Coach Kill’s responses to Sid Hartman and Dave Mona’s questions on today’s Sports Huddle:
1) Sid Hartman opened today’s show talking about a celebratory event for Mike Wright on his 75th birthday. Jerry Kill was at the celebration: “Mike Wright’s a super person,” replied Kill. He said Mike Wright is a good example of the “great people that the program has turned out.” During his comments, Coach Kill cited the players from the Murray Warmath era. (Mike Wright a longtime successful businessman in the Twin Cities (former CEO of Super Valu) and friend of Gopher football was captain of the 1959 Golden Gopher football team. Wright played his high school football at St. Thomas Academy.)
2) Sid asked about the summer camps that are being held on the U of M campus: Kill gave the following list of camps:
a) Skills Camp will be this Monday at 9 a.m.
b) Specialist Camp – Tuesday at 2:00 p.m.
c) Youth Camp (younger kids - upper elementary) – 9 a.m. Wednesday
d) Junior High Camp is on Thursday
e) Big Man Camp (Not sure if it’s Friday or Saturday)
f) One-Day Camp is next Sunday
Kill gave the Camp’s website for additional information and registration.
Kill said, later in this week’s Sports Huddle segment, that Bronko Nagurski’s great-grandson was a participant at last Sunday’s camp. (He talked about the importance of Gopher football history, which he’s learning, when he mentioned Bronko’s great-grandson being at the summer football camp.)
3) Sid asked about the new Gopher wide receiver-signee, Desmond Gant: Kill said, “We’ve known a lot about him for a long time . . . we’ve stayed in touch . . . (he’s) 6-3 210 lbs . . . could play outside linebacker at 230 pounds . . . he’s on-campus with all the freshmen.”
Kill also said they tried to keep it quiet about his ability/potential (under the radar-type player). He also said they intend to redshirt him this year. (Desmond Gant was recommended to Coach Kill and his staff by a former Chicago Bear and former Michigan Wolverine. (I didn’t catch the name of the former Bear player.)
4) Sid made a comment about some new additions to the Gopher locker room: Kill said there’s alot of pictures of former players at the U of M in the locker room: “It’s great for me (learning Gopher football history) . . . Mike Sherel’s knows a ton of history (he’s instructing the staff about Gopher lore).” Kill went onto to say that it’s good for the current players to see the pictures and learn about the great players that have worn the maroon and gold uniform and become familiar with the school’s tradition in football. (It was at this point in this week’s show that Kill mentioned Bronko Nagurski’s great-grandson participating in last Sunday’s camp.)
5) Dave Mona asked if the coaches consider possible position changes of recruits when they report to camp and the recruits have experienced a growth spurt since they signed their National Letter of Intent last February. (He specifically cited the size of Galen Elmore, tight end from Somerset, Wisconsin.): Kill sounded very excited when he answered Mona’s query, “We’ve had kids that have really grown.” You could hear a smile in Kill’s voice in his response. He said to himself - when the freshmen reported this week – “This is a pretty good looking class.”
As to Mona’s specific query (consideration of position changes for new recruits), “You look at your depth . . . weight room and morning workouts . . . we’ve had kids that have really grown.”
6) Sid asked about summer school and workout schedules for the incoming freshmen: Kill said, “Tomorrow they’ll have their physicals.” During the summer months they have speed and agility drills at 6 a.m. and weight training at various times throughout the day. The team’s quarterbacks and defensive backs head up the leadership camps during the workouts.
Kill then spoke about the big changes that the freshmen are experiencing as they begin summer school and the football workouts: “Not easy for the kids.” He said it’s a big transition for the new players. Some of the new players graduated this past week, “(and now) Dads are leaving them on Father’s Day.”
7) Dave Mona asked about the academic standing of the new class with the NCAA: Kill replied, “We feel pretty good . . . it’s a slow process; it takes time (NCAA Clearinghouse) . . . we feel cautiously optimistic.”
8) Sid finished this week’s Jerry Kill segment by talking about Larry Fitzgerald and Larry Fitzgerald senior. He wished Larry Fitzgerald’s father a Happy Father’s Day: Kill responded to Sid’s comment, “Larry’s a good guy; good to our program.” Kill then proceeded to wish everyone a Happy Father’s Day.
Go Gophers!!
1) Sid Hartman opened today’s show talking about a celebratory event for Mike Wright on his 75th birthday. Jerry Kill was at the celebration: “Mike Wright’s a super person,” replied Kill. He said Mike Wright is a good example of the “great people that the program has turned out.” During his comments, Coach Kill cited the players from the Murray Warmath era. (Mike Wright a longtime successful businessman in the Twin Cities (former CEO of Super Valu) and friend of Gopher football was captain of the 1959 Golden Gopher football team. Wright played his high school football at St. Thomas Academy.)
2) Sid asked about the summer camps that are being held on the U of M campus: Kill gave the following list of camps:
a) Skills Camp will be this Monday at 9 a.m.
b) Specialist Camp – Tuesday at 2:00 p.m.
c) Youth Camp (younger kids - upper elementary) – 9 a.m. Wednesday
d) Junior High Camp is on Thursday
e) Big Man Camp (Not sure if it’s Friday or Saturday)
f) One-Day Camp is next Sunday
Kill gave the Camp’s website for additional information and registration.
Kill said, later in this week’s Sports Huddle segment, that Bronko Nagurski’s great-grandson was a participant at last Sunday’s camp. (He talked about the importance of Gopher football history, which he’s learning, when he mentioned Bronko’s great-grandson being at the summer football camp.)
3) Sid asked about the new Gopher wide receiver-signee, Desmond Gant: Kill said, “We’ve known a lot about him for a long time . . . we’ve stayed in touch . . . (he’s) 6-3 210 lbs . . . could play outside linebacker at 230 pounds . . . he’s on-campus with all the freshmen.”
Kill also said they tried to keep it quiet about his ability/potential (under the radar-type player). He also said they intend to redshirt him this year. (Desmond Gant was recommended to Coach Kill and his staff by a former Chicago Bear and former Michigan Wolverine. (I didn’t catch the name of the former Bear player.)
4) Sid made a comment about some new additions to the Gopher locker room: Kill said there’s alot of pictures of former players at the U of M in the locker room: “It’s great for me (learning Gopher football history) . . . Mike Sherel’s knows a ton of history (he’s instructing the staff about Gopher lore).” Kill went onto to say that it’s good for the current players to see the pictures and learn about the great players that have worn the maroon and gold uniform and become familiar with the school’s tradition in football. (It was at this point in this week’s show that Kill mentioned Bronko Nagurski’s great-grandson participating in last Sunday’s camp.)
5) Dave Mona asked if the coaches consider possible position changes of recruits when they report to camp and the recruits have experienced a growth spurt since they signed their National Letter of Intent last February. (He specifically cited the size of Galen Elmore, tight end from Somerset, Wisconsin.): Kill sounded very excited when he answered Mona’s query, “We’ve had kids that have really grown.” You could hear a smile in Kill’s voice in his response. He said to himself - when the freshmen reported this week – “This is a pretty good looking class.”
As to Mona’s specific query (consideration of position changes for new recruits), “You look at your depth . . . weight room and morning workouts . . . we’ve had kids that have really grown.”
6) Sid asked about summer school and workout schedules for the incoming freshmen: Kill said, “Tomorrow they’ll have their physicals.” During the summer months they have speed and agility drills at 6 a.m. and weight training at various times throughout the day. The team’s quarterbacks and defensive backs head up the leadership camps during the workouts.
Kill then spoke about the big changes that the freshmen are experiencing as they begin summer school and the football workouts: “Not easy for the kids.” He said it’s a big transition for the new players. Some of the new players graduated this past week, “(and now) Dads are leaving them on Father’s Day.”
7) Dave Mona asked about the academic standing of the new class with the NCAA: Kill replied, “We feel pretty good . . . it’s a slow process; it takes time (NCAA Clearinghouse) . . . we feel cautiously optimistic.”
8) Sid finished this week’s Jerry Kill segment by talking about Larry Fitzgerald and Larry Fitzgerald senior. He wished Larry Fitzgerald’s father a Happy Father’s Day: Kill responded to Sid’s comment, “Larry’s a good guy; good to our program.” Kill then proceeded to wish everyone a Happy Father’s Day.
Go Gophers!!
