Possible Head Coach Candidates for Northern Illinois (Jerry Kill, Vanderbilt)

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BleedGopher

BleedGopher

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Per Mike:

Jerry Kill​

Special Assistant, Vanderbilt​

Kill is the “Godfather” of the modern NIU era, if he wants the job, give it to him. Kill is the architect who resurrected the program in 2008, instilling the blue-collar “Hard Way” ethos that Hammock eventually inherited. Currently serving as a Chief Consultant at Vanderbilt, Kill has proven his “turnaround magic” remains potent. He famously led New Mexico State to a 10-win season in 2023 and helped orchestrate Vanderbilt’s shocking upset of No. 1 Alabama in 2024.

Statistically, Kill’s legacy in DeKalb is defined by rapid upward mobility. He took a 2-10 program and delivered three consecutive bowl appearances (2008–2010), culminating in a 10-3 season and a MAC Championship berth. Throughout his career, Kill has been a master of efficiency. At New Mexico State, he improved a team that had won only one game prior to his arrival into a Quick Lane Bowl champion within 12 months. While health concerns previously sidelined him, his recent success in advisory and head coaching roles suggests he is the most reliable “culture fixer” available to stabilize NIU’s transition to the Mountain West.

mikefarrellsports.com

Northern Illinois: Coaching Search Candidates Revealed

Meet potential head coach candidates for Northern Illinois. Rob Harley leads the charge after Thomas Hammock's exit from the position.
mikefarrellsports.com mikefarrellsports.com

Go Gophers!!
 



I have no strong opinions on Kill but I feel like this is clearly a mistake. It can’t get much worse for them to a degree. I just feel like there’s a reason he’s been in mostly other than HC positions in recent history. He’s had success sure but I think the landscape is so different now and as these mid tier programs try to jockey for better position I’m not sure if Kill has the gas in the tank left for that type of rebuild.
 




ol' jer' is a ball coach. it's who he is, it's in his blood. he turns boys into men and football is his vehicle. he's a also a fix it man. when ad's need their ol ball club to be fixed, they call this ol sumabitch. currently vandy needs some fixin, but if northern illinois needs big fixin' again, ol jer' will get the band back together and fix northern illinois again, before moving on to the next program.
 
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Go4 said:
ol' jer' is a ball coach. it's who he is, it's in his blood. he turns boys into men and football is his vehicle. he's a also a fix it man. when ad's need their ol ball club to be fixed, they call this ol sumabitch. currently vandy needs some fixin, but if northern illinois needs big fixin' again, ol jer' will get the band back together and fix northern illinois again, before moving on to the next program.
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WIKI Jerry is good for about two years. He took Diego to Vanderbilt and now it is probably time for a new challenge. He is around winning teams often...New Mexico St to a bowl game was impressive and Vanderbilt has been better than that.

It seems his desire is to die flying the plane. If he wants it...wouldn't mind seeing him get it....the job, I mean. He's 64.
 



I would encourage him to stay put. While 64 of age isn't considered old for the most part. His body is. Why start over again with all this NIL money hindering progress of what you're building? Unless he really loves the city, school, perhaps would like to retire there, etc., I'd stay away.
 

60's Guy said:
WIKI Jerry is good for about two years. He took Diego to Vanderbilt and now it is probably time for a new challenge. He is around winning teams often...New Mexico St to a bowl game was impressive and Vanderbilt has been better than that.

It seems his desire is to die flying the plane. If he wants it...wouldn't mind seeing him get it....the job, I mean. He's 64.
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I'm sure he can find a way to get Diego a couple more years of elgibility.
 


Go4 said:
ol' jer' is a ball coach. it's who he is, it's in his blood. he turns boys into men and football is his vehicle. he's a also a fix it man. when ad's need their ol ball club to be fixed, they call this ol sumabitch. currently vandy needs some fixin, but if northern illinois needs big fixin' again, ol jer' will get the band back together and fix northern illinois again, before moving on to the next program.
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This is the only reason I opened this thread. I simply need an “ol’ Jer’ is a ball coach” injection every few months to keep my corpuscles jumpin’
 



The problem is he hasn't stayed anywhere for more than 2 seasons since he left MN. He left being a head coach at New Mexico St to be an advisor. A place like Northern Illinois has little to lose but it's likely you'd be doing it all over again in a year or two.
 


GophersInIowa said:
The problem is he hasn't stayed anywhere for more than 2 seasons since he left MN. He left being a head coach at New Mexico St to be an advisor. A place like Northern Illinois has little to lose but it's likely you'd be doing it all over again in a year or two.
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He's currently in the best possible position for him. He gets some nebulous credit and never has to shoulder any blame. He's always been thin-skinned but he appears to have become increasingly so and any pushback seems to rankle him. Maybe it's different returning to the crown jewel of his turnaround abilities, but if there are any hiccups it could be a real mess.
 

BleedGopher said:
Per Mike:

Jerry Kill​

Special Assistant, Vanderbilt​

Kill is the “Godfather” of the modern NIU era, if he wants the job, give it to him. Kill is the architect who resurrected the program in 2008, instilling the blue-collar “Hard Way” ethos that Hammock eventually inherited. Currently serving as a Chief Consultant at Vanderbilt, Kill has proven his “turnaround magic” remains potent. He famously led New Mexico State to a 10-win season in 2023 and helped orchestrate Vanderbilt’s shocking upset of No. 1 Alabama in 2024.

Statistically, Kill’s legacy in DeKalb is defined by rapid upward mobility. He took a 2-10 program and delivered three consecutive bowl appearances (2008–2010), culminating in a 10-3 season and a MAC Championship berth. Throughout his career, Kill has been a master of efficiency. At New Mexico State, he improved a team that had won only one game prior to his arrival into a Quick Lane Bowl champion within 12 months. While health concerns previously sidelined him, his recent success in advisory and head coaching roles suggests he is the most reliable “culture fixer” available to stabilize NIU’s transition to the Mountain West.

mikefarrellsports.com

Northern Illinois: Coaching Search Candidates Revealed

Meet potential head coach candidates for Northern Illinois. Rob Harley leads the charge after Thomas Hammock's exit from the position.
mikefarrellsports.com mikefarrellsports.com

Go Gophers!!
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From my understanding Jerry is enjoying the Nashville life so I doubt he leaves...
 


50PoundHead said:
He's currently in the best possible position for him. He gets some nebulous credit and never has to shoulder any blame. He's always been thin-skinned but he appears to have become increasingly so and any pushback seems to rankle him. Maybe it's different returning to the crown jewel of his turnaround abilities, but if there are any hiccups it could be a real mess.
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I disagree northern was his crown jewel
Northern had success before him and success after him

Southern is who has always sucked except when he was there
New Mexico State is probably second place for crown jewel
 


Total ego-move and chasing the dragon for Ol' Jer. Would you rather:

- Have a comfy, no-pressure role at an SEC program who can actually make move with NIL, and has a fanbase and admin who loves the team because they're just happy to finally win something?
- Go back to the MAC, have to be a head coach, lose road games to Eastern Michigan on a cold Tuesday night in November. Risk your health because of more stress and responsibility.
 

GophEnEspaña said:
Total ego-move and chasing the dragon for Ol' Jer. Would you rather:

- Have a comfy, no-pressure role at an SEC program who can actually make move with NIL, and has a fanbase and admin who loves the team because they're just happy to finally win something?
- Go back to the MAC, have to be a head coach, lose road games to Eastern Michigan on a cold Tuesday night in November. Risk your health because of more stress and responsibility.
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He’ll choose the latter 🤷‍♂️
 




If Kill genuinely was interested in the job and genuinely was healthy in terms of energy to give the job what it needs ... absolutely NIU would be interested.

He stepped down from NMSU in 2023 saying things like he had given all he had physically, mentally and emotionally to the team and felt worn out after two seasons and saying that was the final chapter of his head coaching career, suggesting this would be his last role as a head coach.
 


New Mexico State, outside of Diego, wasn't ever a NIL magnet. Northern wouldn't be either..... I could see him succeeding here because the NIL piece wouldn't be a holdup. On the other hand, regardless of size of ego, his days in a bigger university (even Vandy) as a head are done. NIL will be guaranteed to make his head explode.....
 


Some guy said:
I disagree northern was his crown jewel
Northern had success before him and success after him

Southern is who has always sucked except when he was there
New Mexico State is probably second place for crown jewel
Click to expand...
I think there's a sense he helped lay the groundwork for the likes of Dave Doeren and Rod Carey to have the success they did in the 2010s. The program had kind of peaked with Joe Novack and was starting to slide. Kill reenergized it, gave it that physical identity and recruited Jordan Lynch. I agree it's not his best coaching example, though, other turnarounds have been better.

Regardless, I wouldn't at all be surprised to see him take the gig if offered. The guy has been involved in either coaching or college athletic administration since 1985 with only a bit of time off in 2016. He can't seem to stay away from it, so it wouldn't at all be surprising to see him on the sideline. What will be odd is seeing NIU in the Mountain West.
 

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