BleedGopher
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per Shama:
Kill: No Starters Locked in Now
Gophers football notes following a recent conversation with coach Jerry Kill.
Spring practice begins March 26 and no player, regardless of experience or ability, is a certain starter. The emphasis will be on competition and opportunity at all positions, with nothing guaranteed. “You’re going to put your best players out there (eventually),” Kill said.
The Gophers will have 15 practices including the annual spring game open to the public on April 27. For Kill and his assistants this will be the third spring practice but the coach’s perspective on the program is shaped by recruiting classes. Kill wasn’t hired until December of 2010 so his impact on the 2011 recruiting class was minimal.
“We need about three recruiting classes to get this thing turned around,” he said. “I think we’re moving in the right direction.”
The 2011 Gophers were 3-9 while last fall’s team was 6-7 and played in the program’s first bowl game since 2009. The most improvement was defensively where the Gophers went from allowing 31.7 points per game to 24.7.
The offense was often ineffective but in a Meineke Car Care Bowl loss to Texas Tech, Minnesota scored 31 points and had 368 yards total offense. To be better in 2013 than last fall, Kill said the offense needs to play like the bowl game performance.
Going into spring practice later this month Kill not only has most of his players returning, but the entire coaching staff. In the “musical chairs” world of head coaches and assistants changing jobs, that’s an indicator of the stability in the Minnesota program and a plus for the players who don’t have to adjust to new personalities and schemes.
Kill said other programs come after his assistants but he’s been able to keep his staff together at Minnesota. Not long ago another Gopher assistant turned down an opportunity to leave, Kill disclosed.
http://shamasportsheadliners.com/
Go Gophers!!
Kill: No Starters Locked in Now
Gophers football notes following a recent conversation with coach Jerry Kill.
Spring practice begins March 26 and no player, regardless of experience or ability, is a certain starter. The emphasis will be on competition and opportunity at all positions, with nothing guaranteed. “You’re going to put your best players out there (eventually),” Kill said.
The Gophers will have 15 practices including the annual spring game open to the public on April 27. For Kill and his assistants this will be the third spring practice but the coach’s perspective on the program is shaped by recruiting classes. Kill wasn’t hired until December of 2010 so his impact on the 2011 recruiting class was minimal.
“We need about three recruiting classes to get this thing turned around,” he said. “I think we’re moving in the right direction.”
The 2011 Gophers were 3-9 while last fall’s team was 6-7 and played in the program’s first bowl game since 2009. The most improvement was defensively where the Gophers went from allowing 31.7 points per game to 24.7.
The offense was often ineffective but in a Meineke Car Care Bowl loss to Texas Tech, Minnesota scored 31 points and had 368 yards total offense. To be better in 2013 than last fall, Kill said the offense needs to play like the bowl game performance.
Going into spring practice later this month Kill not only has most of his players returning, but the entire coaching staff. In the “musical chairs” world of head coaches and assistants changing jobs, that’s an indicator of the stability in the Minnesota program and a plus for the players who don’t have to adjust to new personalities and schemes.
Kill said other programs come after his assistants but he’s been able to keep his staff together at Minnesota. Not long ago another Gopher assistant turned down an opportunity to leave, Kill disclosed.
http://shamasportsheadliners.com/
Go Gophers!!
