Recruiting: Coach Kill

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DL65

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On the Sports Huddle Coach Jerry Kill said it's not surprising that some of the commitments have been searching (looking at other schools) since the coaching change began last fall. Regarding the current commitments he said, "We have a lot of work to do."

He also said his coaching staff will need to take the next step up (recruiting higher level athletes). The staff took a step up when they went from Southern Illinois to NIU. The response was to the question whether or not he would try to get some of the commitments that he got at NIU.


Go Gophers!!
 

The other thing that was interesting was his organized, sound logic in the recruiting process after being thrown into a chaotic situation:
- Try your darndest to hang onto what's been committed, call them visit them, bring them in.
- Pay some respect to Minnesota kids right away (and the Minnesota HS coaches).
- Look at film to see where you need help/depth to decide where to put your effort, don't just run around recruiting stars
- Realize you may need higher quality recruits....don't just try to get NIU commits to change their committment.

Thoughtful, organized, logical. I like this guy.
 

Kill seems as good a game day coach as Mason. The thing that will make him a success at Minnesota will be his staffs recruiting.
We have about 10-15 available scholarships for this year. Lets see what he can do with them. If he brings in a bunch of 2-3 star MAC players we are in big trouble. If he can land 7-8 legit big time recruits we might have reason for optimism.
We need DB's and DT's to fill out this current class.
 

Memories are short. I hope Kill is a much better game day coach than Mason. Game day coaching was not a strength of Glens.
 

MNHerb said:
Memories are short. I hope Kill is a much better game day coach than Mason. Game day coaching was not a strength of Glens.
Click to expand...

He already made it clear that very often the prevent defense prevents you from stopping the offense and from winning the game. That's entirely un-Mason.
 


And how many current commits do we have currently who are higher than 2-3 stars?

I think we need to have reasonable expectations this year. It's LATE in the recruiting year. There's no way he's going to land 7-3 legit big time recruits (guys who are not on our list already). It's not possible this late in the cycle. His best hope is to get the best guy's he can for the weakest positions and hold onto the guys that have already been verbaled.

ps I'm not advocating recruiting MAC type guys but if my memory is correct, think we lost to a MAC team this year. Coaching makes a difference!
 

Yes, Kill is not going to sign a stellar class now. We'll be thankful if we keep the current commits and gets a couple others and a Juco or two. Remember Brewster's first class of 2007? He had the late start and after losing JJ Watt and Greg Jones, we got guys like Harold Howell and Ralph Spry. Kill may struggle next year as well. He's not in on a lot of guys for the 2012 class at MN yet, and the Gophs are coming off a 3-9 season with a real question mark for Coaching. Yes, most GHs are falling in love with Kill, but most kids across the country still don't know him at all. If we show substantial improvement on the field next year, I would expect 2013 to be a much better class.
 

gopherfield said:
Yes, Kill is not going to sign a stellar class now. We'll be thankful if we keep the current commits and gets a couple others and a Juco or two. Remember Brewster's first class of 2007? He had the late start and after losing JJ Watt and Greg Jones, we got guys like Harold Howell and Ralph Spry. Kill may struggle next year as well. He's not in on a lot of guys for the 2012 class at MN yet, and the Gophs are coming off a 3-9 season with a real question mark for Coaching. Yes, most GHs are falling in love with Kill, but most kids across the country still don't know him at all. If we show substantial improvement on the field next year, I would expect 2013 to be a much better class.
Click to expand...

+1
 




GRGOPHER said:
And how many current commits do we have currently who are higher than 2-3 stars?

I think we need to have reasonable expectations this year. It's LATE in the recruiting year. There's no way he's going to land 7-3 legit big time recruits (guys who are not on our list already). It's not possible this late in the cycle. His best hope is to get the best guy's he can for the weakest positions and hold onto the guys that have already been verbaled.

ps I'm not advocating recruiting MAC type guys but if my memory is correct, think we lost to a MAC team this year. Coaching makes a difference!
Click to expand...

Remember Kill lost the Mac Championship after being favored by 17!
Where was the coaching at that time?
 

PurplePride said:
Remember Kill lost the Mac Championship after being favored by 17!
Where was the coaching at that time?
Click to expand...

On a fluke 4th and 20 play. Also, you're going to pick a single game to rag on the overall coaching acumen of a staff? Sheesh...
 


win some/lose some. That was an unexpected loss and I'm sure it sucked for everyone. But Kill wins a lot more than he loses.
 





PurplePride said:
Kill seems as good a game day coach as Mason. The thing that will make him a success at Minnesota will be his staffs recruiting.
We have about 10-15 available scholarships for this year. Lets see what he can do with them. If he brings in a bunch of 2-3 star MAC players we are in big trouble. If he can land 7-8 legit big time recruits we might have reason for optimism.
We need DB's and DT's to fill out this current class.
Click to expand...

Was Brewster going to land 7-8 legit big time recruits? No & neither will Kill is my guess. He'll grab a couple Jucos, a handful of guys probably receiving MAC level offers that he thinks can play at the Big-10 level & then hopefully grab a couple exciting late qualifiers is my guess.
 

PurplePride said:
Remember Kill lost the Mac Championship after being favored by 17!
Where was the coaching at that time?
Click to expand...

That's the beauty of all football playoffs....unlike every other sport. Either you get the job done in one game or suffer the consequences. No second chances. History is full of championship upsets. Vikes/Chiefs...Jet's/Colts...Ram's/Patriots and on and on and on. How many Rose Bowls has Michigan lost when favored? I believe last years Rose Bowl had Oregon favored over the Buckeye's. Losing a championship match when favored is sad and maddening but I do not believe it reflects poorly on the coaches....It's just football.
 

we probably agree

jennyhurtfan said:
​

That's the beauty of all football playoffs....unlike every other sport. Either you get the job done in one game or suffer the consequences. No second chances. History is full of championship upsets. Vikes/Chiefs...Jet's/Colts...Ram's/Patriots and on and on and on. How many Rose Bowls has Michigan lost when favored. I believe last years Rose Bowl had Oregon favored over the Buckeye's. Losing a championship match when favored is sad and maddening but I do not believe it reflects poorly on the coaches....It's just football.
Click to expand...

In their overall legacy, I pretty much agree. It takes a good coach to be favored by 17. But to lose in that situation, no one is more accountable than the head coach. It does reflect poorly on the coaches but it doesn't define them. They got their team in that position in the first place over a longer course than one game.
 

I expect Coach Kill's recruiting classes to be a lot like this years mostly three star. Before anyone gets excited here's ESPN's definition of a three star "A player with the skills to develop into a solid starter at the major college level. Potential high-ceiling prospect with the ability to make an impact during his career." Nothing wrong with that Coach Kill is a good evaluator of talent, give him potential, he'll get the most out of it. After he has some success he'll sprinkle in some four star recruits, definition "A potential three- to four-year starter at the major college level with the superior skills needed to see early playing time and make a significant impact during his college career"
 

PurplePride said:
Remember Kill lost the Mac Championship after being favored by 17!
Where was the coaching at that time?
Click to expand...

Remember Ferentz lost to the Gophers after being favored by 17. Where was the coaching at that time?

A fortiori Horton>Ferentz.
 



PurplePride said:
Ferentz can't recruit either.
Click to expand...

Your post was about coaching, not recruiting. So what do you hate more? Kills coaching or recruiting. Let me guess, it's a tie. You state informed opinions like a KFAN personality.
 

Ferentz has had 26 guys get drafted since 2003 (his first recruiting class would be SRs), he has recruited pretty well.
 

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