco) and freshman quarterback will be in school in January and will be available for spring drills. He didn’t identify the position of the third recruit potentially reporting early. He finished the question by saying the quarterback (freshman) is “gifted kid.”
8) Sid asked if there would be any position changes: Kill said they’ll (coaches) will get together tomorrow, “I don’t see any on defense.” On offense, you might see movement in the line – tackle to guard and guard to tackle – and they’re looking for a “true “fullback He also said they may experiment with Chris Streveler this spring, but he didn’t elaborate. As to wholesale changes, “Not a lot of changes just get better.”
9) Mona asked if one of the current tight ends could move to fullback: Kill acknowledged the possibility, however, he, again, stressed they want to find a fullback or two and they’re looking at some incoming recruits for the position.
10) Sid asked if any walkons would be receiving scholarships: “There’ll be one for sure,” replied Kill. Sid asked who the player that would be receiving the scholarship, but Kill did not identify the player because he hadn’t met with the player yet and share the good news.
11) Mona asked about Kill’s pass defense philosophy (defensive backs reading the quarterback’s eyes): Kill said it depends what defense they’re running at the time. If it’s man-to-man coverage (cornerbacks), the defensive backs read the receivers eyes. If they’re in zone coverage and the ball/players are in front they focus on the quarterbacks eyes.
12) Mona asked two questions (one by text – always having a running quarterback) and his about the play of Marcus Jones and if he had lost a step: Kill was positive about Jones’ play, “Got banged up a bit . . . got a reputation (with his early success returning kicks this season and teams started kicking away from him) . . . he did a good job replacing Derrick Engel returning punts . . . did some good things.”
As to having running quarterbacks, Kill acknowledged that has been the case where he has coached (he gave several names) and having a running quarterback is another weapon that the defense must contend with. He added, a running quarterback must have the ability to get out of trouble and be a tough, physical runner.
Go Gophers!!
1) Sid asked about the bowl defeat of Ohio State and Michigan: Jerry Kill replied, “I think Ohio State is Ohio State . . . (OSU) some shortness on defense . . . Michigan is going through some changes . . . I think there’s more parity (in Big Ten).” Kill said Ohio State is still the most athletic team in the conference and he expects Urban Meyer will correct their problems on defense.
2) Sid asked about recruiting (mentioned Jeff Jones and his reported complimentary comments about coach Kill): “Things are going good,” replied Kill in his response on recruiting. He said this is the “dead period” in recruiting and will be until January 16. The coaching staff will meet tomorrow and begin their evaluation of the past season. Next Sunday Kill will be attending the National Coaches Convention (Sunday through Wednesday). The following day begins the home stretch of recruiting before signing day. The coaches will be busy finishing up their recruiting for the 2014 class; an extremely busy time.
3) Sid asked what the players are currently doing: Kill said they’re off and will return to school January 16, “They’ll go through six weeks of conditioning (leading up to the start of spring ball).” Kill also said they’re going to do things differently this spring: They’ll practice up to spring break and then finish up after spring break. He referenced last year being inhibited practice wise because of the snow and having to practice indoors for most of the spring-ball period.
4) Sid asked about Jamel Harbison and if he would return to the team: Kill tersely stated he will be back and “You gotta do things in a certain way.” He said Harbison is still learning and must be able to do everything (he wasn’t referring to Harbison, only. He said that was the case for all players that play or start, “must learn”).
5) Sid asked if any of Kill’s coaches are leaving for other jobs: Kill said he didn’t know. He added that this is a busy time of year with many coaching changes . . . “domino effect.” He said some of his coaches have coached with Charlie Strong. If a coach can improve his situation he fully supports the coach. If you lose a coach, you replace him and move on. He also said when he’s at the National Coaches Convention he’ll receive a 100 business cards from coaches looking for jobs or to improve their coaching situation. (IMO, it didn’t sound as though he expects to lose any of his coaches, however, as he said, it’s a busy time with all the coaching changes that take place in December and January).
6) Mona asked if he were interested in the Viking job: Kill (laughing) responded, “I’m here at Minnesota.” He did say he hopes the Vikings have success in their search and on the field, especially now that they’ll be playing at TCF Bank Stadium for the next couple seasons. He also acknowledged he is a Kansas City Chief fan.
7) Mona referenced a question of a few weeks back, concerning recruits reporting early: Kill said they’ll have two early arrivals and possibly a third. He said a linebacker (juco) and freshman quarterback will be in school in January and will be available for spring drills. He didn’t identify the position of the third recruit potentially reporting early. He finished the question by saying the quarterback (freshman) is “gifted kid.”
8) Sid asked if there would be any position changes: Kill said they’ll (coaches) will get together tomorrow, “I don’t see any on defense.” On offense, you might see movement in the line – tackle to guard and guard to tackle – and they’re looking for a “true “fullback He also said they may experiment with Chris Streveler this spring, but he didn’t elaborate. As to wholesale changes, “Not a lot of changes just get better.”
9) Mona asked if one of the current tight ends could move to fullback: Kill acknowledged the possibility, however, he, again, stressed they want to find a fullback or two and they’re looking at some incoming recruits for the position.
10) Sid asked if any walkons would be receiving scholarships: “There’ll be one for sure,” replied Kill. Sid asked who the player that would be receiving the scholarship, but Kill did not identify the player because he hadn’t met with the player yet and share the good news.
11) Mona asked about Kill’s pass defense philosophy (defensive backs reading the quarterback’s eyes): Kill said it depends what defense they’re running at the time. If it’s man-to-man coverage (cornerbacks), the defensive backs read the receivers eyes. If they’re in zone coverage and the ball/players are in front they focus on the quarterbacks eyes.
12) Mona asked two questions (one by text – always having a running quarterback) and his about the play of Marcus Jones and if he had lost a step: Kill was positive about Jones’ play, “Got banged up a bit . . . got a reputation (with his early success returning kicks this season and teams started kicking away from him) . . . he did a good job replacing Derrick Engel returning punts . . . did some good things.”
As to having running quarterbacks, Kill acknowledged that has been the case where he has coached (he gave several names) and having a running quarterback is another weapon that the defense must contend with. He added, a running quarterback must have the ability to get out of trouble and be a tough, physical runner.
Go Gophers!!
