GopherLady
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There have been constant platitudes toward Jerry Kill for his resume as a rebuilder of college football programs. Many of these have come from Jerry himself, as he tries to convince Gophers fans to keep the faith in the wake of three astounding losses (New Mexico State, North Dakota State, 58-0 at Michigan) in his first five games as a Big Ten coach.
Kill's success as a turnaround artist was unquestioned at Saginaw Valley State [1994-98], a Division II school in Michigan, and at Southern Illinois [2001-07], a Division 1AA program that was a power, turned into a patsy and was revived as a power by Kill.
The results at Emporia [Kan.] State were vague, since Kill stayed for only two years [1999-2000] in order to be near his family as his father battled cancer. Kill was 11-11 in two seasons, before taking the promotion to SIU.
The accolades for Kill also include the suggestion that he was responsible for a major turnaround at Northern Illinois [2008-10], where he competed for three seasons in the Mid-American Conference before being hired at Minnesota.
It would not be fair to describe the MAC as a third-tier Division IA conference, and it wouldn't be accurate to call it second-tier, so it's in between - behind the Mountain West and ahead of the Sun Belt.
What's also inaccurate is to casually throw in Northern Illinois with Saginaw Valley and Southern Illinois as a place where Kill was forced to undertake a massive rebuilding job.
Joe Novak was the NIU coach who preceded Kill. He was the coach that took over a woeful situation at the school in DeKalb, Ill. His first season was 1996, when the Huskies were still a Division 1A independent and getting ready to join the MAC.
The Huskies were 3-30 in Novak's first three seasons, including 2-14 in their first two years in the MAC. Then, from 1999 through 2001, NIU was 17-16 overall and 13-9 in the MAC.
This was followed by a run from 2002 through 2004 when NIU was 27-9 overall and 19-5 in the MAC. In 2003, the Huskies beat three BCS schools: Maryland (rated No. 13 at the time), Alabama in Tuscaloosa and Iowa State.
The Huskies followed that nifty stretch with two more winning seasons in 2005-06 - 13-11 overall and 11-5 in the MAC. At that point, Novak had seven consecutive winning seasons in all games and eight consecutive winning seasons in the MAC.
As NIU continued to do with Kill and now Dave Doeren, the Huskies were forced to play much of their non-conference on the road against BCS schools in order to collect large paychecks to pay for the football program.
In 2007, a serious run of injuries put Northern Illinois in a position to go with many freshmen and sophomores. The Huskies tumbled to 2-10 overall and 1-6 in the MAC.
Two days after the season ended, Novak, 62, resigned, saying, "People have always said, 'You'll know when it's time,' and I believe now is the time.''
Kill was hired from Southern Illinois. He went 6-7, 7-6 and 10-3 in his three seasons. He went 18-6 in the MAC, before losing the conference championship to Miami (Ohio) in his final game at NIU last fall.
Good stuff, but a great rebuilding job?
Northern Illinois didn't need one of those. It had seven winning seasons in the decade before the tumble in 2007. Heavens to Bear Bryant, it had won at Alabama in the decade.
Kill inherited a roster that needed experience and a return to health more than rebuilding.
Under Kill, the Huskies went from 2-10 to 6-7 in 2008, and to 7-6 in 2009. I looked it up to see if it was Kill and his coaches rebuilding the roster or succeeding with players inherited from Novak that took NIU from the pits in 2007 to a winning season two years later.
Six of NIU's top seven rushers in 2009 were on Novak's roster in 2007: Chad Spann, DeMarcus Grady, Chad Harnish, Justin Anderson, Nathan Palmer and Ricky Crider.
Both of NIU's quarterbacks in 2009 had been around in 2007: Harnish and Grady.
Four of the top five receivers in 2009 were around in 2007: Landon Cox, Marcus Lewis, Willie Clark and Kyle Skarb.
Eight of the top 10 tacklers in 2009 were around in 2007: Cory Hanson, Pat Schiller, Alex Kube, Mike Sobol, Patrick George, Jake Coffman, Brandon Bice and David Bryant.
A good number of those lads were still key players when Kill's NIU club came into TCF Bank Stadium last fall and whacked the Gophers: Spann, Harnish, Crider, Grady, Palmer, Cox, Clark on offense, and Kube, Coffman, Sobol and George on defense.
Thus, when you're pumping up the Kill the Rebuilder angle, forget the NIU part of that. The actuality was that he took over a solid program coming off one bad year.
Meaning, Kill's previous experience in Division 1A provides zero background for the challenge he faces at Minnesota - a program that in the last five years has charged downward toward Indiana in an attempt to wrestle away the title as "Worst Program in the Big Ten.''
Which brings up this serious question: Why did the Big Ten decide that Wisconsin should be Minnesota's annual crossover opponent?
It should be Indiana, so the Hoosiers and the Gophers can alternate scheduling one another for homecoming.
http://www.1500espn.com/blogs/niu_gets_on_kills_rebuilding_resume
Kill's success as a turnaround artist was unquestioned at Saginaw Valley State [1994-98], a Division II school in Michigan, and at Southern Illinois [2001-07], a Division 1AA program that was a power, turned into a patsy and was revived as a power by Kill.
The results at Emporia [Kan.] State were vague, since Kill stayed for only two years [1999-2000] in order to be near his family as his father battled cancer. Kill was 11-11 in two seasons, before taking the promotion to SIU.
The accolades for Kill also include the suggestion that he was responsible for a major turnaround at Northern Illinois [2008-10], where he competed for three seasons in the Mid-American Conference before being hired at Minnesota.
It would not be fair to describe the MAC as a third-tier Division IA conference, and it wouldn't be accurate to call it second-tier, so it's in between - behind the Mountain West and ahead of the Sun Belt.
What's also inaccurate is to casually throw in Northern Illinois with Saginaw Valley and Southern Illinois as a place where Kill was forced to undertake a massive rebuilding job.
Joe Novak was the NIU coach who preceded Kill. He was the coach that took over a woeful situation at the school in DeKalb, Ill. His first season was 1996, when the Huskies were still a Division 1A independent and getting ready to join the MAC.
The Huskies were 3-30 in Novak's first three seasons, including 2-14 in their first two years in the MAC. Then, from 1999 through 2001, NIU was 17-16 overall and 13-9 in the MAC.
This was followed by a run from 2002 through 2004 when NIU was 27-9 overall and 19-5 in the MAC. In 2003, the Huskies beat three BCS schools: Maryland (rated No. 13 at the time), Alabama in Tuscaloosa and Iowa State.
The Huskies followed that nifty stretch with two more winning seasons in 2005-06 - 13-11 overall and 11-5 in the MAC. At that point, Novak had seven consecutive winning seasons in all games and eight consecutive winning seasons in the MAC.
As NIU continued to do with Kill and now Dave Doeren, the Huskies were forced to play much of their non-conference on the road against BCS schools in order to collect large paychecks to pay for the football program.
In 2007, a serious run of injuries put Northern Illinois in a position to go with many freshmen and sophomores. The Huskies tumbled to 2-10 overall and 1-6 in the MAC.
Two days after the season ended, Novak, 62, resigned, saying, "People have always said, 'You'll know when it's time,' and I believe now is the time.''
Kill was hired from Southern Illinois. He went 6-7, 7-6 and 10-3 in his three seasons. He went 18-6 in the MAC, before losing the conference championship to Miami (Ohio) in his final game at NIU last fall.
Good stuff, but a great rebuilding job?
Northern Illinois didn't need one of those. It had seven winning seasons in the decade before the tumble in 2007. Heavens to Bear Bryant, it had won at Alabama in the decade.
Kill inherited a roster that needed experience and a return to health more than rebuilding.
Under Kill, the Huskies went from 2-10 to 6-7 in 2008, and to 7-6 in 2009. I looked it up to see if it was Kill and his coaches rebuilding the roster or succeeding with players inherited from Novak that took NIU from the pits in 2007 to a winning season two years later.
Six of NIU's top seven rushers in 2009 were on Novak's roster in 2007: Chad Spann, DeMarcus Grady, Chad Harnish, Justin Anderson, Nathan Palmer and Ricky Crider.
Both of NIU's quarterbacks in 2009 had been around in 2007: Harnish and Grady.
Four of the top five receivers in 2009 were around in 2007: Landon Cox, Marcus Lewis, Willie Clark and Kyle Skarb.
Eight of the top 10 tacklers in 2009 were around in 2007: Cory Hanson, Pat Schiller, Alex Kube, Mike Sobol, Patrick George, Jake Coffman, Brandon Bice and David Bryant.
A good number of those lads were still key players when Kill's NIU club came into TCF Bank Stadium last fall and whacked the Gophers: Spann, Harnish, Crider, Grady, Palmer, Cox, Clark on offense, and Kube, Coffman, Sobol and George on defense.
Thus, when you're pumping up the Kill the Rebuilder angle, forget the NIU part of that. The actuality was that he took over a solid program coming off one bad year.
Meaning, Kill's previous experience in Division 1A provides zero background for the challenge he faces at Minnesota - a program that in the last five years has charged downward toward Indiana in an attempt to wrestle away the title as "Worst Program in the Big Ten.''
Which brings up this serious question: Why did the Big Ten decide that Wisconsin should be Minnesota's annual crossover opponent?
It should be Indiana, so the Hoosiers and the Gophers can alternate scheduling one another for homecoming.
http://www.1500espn.com/blogs/niu_gets_on_kills_rebuilding_resume
were still the coach? Imagine what he could have written if he hated Kill? 
