So when should we expect a winning team?

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It is going to take longer for this program because Kill and his staff recruit players that they
"coach up" Kill had said toward the end of fall practice they didn't miss on any of the 27 recruits they brought in last year ( I do think they missed on Gillum ) He has pulled the RS on what 10 freshmen because of injuries, position ability, etc. My concern is the defense. Unless they bring in some cracker jack players at LB and DT I don't think we see major improvement until the
4th year IMHO.
 

ruppertflywheel said:
It is going to take longer for this program because Kill and his staff recruit players that they
"coach up" Kill had said toward the end of fall practice they didn't miss on any of the 27 recruits they brought in last year ( I do think they missed on Gillum ) He has pulled the RS on what 10 freshmen because of injuries, position ability, etc. My concern is the defense. Unless they bring in some cracker jack players at LB and DT I don't think we see major improvement until the
4th year IMHO.
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Don't recall hearing Kill say that but there is no staff in the country that hits on every recruit. I also agree that I would definitely consider Gillum a miss for as hyped as he was by the staff initially to not even being in the mix the past few weeks.

The defense is a bit of a concern going forward because the youth movement is not nearly as prevalent on that side of the ball. Got to find some linebackers but don't see much there at the moment.
 

MNVCGUY said:
Don't recall hearing Kill say that but there is no staff in the country that hits on every recruit. I also agree that I would definitely consider Gillum a miss for as hyped as he was by the staff initially to not even being in the mix the past few weeks.

The defense is a bit of a concern going forward because the youth movement is not nearly as prevalent on that side of the ball. Got to find some linebackers but don't see much there at the moment.
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Maybe I'm giving him too much benefit of the doubt but my assumption with Gillum for the last 4-5 games is that he's not playing because he hasn't grasped the OTHER things that Kill wants to see out of his RB's; blocking, pass protection, assignments, etc. Or maybe he just doesn't practice as hard as they would like. I'm sure the running ability is there. My guess is he's been deficient in other areas.
 

Ogee Oglethorpe said:
Maybe I'm giving him too much benefit of the doubt but my assumption with Gillum for the last 4-5 games is that he's not playing because he hasn't grasped the OTHER things that Kill wants to see out of his RB's; blocking, pass protection, assignments, etc. Or maybe he just doesn't practice as hard as they would like. I'm sure the running ability is there. My guess is he's been deficient in other areas.
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My uneducated guess is that he may be hurt or academically struggling. I have a hard time believing it is about blocking etc. if he can carry the ball better than others.
 

Costa Rican Gopher said:
Last year was a house cleaning season where expectations were low (too low imo). It's pretty clear that we've thrown in the towel on this season (I bet OVER 6 total wins this season, anyone want to buy the bet from me?). Next year we'll have a veteran offensive line, experienced WR's, Kill/Limey's hand picked QB at the helm w/ some experience & we've taken anyone with a pulse off the non conference schedule. Is it fair to expect a winning season next year? If not, in what year/season do we start demanding wins?

I'm not suggesting we should have kept Brew (let me stress that....NOT SUGGESTING BREW WAS BETTER THAN KILL!!), but just for reference Brew took over a team with less talent than Kill & had us in bowl games his 2nd & 3rd years. There was a lot to not like about Brew but he never blamed the players talent level, the Mason staff of the schedule. People were calling for Brew's head his 1st year as a coach. Then people wanted him fired while we were 7-0 his 2nd year. Then they wanted him fired his 3rd year (another bowl game), then he was fired before he could complete his 4th year. If Brew got us to 2 bowl games & didn't earn 4 complete seasons, how patient should we be with Kill?
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You seem to be very confused about what it takes to turn a program around. First, you don't turn a program around by throwing in the towel after seven games. Second, you measure success by more than wins. Barry Alvarez didn't have a winning season until his fourth. Third, if you think firing coach Kill could be the solution you have idea how difficult it will be to get know quality coaches to look at the Minnesota head coach position. There is a reason why Eric Kaler gave coach Kill a 7 year contract.
 


I think the only thing that is for certain is that Kill is going to have two more years (even if he for some reason only wins 3-4 games next year). In terms of what the record in 2014 (or even 2013) is going to be, I don't think anyone has a real basis for making a projection. The theory that more upperclassman automatically equals better records isn't always true. Ultimately the record is going to come down to talent and coaching. Given the talent that we have recruited in 2011 and 2012, we are going to find out how good of a coach Kill is, because he certainly isnt going to be able to overwhelm big 10 opponents with talent. And, to be fair, that is the way it should be. Kill has always stressed his ability to coach up lower talent guys (dont think he has made a claim to identifying talent others have missed but I could be wrong), and his ability to do that in the big 10 is precisely what the admin and fans are betting he can do. In full disclosure, I am somewhat dubious if coaching alone can overcome talent deficiencies (in the context of winning more than 7 games a year and competing for a big 10 title), but it will be interesting to see. My biggest concern in regards to this philosophy is in the trenches. I am not convinced that Kill's staff can coach away being talent and size deficiencies in those facets of the game. The d-line looks better this so maybe I should be more optimistic but the o-line is a tire fire (hopefully it really is a youth issue there).
 

I've always said, minimum 3 years to clean up Brew's mess... I'll give Kill 4 years then we'll evaluate.
 

Killjoy said:
You seem to be very confused about what it takes to turn a program around. First, you don't turn a program around by throwing in the towel after seven games.Second, you measure success by more than wins. Barry Alvarez didn't have a winning season until his fourth. Third, if you think firing coach Kill could be the solution you have idea how difficult it will be to get know quality coaches to look at the Minnesota head coach position. There is a reason why Eric Kaler gave coach Kill a 7 year contract.
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Barry Alvarez also never lost a game by more than three TD's in his second season or third seasons, and only once in his first. That's my biggest concern, and one which, frankly, those who want there to be no criticism for Kill have yet to provide any real answer for. It's not just that we've lost some Big Ten games under Kill, it's that we've been pounded in many of them.

That's not measuring program growth by just wins and losses, it's taken competitiveness and basic fundamentals into account as well. When you do that, Kill's record here still doesn't look very good. Of our 9 Big Ten losses, only 3 of them (two against NW) have even been remotely competitive.
 




speedkills said:
4-3 is winning team!!! Enjoy it now!!!
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THANK YOU! I know I sound like I'm drinking the Maroon and Gold Kool-Aid here, but I'm optimistic about the rest of the season. I think we'll be able to sneak out a couple more wins, hopefully win a bowl game, and use that momentum in picking up more talent for next year.
 

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