Mike Max was in for Dave Mona on today’s Sports Huddle. Comments and responses by Coach Kill to the questions raised by Sid Hartman and Mike Max:
1) Mike Max asked how do you keep recruits (especially from Florida) when you have the weather that has enveloped Minnesota this year: Coach Kill said, “Just got back from Nike Convention in Denver – didn’t see any snow.” Kill jokingly said that you wouldn’t want to have any recruits in now and that he has ten feet of snow in front of his house.
2) Sid asked Coach Kill about the early opening of spring drills that commence next week: “Big thing you can’t predict the weather . . . (by starting early) if you get someone hurt you have time to get them back . . . (gain) another weight lifting session,” replied Kill. He also said they’ll be spending a lot of time indoors (inclement weather), which adversely affects the kicking game.
3) Sid asked for names of players that will be held out of spring drills: Those that will not practice, as listed by Coach Kill: Alex Bisch, tight end; Tyler Hartman, defensive lineman; Jon Christenson, offensive lineman; Derrick Wells, defensive back. When he mentioned Christenson and Wells, Kill said, “We already know what they can do.”
Kill gave a list of players that will see limited action in the spring workouts (sounded like more conditioning rather than participation in actual contact/drills): Briean Boddy, defensive back; Joe Bjorkland, offensive lineman; Yoshoub Timms, defensive tackle; Caleb Bak, offensive lineman. Kill sounded very pleased with Bak’s recovery from surgery and progress.
4) Mike Max asked about “Pro Day” at the U tomorrow, and he said Brock Vereen’s participation has to help: Kill’s response to Max’s comment about Brock Vereen, “He’s highly intelligent . . . don’t know how much he’ll do because of the (his success) combine.” He said the same about Ra’Shede Hageman; both had very good results at the recent combine.
5) Max followed up his question by asking what the pro evaluators look for at the pro day exercises: Kill said it’s about evaluation. Frequently they know what the players can do athletically, so they talk to academic officials and trainers – try to ascertain the player’s character – strengths and weaknesses.
6) Sid asked if there are other Gopher players participating in the “Pro Day” event: Kill said it’s about chasing a dream, and that you never know who might catch the eye of the evaluators and catch on as a free agent. He went onto say that there may be seven or eight former Gopher players participating. Players he named as participants: Martez Shabazz, defensive back; Jeremy Baltazar, defensive back; Aaron Hill, linebacker; Roland Johnson, defensive tackle; and Eddie Olson, offensive lineman.
7) Sid asked what they’re (Minnesota coaching staff) looking for and hope to get out of this year’s spring drills: He said they’ll spend a lot of time on situational football – fourth and one and fourth and two – red zone play (offensively). He said they lost games last year because of being stopped in the red zone.
Kill, again, mentioned the kicking game and not being able to do what they’d like to do because of having to practice indoors.
Lastly, Kill said spring drills are opportunities to evaluate younger players and see what they can do. (By his remarks, Kill is excited and looking forward to spring practices.)
8) Sid finished the segment inquiring whether or not they’d be adding any recruits: “No. Not at this point,” replied Kill, “We feel good where we’re at.” (Kill sounded very upbeat about team personnel and this year’s recruiting.)
Go Gophers!!
1) Mike Max asked how do you keep recruits (especially from Florida) when you have the weather that has enveloped Minnesota this year: Coach Kill said, “Just got back from Nike Convention in Denver – didn’t see any snow.” Kill jokingly said that you wouldn’t want to have any recruits in now and that he has ten feet of snow in front of his house.
2) Sid asked Coach Kill about the early opening of spring drills that commence next week: “Big thing you can’t predict the weather . . . (by starting early) if you get someone hurt you have time to get them back . . . (gain) another weight lifting session,” replied Kill. He also said they’ll be spending a lot of time indoors (inclement weather), which adversely affects the kicking game.
3) Sid asked for names of players that will be held out of spring drills: Those that will not practice, as listed by Coach Kill: Alex Bisch, tight end; Tyler Hartman, defensive lineman; Jon Christenson, offensive lineman; Derrick Wells, defensive back. When he mentioned Christenson and Wells, Kill said, “We already know what they can do.”
Kill gave a list of players that will see limited action in the spring workouts (sounded like more conditioning rather than participation in actual contact/drills): Briean Boddy, defensive back; Joe Bjorkland, offensive lineman; Yoshoub Timms, defensive tackle; Caleb Bak, offensive lineman. Kill sounded very pleased with Bak’s recovery from surgery and progress.
4) Mike Max asked about “Pro Day” at the U tomorrow, and he said Brock Vereen’s participation has to help: Kill’s response to Max’s comment about Brock Vereen, “He’s highly intelligent . . . don’t know how much he’ll do because of the (his success) combine.” He said the same about Ra’Shede Hageman; both had very good results at the recent combine.
5) Max followed up his question by asking what the pro evaluators look for at the pro day exercises: Kill said it’s about evaluation. Frequently they know what the players can do athletically, so they talk to academic officials and trainers – try to ascertain the player’s character – strengths and weaknesses.
6) Sid asked if there are other Gopher players participating in the “Pro Day” event: Kill said it’s about chasing a dream, and that you never know who might catch the eye of the evaluators and catch on as a free agent. He went onto say that there may be seven or eight former Gopher players participating. Players he named as participants: Martez Shabazz, defensive back; Jeremy Baltazar, defensive back; Aaron Hill, linebacker; Roland Johnson, defensive tackle; and Eddie Olson, offensive lineman.
7) Sid asked what they’re (Minnesota coaching staff) looking for and hope to get out of this year’s spring drills: He said they’ll spend a lot of time on situational football – fourth and one and fourth and two – red zone play (offensively). He said they lost games last year because of being stopped in the red zone.
Kill, again, mentioned the kicking game and not being able to do what they’d like to do because of having to practice indoors.
Lastly, Kill said spring drills are opportunities to evaluate younger players and see what they can do. (By his remarks, Kill is excited and looking forward to spring practices.)
8) Sid finished the segment inquiring whether or not they’d be adding any recruits: “No. Not at this point,” replied Kill, “We feel good where we’re at.” (Kill sounded very upbeat about team personnel and this year’s recruiting.)
Go Gophers!!
