Jim Souhan: Look for Kill to keep his word; he's that kind of guy

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Jerry Kill's seizure is Jim Souhan's wet dream. Easy material for a column that will generate a sh!t-ton of clicks.
 

My two cents:

1. Jerry's seizures (at least publicly) should not factor into the AD's decision to ask him to step down. That decision should be based solely on W's and L's.

2. Stepping down would be an extremely tough decision for Kill; he also has the future of his staff and families to think about. I don't see a scenario where they would be kept.

3. It takes players to win football games and Kills seizures will work against the U in recruiting. Players like to be reasonable sure that the guy they commit to will be there 4 years.....unfortunately Kill is not sure he will be .......(fill in the blank.)

What would I do? I would take the seizures out of the equation; if Kill can push the program in the right direction keep him. If he can't...don't. For me this would not be a topic of conversation until AFTER year 4. Oh.....I would also punch Maturi in the face every time I saw him (smile).
 


Any football program is a singularly important piece of the puzzle that is today's college experience. It is, in too many ways, the public face of the university. The head coach is the most highly paid employee in the State. The football team funds much of the rest of the athletic department. To have a coach that misses half or all of many of the team's games is the rough equivalent of a Tenor that makes all the rehearsals but can't make the performance or a CEO that makes all the planning sessions but isn't available when decisions are made.

Jerry Kill is a terrific coach and the gophers are making real progress under the leadership if him and his staff. Let's hope that he and his doctors get this under control, before this forces a decision no one wants made.

I know Kill will do the right thing. Let's hope that the right thing is also the best thing for the "U".
 


We need to stop reading Strib articles about Kill. They are so misguided. There was a great article about this in the New York Times the other day. Reading things nationally even on ESPN take away any bias that the local media has. It is clear that Poohan just loves to get Gopher fans going. Yesterday was just the ammo he needed to write another hack piece. If the Gophers win some upcoming games and Kill is there he will have nothing. It's best to just ignore the garbage he writes because he is fueled by angry letters.
 


Tim Brewster was 14-24, with six B1G wins after three seasons. They went to two bowl games.
Jerry Kill is 13-17, with four B1G wins in year three and one bowl appearance. Their records will be pretty close after three years. There's no reason to think that if Kill has a Brewster like year four, that he'd survive. If he goes 8-4 and a bowl game, he stays.
 

kellyleeks said:
Tim Brewster was 14-24, with six B1G wins after three seasons. They went to two bowl games.
Jerry Kill is 13-17, with four B1G wins in year three and one bowl appearance. Their records will be pretty close after three years. There's no reason to think that if Kill has a Brewster like year four, that he'd survive. If he goes 8-4 and a bowl game, he stays.
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If your looking at records then yeah. The difference is consistency and discipline.

Consistancy- Same coaching staff from year to year. Same playbook year to year. Not going spread to pro to god knows what. Weber had 4 OC and QB coaches in five years. No players will have success with that.

Discipline- Players going to class and graduating. Less off the field incidents. The biggest one in my book is we no longer see guys on our kickoff team chest bumping after we score a TD against South Dakota when you are still losing by two scores.

Brewster didn't deserve a 5th or 6th year. Kill does IMO.
 



kellyleeks said:
Tim Brewster was 14-24, with six B1G wins after three seasons. They went to two bowl games.
Jerry Kill is 13-17, with four B1G wins in year three and one bowl appearance. Their records will be pretty close after three years. There's no reason to think that if Kill has a Brewster like year four, that he'd survive. If he goes 8-4 and a bowl game, he stays.
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At this point in year three, Brewster's team was better.

But we all know how that ended up.

Give coach the season and then set fair expectations for year four.

All of this assumes a manageable health situation. Of course, that assumption may be unwise.
 

patrick08 said:
If your looking at records then yeah. The difference is consistency and discipline.

Consistancy- Same coaching staff from year to year. Same playbook year to year. Not going spread to pro to god knows what. Weber had 4 OC and QB coaches in five years. No players will have success with that.

Brewster was given about 2 weeks to put together a staff after Mason was fired and he was hired. He then had another two weeks to put together his first recruiting class. He was put in an impossible situation right from the start.

Discipline- Players going to class and graduating. Less off the field incidents. The biggest one in my book is we no longer see guys on our kickoff team chest bumping after we score a TD against South Dakota when you are still losing by two scores.

Brewster's players went to class more and they had significantly higher grades then Mason's. His biggest off field incidents happened with Mason's players.

Brewster didn't deserve a 5th or 6th year. Kill does IMO.

Brewster didn't deserve a 5th or 6th years and neither will Kill if his team doesn't start winning Big 10 games next year.
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patrick08 said:
True Brewster was in a difficult situation, but I was comparing him to Kill up to this point not Mason.
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Kill came into a much better situation than Brewster. Anyone who thinks otherwise is blinded by their Brewster and Maturi hatred.
 



patrick08 said:
Consistency- Same coaching staff from year to year. Same playbook year to year. Not going spread to pro to god knows what. Weber had 4 OC and QB coaches in five years. No players will have success with that.
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The consistency was not entirely Brewster's fault. Support for assistant coaches' salaries was much lower than it is now, and his assistants were highly sought after-evidence that he did a good job picking a staff; he just wasn't given the budget to retain them (Roof, Withers, Dunbar etc.). Regardless of what the program cryptically says about Kill's assistants receiving job offers (that are not reported anywhere else in an age where even rumors without any basis are tweeted and retweeted instantly), I don't think Kill's assistants have been in danger of getting hired away regardless of their degree of loyalty. Or perhaps they know that their best shot at going directly to a BCS head job is to wait to succeed Kill.
 

MNVCGUY said:
I have no clue how this is all going to play out but it baffels my mind that we have fans that can put forth ideas like the one quoted here. "Being at the game would be nice"....are you kidding me? Is there more to being a head coach than being on the sideline on Saturday's....of course but it is vital that he is there.

Look around the country, tell me how many other teams have spent at least 6 quarters this season without their head coach. The situation sucks for Kill and the University but people in here need to stop pretending like this is not a big deal.
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Exactly, Don't know why its so hard for some people to understand this. I know Kill does.
 

Here we go again (LOL)!

I was fine with Mason getting fired. He dug his own grave for the most part and just because he elevated a program on the brink to an inconsistent measure of passable performance (with an occasional spike) doesn't make him a deity. I was willing to give Brewster a chance, but when his purported recruiting ability proved to be more shadow than substance, I figured he wouldn't last. I think he had good instincts with some of the guys he chose to be his assistants, but there was no consistency and/or money to keep them around. Brewster just didn't have the pedigree (as a coach at least) to convince these guys he was going to build a coaching tree. Brewster just wasn't head coaching material then (and he's not now).

I have hope for Kill, but anyone who thinks his health status doesn't matter is really fooling themselves. The negative recruiting will continue to mount and as we saw again yesterday, better athletes usually win.

Sportsfan24, good to see you back. Hope things are well with you.
 

UpnorthGo4 said:
Kill came into a much better situation than Brewster. Anyone who thinks otherwise is blinded by their Brewster and Maturi hatred.
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Kill basically inherited a train wreck. The program was in disarray, many players were not focused on academics, discipline was lacking, and player turnover was in the 50% range. Depth was a major problem.

Progress has been made. The players have accepted Coach Kill. Only one player from the 2012 class has left (McDonald) and most of the 2011 class is intact. Depth at most positions has improved. The APR is outstanding. The off the field issues have basically ended. Staff retention is high.

Coach Kill has brought much needed stability to the program which is something both Mason and Brewster failed to do.

Coach Kill has put the administrative issues to rest.But the burning question is how long will it take him to put a decent product on the field?

If Coach Kill decides to step down, the new staff will be in much better position than Brewster and Kill were.
 

Would there be any merit to having Coach Kill do his gameday coaching from the booth, sort of like Joe Pa did at Penn St for a while? I'm assuming most if not all of the players on the team like Coach Kill and worry about his health, and it just seems like if there is a sideline seizure during a game, it's a huge distraction to the players, hoping their coach is ok. Putting him in the booth would at least alleviate that scenario. He could still make whatever decisions have to be made on game day, he'd still be working directly with the players during the week. Have a medical team sort of on the ready for the booth if neccessary. I don't know, just trying to find a way to make it easier for Coach and the players on game days.
 

Bayfieldgopher said:
Kill basically inherited a train wreck. The program was in disarray, many players were not focused on academics, discipline was lacking, and player turnover was in the 50% range. Depth was a major problem.

Progress has been made. The players have accepted Coach Kill. Only one player from the 2012 class has left (McDonald) and most of the 2011 class is intact. Depth at most positions has improved. The APR is outstanding. The off the field issues have basically ended. Staff retention is high.

Coach Kill has brought much needed stability to the program which is something both Mason and Brewster failed to do.

Coach Kill has put the administrative issues to rest.But the burning question is how long will it take him to put a decent product on the field?

If Coach Kill decides to step down, the new staff will be in much better position than Brewster and Kill were.
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Agree with most of what you say there. One thing I would take issue with is the idea of instability under Mason, it may have been that way right at the end but things were very stable during most of his run here.
 

This was the article Souhan should have written the first time. Between this and the fact that he 'met' with Kill, tells me he was properly reamed out by his superiors last time. Doesn't excuse what he did or his pathetic general ignorance of college sports.
 


MNVCGUY said:
Agree with most of what you say there. One thing I would take issue with is the idea of instability under Mason, it may have been that way right at the end but things were very stable during most of his run here.
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You are correct MNVCGUY.

And this bogus bs being passed around by the brew crew gang members about money for assistant coaches is crazy talk. I recall a LOT of Big Ten AD's were VERY upset by the big money offered by Minnesota for Dunbar and Withers (over $300.000 per year for each.) It caused a lot of complaints around the Big Ten AD offices. Suddenly to try to support his foolish hire of Brewster, macturi provided LOTS of money for coordinators for Brewster AND Dunbar was signed to a THREE YEAR deal. It was pretty shocking at the time...compared to the mere pittance macturi provided for assistants for Mason.

Bottom line is the Mason Era provided enough hope and promise to sell the idea of a new stadium. And, they extended Mason just so that he could sell the stadium to TCF BANK re: naming rights and also so he could sell to the state legislators.

Bottom line of the Brewster era must have been SOMETHING...I don't know quite what? Perhaps it was to show us all that there must be a plan in place and adhered to/. Maybe also to work the bugs out of GDS at TCF BANK STADIUM.

Bottom line of the Kill Era so far has been the reclaiming of the program to stability and the building of the program's Academic standards that are NOW in place as a result of NCAA MANDATES...and...the realization that a plan must be in place and there must be discipline within that plan.

I guess we have needed ALL of these different sets of input to bring us to still another new chapter.

Are we good enough people to do the right thing and let this play out? Coach Kill will know what is best for HIS program. Also, we have the additional safeguard of the Conference Wins vs. Conference Losses factors to help guide everyone involved. This is ALL about building a better Gopher Program that in spite of some tough times continues to make progress. We NOW HAVE an on campus stadium. Thanks to the Mason Era. We have had a few years of Game Day Saturdays to work bugs out...Thanks to the Brewster era. AND...we have a GOOD, SOLID staff led by a GOOD, SOLID Coach in place thanks to the Coach Kill Era. Hang on to your hats Golden Gopher Fans. Let's see just WHERE this will take us. Onward and upward and I know Coach Kill is more concerned about every issue involved here than ANY of the rest of us. I hope he leads us to the Rosebowl Game one of these seasons...
 

Here's what I know ( or think I know )

Kill seems to be a decent guy.
He and his staff have demonstrated the ability to build a winning program at smaller schools.
The Jury is still out on whether Kill's system will be successful at a major-conference school.

In a perfect world, Kill would be judged solely on his won-loss record (and the other factors, like academics and player discipline).

But, Kill's health issues are hanging over this program like a sword.
No recruit with an IQ higher than 50 is going to come out and publicly admit that he did not go to MN because of Kill's health - but it's an issue, and unless Kill's doctors come up with a better solution, I just don't see how the U can let this drag out. If Kill has one more game-day incident this season, I just don't see any way that he comes back.
 

MNVCGUY said:
I have no clue how this is all going to play out but it baffels my mind that we have fans that can put forth ideas like the one quoted here. "Being at the game would be nice"....are you kidding me? Is there more to being a head coach than being on the sideline on Saturday's....of course but it is vital that he is there.

Look around the country, tell me how many other teams have spent at least 6 quarters this season without their head coach. The situation sucks for Kill and the University but people in here need to stop pretending like this is not a big deal.
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Last year the Colts were without their HC for more than 6 GAMES. Hmm...
 

Sportsfan24 said:
My two cents:

1. Jerry's seizures (at least publicly) should not factor into the AD's decision to ask him to step down. That decision should be based solely on W's and L's.

2. Stepping down would be an extremely tough decision for Kill; he also has the future of his staff and families to think about. I don't see a scenario where they would be kept.

3. It takes players to win football games and Kills seizures will work against the U in recruiting. Players like to be reasonable sure that the guy they commit to will be there 4 years.....unfortunately Kill is not sure he will be .......(fill in the blank.)

What would I do? I would take the seizures out of the equation; if Kill can push the program in the right direction keep him. If he can't...don't. For me this would not be a topic of conversation until AFTER year 4. Oh.....I would also punch Maturi in the face every time I saw him (smile).
Click to expand...

QFT
 

GopherInPittsburgh said:
Jerry Kill's seizure is Jim Souhan's wet dream. Easy material for a column that will generate a sh!t-ton of clicks.
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+1 Souhan is one of the biggest dicks I have ever read. Even bigger than Fat Pat and I think most of you know how I feel about him. Today's column made me just as mad as the first one because it was so hypocritical. Let me paraphrase the column.

"Jerry Kill has done many nice things. I really think he is swell. We had a secret conversation that I can't tell you about but let's just hope he does the right thing, - wink, wink, resign - concerning his seizures like he said he would in the secret conversation that I can't tell you about."

It is the same nasty sh!t as before but even worse because he wrapped it in a bunch of fake flowers. What a nasty, mean, little piece of crap he is. I'm writting the Strib on this one - the editors there are smart enough to see through his crap.
 

Breakin' The Plane said:
I don't think it's going to be Jerry Kill's call. It isn't going to be Teague's call. I think Rebecca is going to tell Jerry he is done for now.
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Not even a remote chance this will happen. Zero chance.
 

killme said:
Not even a remote chance this will happen. Zero chance.
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Good point. I just went through the entire history of time and could not find one instance of a woman strongly suggesting to a man that he needed to stop doing something that he loved because she felt it was detrimental to his health. Not one.
 

MNVCGUY said:
Agree with most of what you say there. One thing I would take issue with is the idea of instability under Mason, it may have been that way right at the end but things were very stable during most of his run here.
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I'm not sure I'd say Mason's staff was ever stable.

He changed coordinators in 1998, 2000, 2001, 2003, and 2005.
He changed QB coach in 1998 and 1999.
He changed RB coach in 1999.
He changed WR coach in 1999, 2001, 2004.
He changed DE coach in 2001, 2002, and 2006.
He changed LB coach in 2001 and 2005.
He changed OL coach in 1998, 2000, and 2001.
He changed DL coach in 2001.
He never changed TE coach.

Basically, he had at least one staff member change his role or a new staff member come on board EVERY year he was here, including a coordinator change in half the years he was here. I know assistant coaches come and go at most every school, and Mason kept a small core group around, but he couldn't keep the same staff together in back-to-back seasons one time.

Contrast that to our two rival schools Iowa and Wisconsin. Over time, they were for the most part both much more stable staffs and I think that mattered.

All water under the bridge now.
 


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