Gophers coach Jay Sawvel has recruited Alabama for the past 15 years.
Gophers coach Jerry Kill was on JOX 94.5 FM in Birmingham, Alabama. Below is a recap of his interview.
Jerry Kill on building the culture of winning at Minnesota…Where we’ve been before that’s what we’ve done. We’ve built programs and coming here is no different. We had a vision, we had a plan. We’ve now beat Nebraska back to back, we did a lot of things last year, we won three trophies. We need to get the Axe back from Wisconsin. We take one brick at a time and do it the right way. It doesn’t always come down to coaching, it comes down to players.
Jerry Kill on potential new no-huddle offense…We’re always going to run the football, but at the same time for us to get to 10 wins and to get where we want to be we have to throw the ball better. We have to d a better job with protection and WR wise. We redshirted some kids last year with some very, very good athletic talent. We’re not going to be no-huddle all the time, but we’ll do it some. The big thing for us is we’ll be a run team, use the play action, get the ball out quick. We have to build better skill around Mitch and I think we’ve done that.
Jerry Kill on the Big Ten conference…Ohio State has great players. With that being said we played Ohio State very well. I think our conference is kind of coming back after having a couple of tough stretches. We can play with anybody but we have to continue to recruit speed. The SEC has tremendous speed in their area and we have to recruit speed. The Big Ten is doing a better job is recruiting that. That’s why Ohio State is so good because of their speed and athleticism. We’ve turned our program around because we’ve gotten longer and faster.
Jerry Kill on recruiting the South and recruiting them to Minnesota…Our staff has been together for a long, long time. There is something to be said for continuity in college football. We sell that. Once we get a kid up here in Minnesota, see our new stadium, be in the Twin Cities. Once we get them here we have a lot to offer.
Jerry Kill on recruiting Alabama…We’ve always recruited the area. When we were in Southern Illinois we did a great job and Jay did a great job recruiting from New Orleans to Alabama. When we went to Northern Illinois we kept the same philosophy. I think the connections that Jay has done, and knowing the coaches the last 14-15 years makes a difference.
Jerry Kill on replacing NFL caliber talent…If you have a good football team its your job to continue recruiting. They aren’t easy to replace, but our job is to get good players to take those players place. We feel like we are very good at RB and have improved ourselves at WR and we have some good TEs.
Jerry Kill on the strength of the D…I think defensively we will have five players drafted and three of our four guys in the secondary. This could be the best defense we’ve had since we’ve been here. Our offensive line has improved and we have great kicker and punter. We can’t turn the ball over or make mental mistakes. If we can play more disciplined football we have a chance to be better than last year.
Jerry Kill on playing a power team like TCU…I think all of us would like to get four wins. There isn’t a coach in American that doesn’t want that. If you are truly going to look at strength of schedule it is a factor. We have a very difficult schedule, and we had one last year. You get to find out where you are at early. Our kids playing TCU out of the game, our kids are working a whole lot harder. It motivates you. I don’t’ want to get my butt beaten again (by TCU).