Coach Kill's responses and comments on today's Sports Huddle:
1) Upon looking at film of yesterday's game Kill said he was pleased with the following: defense . . . pressure on the quarterback . . . punting (Christian Eldred) . . . field position . . . better corner play . . . punt receiving (AJ Barker) . . . reduction in penalties. Although he was pleased with the big plays, he said the offense struggled at times and wants better continuity. He saw overall improvement but there's a lot to improve on.
2) Defensive line: "We're very young up front . . . excited about the future." He said they're athletic up front and he credits their work in the weight room and conditioning. Rotated 8 - 9 kids in the game and then a few more players saw action near game's end.
3) Sid referenced Reusse collumn about the defensive line: Kill responded by talking about Ra'Shede Hageman - Hageman has gone through trials and errors because position changes, but now he's getting comfortable at defensive tackle. Kill also cited the play of D.L. Wilhilte,Thieren Cockran, Michael Amaefula, Roland Johnson, and Scott Epke. He said they all move well and we're much more athletic. He closed saying recruiting athletic defensive players is a priority. You win with a strong defense.
4) Secondary play: Kill was pleased with the improvement at the corners from week one. (Corner play was a point of emphasis during the practices of the past week.) Safeties got the defense in the right position with their calls, which was a challenge because of the Wildcats "no-huddle" offense. Cited: Brock Vereen, Cedric Thompson and Derrick Wells.
5) Assistant coaches: "I'm blessed with good people . . . coaches care about the kids." He closed the queston saying the team has the long way to go and the coaches will focus their attention on fundamentals and techniques.
6) Student body: "They did a great job." Kill said he spent a lot of time on campus Friday visiting with the students. He wants to be visible with the students: "This is their team . . . we wouldn't have jobs without the students."
7) Mona mentioned the short yardage on third downs that Minnesota enjoyed: Spent a lot of time in practrice in improving offensive play. It was factor that he was extremely pleased with; being productive on first and second downs.
8) Sid asked about the offensive line play: Kill said they're running a lot of option with the running abilitiy of Marquies Gray. Kill said security up front is a priority and, once again, he mentioned the importance of continuity in line play. He closed saying they need to improve because the road will be getting harder as the season progresses.
9) Marquies was seen blocking on some of the plays: Kill referenced Gray's earlier playing days at wide receiver and having had experience in downfield blocking. He closed by saying "You are who you are" referring to Gray: "Gray plays aggressive."
10) Bjorklund: Kill sound excited about Joe Bjorklund:"He's done a real good job." He went on to say Bjorklund was availale as a recruit when he came on the coaching scene at Minnesota, and he's glad he was available and chose to join the team.
11) Andre McDonald: Kill said Andre had an infection in his knee that prevented him from practicing early in the week. Thus, because of his youth he didn't have the game plan down (normally not a problem with older players) so they held him out of yesterday's game. Kill said McDonald will be ready and available for Western Michigan.
12) Mona mentioned the play of Martez Shabazz: "Martez Shabazz is a very good athlete and made an athletic play (Shabazz's interception)." Kill then cited AJ Barker's punt receiving and the good decisions upon catching the ball, "Short fields give us a better chance at scoring."
13) Kickoffs: Kill sounded very pleased with special team play. He said it's their goal to have the opponent start their drives after the kickoffs at the twenty-five yard line, which was the case yesterday. He said the special team play looked a lot better than in the opener.
14) Eldred: Again, Kill sounded excited about punting game, "Best punting since I've been here." Eldred's first few punts were into a strong wind. When Sid said Eldred looked like he's a good athleted and that he'll probably run on fourth down from the punt formation - Kill responded saying Eldred has played rugby and that he can do a lot of different things with his leg. Assistant coach Jay Sawvel found Eldred and deserves credit for his recruitment. He also said there's a gentleman in Australia (no name given) that coaches and prepares Aussie kickers for American football. He also referenced an Aussie that had punted for LSU. Apparently the gentleman coached both Eldred and the former LSU Tiger.
15) Western MIchigan: Their quarterback can throw the ball and they run a diverse offense. Defense is aggressive. "We have to improve." Kill said he wants to see steady improvement in his team's preparations and on game day.
16) Injuries: Michael Amaefula was hurt early in yesterday's game but returned to action. Aaron Hill suffered body cramps and needed an IV. Sounded somewhat concerned about body cramps, for they can slow you down in your preparations because of their long lasting effects.
1&) New Hampshire's no huddle: Said the team handled it pretty well. Again, he credited the safeties for getting them in the right position. He was extremely pleased with the team's response when New Hampshire scored their touchdown by immediately scoring a Gopher touchdown. "We got the win . . . good things to coach from."
Go Gophers!!
1) Upon looking at film of yesterday's game Kill said he was pleased with the following: defense . . . pressure on the quarterback . . . punting (Christian Eldred) . . . field position . . . better corner play . . . punt receiving (AJ Barker) . . . reduction in penalties. Although he was pleased with the big plays, he said the offense struggled at times and wants better continuity. He saw overall improvement but there's a lot to improve on.
2) Defensive line: "We're very young up front . . . excited about the future." He said they're athletic up front and he credits their work in the weight room and conditioning. Rotated 8 - 9 kids in the game and then a few more players saw action near game's end.
3) Sid referenced Reusse collumn about the defensive line: Kill responded by talking about Ra'Shede Hageman - Hageman has gone through trials and errors because position changes, but now he's getting comfortable at defensive tackle. Kill also cited the play of D.L. Wilhilte,Thieren Cockran, Michael Amaefula, Roland Johnson, and Scott Epke. He said they all move well and we're much more athletic. He closed saying recruiting athletic defensive players is a priority. You win with a strong defense.
4) Secondary play: Kill was pleased with the improvement at the corners from week one. (Corner play was a point of emphasis during the practices of the past week.) Safeties got the defense in the right position with their calls, which was a challenge because of the Wildcats "no-huddle" offense. Cited: Brock Vereen, Cedric Thompson and Derrick Wells.
5) Assistant coaches: "I'm blessed with good people . . . coaches care about the kids." He closed the queston saying the team has the long way to go and the coaches will focus their attention on fundamentals and techniques.
6) Student body: "They did a great job." Kill said he spent a lot of time on campus Friday visiting with the students. He wants to be visible with the students: "This is their team . . . we wouldn't have jobs without the students."
7) Mona mentioned the short yardage on third downs that Minnesota enjoyed: Spent a lot of time in practrice in improving offensive play. It was factor that he was extremely pleased with; being productive on first and second downs.
8) Sid asked about the offensive line play: Kill said they're running a lot of option with the running abilitiy of Marquies Gray. Kill said security up front is a priority and, once again, he mentioned the importance of continuity in line play. He closed saying they need to improve because the road will be getting harder as the season progresses.
9) Marquies was seen blocking on some of the plays: Kill referenced Gray's earlier playing days at wide receiver and having had experience in downfield blocking. He closed by saying "You are who you are" referring to Gray: "Gray plays aggressive."
10) Bjorklund: Kill sound excited about Joe Bjorklund:"He's done a real good job." He went on to say Bjorklund was availale as a recruit when he came on the coaching scene at Minnesota, and he's glad he was available and chose to join the team.
11) Andre McDonald: Kill said Andre had an infection in his knee that prevented him from practicing early in the week. Thus, because of his youth he didn't have the game plan down (normally not a problem with older players) so they held him out of yesterday's game. Kill said McDonald will be ready and available for Western Michigan.
12) Mona mentioned the play of Martez Shabazz: "Martez Shabazz is a very good athlete and made an athletic play (Shabazz's interception)." Kill then cited AJ Barker's punt receiving and the good decisions upon catching the ball, "Short fields give us a better chance at scoring."
13) Kickoffs: Kill sounded very pleased with special team play. He said it's their goal to have the opponent start their drives after the kickoffs at the twenty-five yard line, which was the case yesterday. He said the special team play looked a lot better than in the opener.
14) Eldred: Again, Kill sounded excited about punting game, "Best punting since I've been here." Eldred's first few punts were into a strong wind. When Sid said Eldred looked like he's a good athleted and that he'll probably run on fourth down from the punt formation - Kill responded saying Eldred has played rugby and that he can do a lot of different things with his leg. Assistant coach Jay Sawvel found Eldred and deserves credit for his recruitment. He also said there's a gentleman in Australia (no name given) that coaches and prepares Aussie kickers for American football. He also referenced an Aussie that had punted for LSU. Apparently the gentleman coached both Eldred and the former LSU Tiger.
15) Western MIchigan: Their quarterback can throw the ball and they run a diverse offense. Defense is aggressive. "We have to improve." Kill said he wants to see steady improvement in his team's preparations and on game day.
16) Injuries: Michael Amaefula was hurt early in yesterday's game but returned to action. Aaron Hill suffered body cramps and needed an IV. Sounded somewhat concerned about body cramps, for they can slow you down in your preparations because of their long lasting effects.
1&) New Hampshire's no huddle: Said the team handled it pretty well. Again, he credited the safeties for getting them in the right position. He was extremely pleased with the team's response when New Hampshire scored their touchdown by immediately scoring a Gopher touchdown. "We got the win . . . good things to coach from."
Go Gophers!!
