Kill's 2nd Year

[JSaluki080]

The first year at SIU, Kill had a bad season. SIU has pretty much always been bad at football but after an improved 2nd season, there was a sort of strange, reserved upbeat feeling. Kill had recruited, participated in the community, and promoted the program unlike any recent coaches had.

Just skimming through the message board here and seeing him doing similar things like he did at SIU, I believe you guys also have that same reserved upbeat feeling that we had in S. Illinois nearly a decade ago. It took Kill 2 years to turn SIU football completely around but he not only literally saved SIU football, he made them a National 1-AA power for the next several years.

I don't want to promise you guys anything and jinx the man, but I guess what I wanted to say is it seems to take Kill 2 years to Fully turn a program around (both @ SIU and NIU) Kill was a good hire and I am very excited about the next couple years of Minnesota Football and believe in their success.

From an SIU alumni and a recent Minnesota fan.
Go Gophers!!!

 

[Dr.Don]

JSaluki, thanks for posting, come back often, read some of the great things by several posters, and then you will read some of the $hitty stupid things from "experts" and end up with concussions from shaking your head so often. Welcome aboard.

 

[920/414 Gopher]

JSaluki, thanks for posting, come back often, read some of the great things by several posters, and then you will read some of the $hitty stupid things from "experts" and end up with concussions from shaking your head so often. Welcome aboard.

Couldn't have said it better, myself. But I'd like to add that I won't be upset if it takes Kill longer than 2 years to get this thing fully turned around (3 or 4, maybe?). With respect to the programs Kill has coached in the past, turning around a program that plays in one of the top conferences in the country may very well be a completely different animal.

Patience: not many GopherHolers have it, but right now it's crucial for us as fans and supporters.

Welcome aboard, Saluki.

 

[Ole]

The first year at SIU, Kill had a bad season. SIU has pretty much always been bad at football but after an improved 2nd season, there was a sort of strange, reserved upbeat feeling. Kill had recruited, participated in the community, and promoted the program unlike any recent coaches had.

Just skimming through the message board here and seeing him doing similar things like he did at SIU, I believe you guys also have that same reserved upbeat feeling that we had in S. Illinois nearly a decade ago. It took Kill 2 years to turn SIU football completely around but he not only literally saved SIU football, he made them a National 1-AA power for the next several years.

I don't want to promise you guys anything and jinx the man, but I guess what I wanted to say is it seems to take Kill 2 years to Fully turn a program around (both @ SIU and NIU) Kill was a good hire and I am very excited about the next couple years of Minnesota Football and believe in their success.

From an SIU alumni and a recent Minnesota fan.
Go Gophers!!!

I've got to say, I've scanned the internets in the past of both SIU and NIU sites, trying to get a feel for Coach Kill's style.

He's mostly revered by SIU fans, and mostly uncredited by NIU fans, but everyone seems to agree he does it his way, and has had success.

I'm curious from an SIU guy, did his success at SIU typically revolve more around his systems and coaching, or from finding ways to get better players, like from the JUCO pipelines he seems to know very well?

I would say at NIU it was from the systems, since he inherited some talented players from the previous staff and found ways to develop them, but SIU is his main success story, I would hope it wasn't simply due to finding BCS caliber JUCO kids and plugging them into an FCS league.

Go Gophers!

 

[howieramone]

Couldn't have said it better, myself. But I'd like to add that I won't be upset if it takes Kill longer than 2 years to get this thing fully turned around (3 or 4, maybe?). With respect to the programs Kill has coached in the past, turning around a program that plays in one of the top conferences in the country may very well be a completely different animal.

Patience: not many GopherHolers have it, but right now it's crucial for us as fans and supporters.

Welcome aboard, Saluki.

+1

I see at least 2 more recruting classes. Need 17-18 upperclassman starting to compete in the B1G IMO.

 

[JSaluki080]

I've got to say, I've scanned the internets in the past of both SIU and NIU sites, trying to get a feel for Coach Kill's style.

He's mostly revered by SIU fans, and mostly uncredited by NIU fans, but everyone seems to agree he does it his way, and has had success.

I'm curious from an SIU guy, did his success at SIU typically revolve more around his systems and coaching, or from finding ways to get better players, like from the JUCO pipelines he seems to know very well?

I would say at NIU it was from the systems, since he inherited some talented players from the previous staff and found ways to develop them, but SIU is his main success story, I would hope it wasn't simply due to finding BCS caliber JUCO kids and plugging them into an FCS league.

Go Gophers!

I would say alot of his success was from his coaching style. He really built relations with the players and community. I remember the football players always helping out in the community. I think this helped him recruit also.

I never really followed the recruting very closely, so unfortunetly I'm not the best person to give an answer. I know that he signed Joel Sambursky (recently added to SIU hall of fame) and Brent little (first team all conf, etc.) out of high school. But he also would pick up JUCO or kids transfering from other universities such as Brandon Jacobs (New York Giants). I would say he would did whatever to find the best players for positions he needed, like he is doing now . Here is an articel that might be more useful or explain better. http://www.siusalukis.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/020503aaa.html

I hoped this helped.

 

[Killjoy]

Dr. Don

JSaluki, thanks for posting, come back often, read some of the great things by several posters, and then you will read some of the $hitty stupid things from "experts" and end up with concussions from shaking your head so often. Welcome aboard.

Already JSaluki knows more about what is going on here with the Gopher football program than the vast majority of non-Minnesota writers. I do find it interesting that so many people here excuse these writers because they are just reporting where the program is at. Wrong! From my perspective this is just lazy reporting. The information is there. You only need to look at the fundamental changes that have and are taking place here now. My only regret is that I can't buy Gopher shares on the stock market now. It is so undervalued.

 

[Deleted_User]

JSaluki, thanks for posting, come back often, read some of the great things by several posters, and then you will read some of the $hitty stupid things from "experts" and end up with concussions from shaking your head so often. Welcome aboard.

Quit trying to hang onto to the past Don. Your sure to find it has slipped through your fingers. Some of us have moved on to "support mode".