Coach Jerry Kill’s responses and comments on today’s Sports Huddle:
1) Sid opened the segment asking about recruiting: “Things have gone real well,” said Kill. “A lot of kids on the Board.” Kill said they’ve done a lot of evaluating of high school talent in their travels across the country. He then talked about the team’s APR rating, which is in the top five in the country. As a result of the team’s positive APR rating, they’ve been able to get in a lot of homes during the recruiting process, according to Kill.
2) Sid asked about numbers for this year’s class: Kill replied, “We have quite a few seniors.” He said they have about 23 seniors, which is a good thing regarding balance in recruiting; so that they’re not top heavy at any one position – having certain positions to overfill because of shortage in numbers and depth-related problems.
Kill said this will be their fourth class and it’s crucial that they fill their slots with quality players (no mistakes). Overall, he sounded quite positive about their recruiting efforts thus far (reception and response has been good).
3) Sid asked about players that were injured in spring practice and does he expect them to be ready when fall practice begins: “Everybody should be ready . . . Cody Poock is doing things (rehab) nobody thought he’d be doing . . . there’s a chance he’ll be ready . . . he’s on a mission,” said Kill. Poock is undergoing rehab for an ACL injury that he sustained in spring drills. Kill said if Poock is not able to go when the fall season comes around they could hold him out and he’d retain a year of eligibility. In short, it’s a wait and see proposition regarding Poock’s availability. However, Kill left no doubt about the effort that Cody Poock is putting forth in rehab and his positive attitude.
Kill said there are a lot of players undergoing rehab; however, he didn’t give out any names.
Kill finished the question talking about Jon Christenson. According to the rehab reports that Kill has received, Christenson should be ready when fall practice begins on August 1st. He then gave a shout out to Christenson. Jon Christenson was married yesterday.
4) Dave Mona asked about the team’s GPA for the spring semester: “Haven’t got all of them in,” said Kill. Kill went onto say this is a critical time, when coaches are awaiting the academic results of certain players. He didn’t, however, specify any individuals; rather, it was general comment. He sounded positive about the academic side of the ledger: “Here at the University of Minnesota, we’ve been in pretty good shape.” Once again he credited the academic team (counselors) for the Gopher football team’s success in the classroom.
5) Dave then asked about the number of solid athletes at the Tight End and H-Back positions. Dave specifically mentioned Maxx Williams, Nate Wozniak and Duke Anyanwu: “We’re a multiple tight end offense,” replied Kill. He sounded very pleased with the number of players at the tight end and H-back positions. He likes their size and the mismatches that they can create on the opposing cornerbacks.
Kill said the team lost its “true fullback” with the graduation of Mike Henry. As a result, they have had some movement of players. He also expects help with the incoming freshmen class; however, he also said there could be some players making the move to defense. Again, it sounded as though Kill has very good depth at the tight end and H-back positions and that he wants to take advantage of their athleticism and get them on the field, whether it’s on offense or defense.
6) Dave brought up Berkley Edwards’ name and his abilities as a punt and kick-off return player: Kill responded saying he expects Berkley Edwards will be on the kick-off team (his focus as a return man).
7) Sid turned his focus to the team’s running backs. He mentioned David Cobb as a 1,000 yard rusher and he wanted to know if he expects to have two 1,000 yard rushers this year: “We’ll be a good rushing team because of competition,” replied Kill. He then said it was extremely important that they throw the ball better – a good passing game makes the running game much better.
Kill spoke in complimentary terms when he cited David Cobb. He also sounded positive about the team’s depth at running back and the running abilities of returning and incoming running backs.
Go Gophers!!
1) Sid opened the segment asking about recruiting: “Things have gone real well,” said Kill. “A lot of kids on the Board.” Kill said they’ve done a lot of evaluating of high school talent in their travels across the country. He then talked about the team’s APR rating, which is in the top five in the country. As a result of the team’s positive APR rating, they’ve been able to get in a lot of homes during the recruiting process, according to Kill.
2) Sid asked about numbers for this year’s class: Kill replied, “We have quite a few seniors.” He said they have about 23 seniors, which is a good thing regarding balance in recruiting; so that they’re not top heavy at any one position – having certain positions to overfill because of shortage in numbers and depth-related problems.
Kill said this will be their fourth class and it’s crucial that they fill their slots with quality players (no mistakes). Overall, he sounded quite positive about their recruiting efforts thus far (reception and response has been good).
3) Sid asked about players that were injured in spring practice and does he expect them to be ready when fall practice begins: “Everybody should be ready . . . Cody Poock is doing things (rehab) nobody thought he’d be doing . . . there’s a chance he’ll be ready . . . he’s on a mission,” said Kill. Poock is undergoing rehab for an ACL injury that he sustained in spring drills. Kill said if Poock is not able to go when the fall season comes around they could hold him out and he’d retain a year of eligibility. In short, it’s a wait and see proposition regarding Poock’s availability. However, Kill left no doubt about the effort that Cody Poock is putting forth in rehab and his positive attitude.
Kill said there are a lot of players undergoing rehab; however, he didn’t give out any names.
Kill finished the question talking about Jon Christenson. According to the rehab reports that Kill has received, Christenson should be ready when fall practice begins on August 1st. He then gave a shout out to Christenson. Jon Christenson was married yesterday.
4) Dave Mona asked about the team’s GPA for the spring semester: “Haven’t got all of them in,” said Kill. Kill went onto say this is a critical time, when coaches are awaiting the academic results of certain players. He didn’t, however, specify any individuals; rather, it was general comment. He sounded positive about the academic side of the ledger: “Here at the University of Minnesota, we’ve been in pretty good shape.” Once again he credited the academic team (counselors) for the Gopher football team’s success in the classroom.
5) Dave then asked about the number of solid athletes at the Tight End and H-Back positions. Dave specifically mentioned Maxx Williams, Nate Wozniak and Duke Anyanwu: “We’re a multiple tight end offense,” replied Kill. He sounded very pleased with the number of players at the tight end and H-back positions. He likes their size and the mismatches that they can create on the opposing cornerbacks.
Kill said the team lost its “true fullback” with the graduation of Mike Henry. As a result, they have had some movement of players. He also expects help with the incoming freshmen class; however, he also said there could be some players making the move to defense. Again, it sounded as though Kill has very good depth at the tight end and H-back positions and that he wants to take advantage of their athleticism and get them on the field, whether it’s on offense or defense.
6) Dave brought up Berkley Edwards’ name and his abilities as a punt and kick-off return player: Kill responded saying he expects Berkley Edwards will be on the kick-off team (his focus as a return man).
7) Sid turned his focus to the team’s running backs. He mentioned David Cobb as a 1,000 yard rusher and he wanted to know if he expects to have two 1,000 yard rushers this year: “We’ll be a good rushing team because of competition,” replied Kill. He then said it was extremely important that they throw the ball better – a good passing game makes the running game much better.
Kill spoke in complimentary terms when he cited David Cobb. He also sounded positive about the team’s depth at running back and the running abilities of returning and incoming running backs.
Go Gophers!!
