Coach Kill was on the Sports Huddle for the full allotted time (half-hour), and, once again, Dave asked some of the questions that GopherHolers have raised in what you'd like Dave Mona to ask of coach Kill threads.
1) Sid opened the show asking about visiting coaches: Kill responded by saying that his staff has visited a lot of schools and coaches in recent weeks. This week, however, Kill and his staff set aside two days for visiting coaches (didn't identify the coaches) whose schedules do not include Minnesota. They share ideas by reaching out and looking for certain things and ways to improve their operations.
2) In recent weeks, defensive coaches visited Mississippi State (they do things similar to the SEC team). Offensive coaches spent some time at Baylor looking for certain things as the defensive coaches did at Mississippi State on the defensive side of the ball. Kill also mentioned Sonny Lubick's visit and the sharing of ideas related to offense.
3) Sid asked what the assistant coaches are doing in the off season: Kill said they're pulling double duty - getting ready for spring ball and evaluating juniors as potential recruits. He then went on to say they've also been busy evaluating film from last year - what they did well and didn't do well. They're trying to ascertain what they need to do to improve the team.
4) Sid then asked about athletes that have stood out in the speed category: Kill responded that he hesitates to name names because of his fear of not mentioning someone ("mention one and miss 99"). He then went on to list the following players: Runningbacks - James Gillum has been impressive and mentioned favorably his maturity level. "David Cobb is up to 225 pounds, grown up physically and can run."
WR: "Brandon Green has improved himself." He mentioned Devin Crawford-Tufts saying he has become more physical.
OL: He mentioned Marek Lenkiewicz, Foster Bush, Olson brothers saying all have gained 15-20 pounds (not fat) and are stronger. He then said Drew Goodger has improved himself (not sure Goodger has moved to OL from TE; however, he included him in the OL section of players named).
DL: He cited Cameron Botticelli and Ra'Shede Hageman as getting better (he also mentioned a third player, however, I didn't catch the name. Sorry.). DEs mentioned were Ben Perry and Thieren Cockran. Cockran is now approximately 240 pounds.
He said the team is gaining in size and speed. He said they stress that they "Do the right thing" (character issues) on and off-campus. He wants the players to stay focused in what they do.
5) Sid said he expects Moses Alipate to be a tremendous TE: Kill said he hopes Sid is right. He tried to get Moses to make the move a year ago. He went on to say Moses has worked hard and they'll see if he can make the transition to TE. He now weighs 285-290 pounds. (Moses Alipate question was raised in part by Norseland Store.)
6) GopherHole question about position changes: Kendall Gregory-McGhee has been moved to TE. Kendall visited coach Kill about the move. Kill said some players have a defensive mentality (want to hit) while others are more offensive oriented. Kill went on to say they'll try to get the best players on the field in positions that they can excell. (Question was raised by Norseland Store.)
7) Responsibility of 8 off-season training captains (Dave Mona asked the question): Kill he returned home last night from a Nike convention in Orlando at which he talked about the 8 captain concept. The purpose of the program is to seek and find and develop team leadership and competition. The players selected the captains and they then drafted the players to the respective teams. Everything is competition-related. They receive points for improvement in the training program and they lose points if a player is "brown shirted" (the remaining players have to pick up the slack) or if someone gets in trouble off-campus. He credited coach Klein for much of the program's development.
8) Mona asked about being short in numbers: "We're not deep enough." "We have to find a way to get back to the way coach Mason had it" and move it forward. (This Gopherhole question was raised in a previous thread.)
9) GopherHole question about scheduling: He said the schedule is 8-9 years out and some adjustments are needed. "Need to learn how to win." He mentioned the agreement between the Big 10 and PAC 12 saying it's possible that sometimes a school may be playing two PAC 12 teams. When asked what his preference was for starting times of games Kill responded saying, "Whatever is best for the fans." He wants the attention and focus of the state to be on the Gophers on Saturdays. He alluded to wanting Gopher games to be a "happening" in and around TCF Bank Stadium on gameday. (Two part question was raised by DL65.)
10) Sid asked about last week's Junior Day: Kill said it went well . . . said they were aware of some the visitors since his days at Northern Illinois University. He's excited about summer camps so they can personally evaluate the potential recruits and they can show the players the way they do things at Minnesota (coaching philosophy).
11) Sid asked if there are any rule changes related to contact with players during the summer months: The short answer there is no rule change. Basketball coaches can visit with their players for a couple days, but there is no such allowance for football. Kill said he'd like to have that opportunity . . . they have 115 players on campus during the summer prior to fall drills and he'd like the opportunity to stress what's expected and how they should act (on and off-campus).
12) GopherHole question - Percentage of the Kill playbook that we've seen: Kill responded saying, "If we're not playing fast . . . players are busy processing, we'll keep things simple." "Make it simple . . . it's not what we know, it's what the players can do. (This question was raised by Unregistered User and Killjoy.)
Again, thanks to Dave Mona for his shout out to GopherHole and for using some of our questions!
Go Gophers!!
1) Sid opened the show asking about visiting coaches: Kill responded by saying that his staff has visited a lot of schools and coaches in recent weeks. This week, however, Kill and his staff set aside two days for visiting coaches (didn't identify the coaches) whose schedules do not include Minnesota. They share ideas by reaching out and looking for certain things and ways to improve their operations.
2) In recent weeks, defensive coaches visited Mississippi State (they do things similar to the SEC team). Offensive coaches spent some time at Baylor looking for certain things as the defensive coaches did at Mississippi State on the defensive side of the ball. Kill also mentioned Sonny Lubick's visit and the sharing of ideas related to offense.
3) Sid asked what the assistant coaches are doing in the off season: Kill said they're pulling double duty - getting ready for spring ball and evaluating juniors as potential recruits. He then went on to say they've also been busy evaluating film from last year - what they did well and didn't do well. They're trying to ascertain what they need to do to improve the team.
4) Sid then asked about athletes that have stood out in the speed category: Kill responded that he hesitates to name names because of his fear of not mentioning someone ("mention one and miss 99"). He then went on to list the following players: Runningbacks - James Gillum has been impressive and mentioned favorably his maturity level. "David Cobb is up to 225 pounds, grown up physically and can run."
WR: "Brandon Green has improved himself." He mentioned Devin Crawford-Tufts saying he has become more physical.
OL: He mentioned Marek Lenkiewicz, Foster Bush, Olson brothers saying all have gained 15-20 pounds (not fat) and are stronger. He then said Drew Goodger has improved himself (not sure Goodger has moved to OL from TE; however, he included him in the OL section of players named).
DL: He cited Cameron Botticelli and Ra'Shede Hageman as getting better (he also mentioned a third player, however, I didn't catch the name. Sorry.). DEs mentioned were Ben Perry and Thieren Cockran. Cockran is now approximately 240 pounds.
He said the team is gaining in size and speed. He said they stress that they "Do the right thing" (character issues) on and off-campus. He wants the players to stay focused in what they do.
5) Sid said he expects Moses Alipate to be a tremendous TE: Kill said he hopes Sid is right. He tried to get Moses to make the move a year ago. He went on to say Moses has worked hard and they'll see if he can make the transition to TE. He now weighs 285-290 pounds. (Moses Alipate question was raised in part by Norseland Store.)
6) GopherHole question about position changes: Kendall Gregory-McGhee has been moved to TE. Kendall visited coach Kill about the move. Kill said some players have a defensive mentality (want to hit) while others are more offensive oriented. Kill went on to say they'll try to get the best players on the field in positions that they can excell. (Question was raised by Norseland Store.)
7) Responsibility of 8 off-season training captains (Dave Mona asked the question): Kill he returned home last night from a Nike convention in Orlando at which he talked about the 8 captain concept. The purpose of the program is to seek and find and develop team leadership and competition. The players selected the captains and they then drafted the players to the respective teams. Everything is competition-related. They receive points for improvement in the training program and they lose points if a player is "brown shirted" (the remaining players have to pick up the slack) or if someone gets in trouble off-campus. He credited coach Klein for much of the program's development.
8) Mona asked about being short in numbers: "We're not deep enough." "We have to find a way to get back to the way coach Mason had it" and move it forward. (This Gopherhole question was raised in a previous thread.)
9) GopherHole question about scheduling: He said the schedule is 8-9 years out and some adjustments are needed. "Need to learn how to win." He mentioned the agreement between the Big 10 and PAC 12 saying it's possible that sometimes a school may be playing two PAC 12 teams. When asked what his preference was for starting times of games Kill responded saying, "Whatever is best for the fans." He wants the attention and focus of the state to be on the Gophers on Saturdays. He alluded to wanting Gopher games to be a "happening" in and around TCF Bank Stadium on gameday. (Two part question was raised by DL65.)
10) Sid asked about last week's Junior Day: Kill said it went well . . . said they were aware of some the visitors since his days at Northern Illinois University. He's excited about summer camps so they can personally evaluate the potential recruits and they can show the players the way they do things at Minnesota (coaching philosophy).
11) Sid asked if there are any rule changes related to contact with players during the summer months: The short answer there is no rule change. Basketball coaches can visit with their players for a couple days, but there is no such allowance for football. Kill said he'd like to have that opportunity . . . they have 115 players on campus during the summer prior to fall drills and he'd like the opportunity to stress what's expected and how they should act (on and off-campus).
12) GopherHole question - Percentage of the Kill playbook that we've seen: Kill responded saying, "If we're not playing fast . . . players are busy processing, we'll keep things simple." "Make it simple . . . it's not what we know, it's what the players can do. (This question was raised by Unregistered User and Killjoy.)
Again, thanks to Dave Mona for his shout out to GopherHole and for using some of our questions!
Go Gophers!!
