Ladies and Gentlemen....Jerry Kill....we got'm?

[LMITOUT]

The coaching search for the new head football coach at the University of Minnesota has finally ended. Northern Illinois head football coach Jerry Kill will accept the position and will arrive in Minneapolis tonight.

[JIvers]

That's the rumor posted on ESPN.

As for Kill, I know NIU has a good program in the MAC; beyond that, nothing.

Jim Tressel, of course, came out of the MAC, and he's done alright at tOSU.

If it is Jerry Kill, you have to wonder if the rumors about Troy Calhoun, Al Golden, or any of the others being on the Gophers' short list were true, and those coaches turned Maturi down, or if it was a clever mis-direction campaign by Maturi to hide his real target. I would bet on the first option.

[toughguy]

Reported on Star Trib now too. This is another huge mistake by Maturi.

[thatoneguy]

Hey if you can win in the meat grinder that is the MAC, a weak conference like the Big 10 should be a piece of cake, right?

[cbrooks]

....huh who really

[pike doctor]

WHO!??? OMFG!!!!!!! Way to go U of M. Way to hire another no-name loser. Way to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory with this hire. I hope the new legislature gets a chance to introduce a bill to fire Maturi (even though they have no control.) I am sure the new coach with his well-known name(detect sarcasim) will go a long way in recruiting talent.

And who the hell wants to go watch a game where you cant even get a beer if you're a little thirsty.

Everyone please come laugh at the worthless U of M. The new standard in mediocrity and worthlessness. I am now going to clean the puke out of my mouth.

[LMITOUT]

Quote:

Gophers' Coaching Search ends with Jerry Kill, buzz kill

Darren Wolfson

When "U" athletic director Joel Maturi fired former coach Tim Brewster on Oct. 10, he said, "We're out here to find a Tubby Smith. ... We're out here to find somebody that people can recognize, people have confidence in, and are going to bring instant credibility and notoriety to the football program."

What he found was Northern Illinois' Jerry Kill, sources told KSTP-TV's Joe Schmit late Sunday.

Can you say buzz kill?

I can see the headline now after the Gophers lose next year at USC or Michigan: "Gophers are Road-Kill."

They paid the Parker Search Firm $90,000 for this?

Kill, 49, has a career coaching record of 127-73. He has won two coach of the year awards.

But he is 0-2 in bowl games and, while in the Division I Football Championship Subdivision at Southern Illinois, went 4-5 in playoff appearances -- never making it to the finals. He also lost on Friday night in the Mid-American Conference championship game to Miami (Ohio).

According to the Chicago Sun-Times, Kill earned an estimated $300,000 a year at Northern Illinois, which ranked him 103rd in pay among college football coaches.

Presumably, he will get a sizeable raise at Minnesota.

An early reaction based on tweets sent in my direction has three people in favor of Kill's hiring: 50-plus against. Two former players, who chose to remain anonymous, are in a state of shock.

The former players behind savegopherfootball.com are fuming over the Kill hire.

"This is why we don't trust Maturi," one said.

Former Texas Tech coach Mike Leach, the top choice for many in the fan base, wasn't even considered.

The anger there, a source indicates, should be directed at president Bob Bruininks. He never wanted anything to do with Leach, who can be bombastic, but also galvanizing.

A news conference is expected at TCF Bank Stadium on Monday afternoon.

The question that needs to be answered now is, "How many coaches said 'no' before they offered the job to Kill?"

[gopherfish]

Having been involed with u of m athletics in the late 90's and early 2000's, I still know people involved in the program. I am not a big Joel Maturi fan when it comes to revenue sports. However, I do know that this guy was on their radar ever since Brewster was fired. He is essentially the anti Brewster. He is a proven coach who has won at every program he has been at. Is he a sexy hire?.. no. But the u had no chance at a lot of the other names. Leach was a guy they did have a chance at and time will tell if they should have hired him. I have already talked with my buddies who coach and played for Mason and they are somewhat happy with the hire. Check out his bio. The guy is a proven winner. I am willing to give the guy a chance. After all, with a little coaching, we beat Illinois and Iowa. His staff has been with him for quite some time and that continuty will help. Time will tell if he can recruit, but the guy can coach. I will be there next year supporting him.

[toughguy]

I think I'm gonna be sick. The more I think about this the more upset I get. I can't believe the ineptitude at the U. Does Joel Maturi really think this guy is gonna turn this program around? Just fire KilL tomorrow so we can pay another loser coach for not working next year. I had season tickets in the past and was actually thinking of getting them again next year. Not a chance in Heck of that now!!! At this point I'd rather buy wolves tickets. What a joke.

Coaches since I've been watching this program. Keep in mind 1/3 of their season is against total marshmallows:

1986-91 John Gutekunst 29-36-2 .441

1992-96 Jim Wacker 16-39-0 .291

1997–2006 Glen Mason 64-57-0 .535

2007–2010 Tim Brewster 15-30 .333

2010 Jeff Horton 2-3 .400

[JBMasterAngler]

It's not a terrible hire. It has insight bowl every year written all over it I don't know, if he can give the gophers the same offense he gave the huskies, we could be in for some fun games...better than the garbage that brewster was putting on the field!

[toughguy]

At least the writers at the strib and pioneer press will have an easy time coming up with headlines:

Gophers are Road Kill

Killed Again

Killer Loss

Penalty Kills

and on and on

[pike doctor]

IF you do a quick google search of "joel maturi email" you can find the email address for the donkey and tell him how worthless he is, and what a worthless hire he made. I really think he is working for Wisconson and Iowa, cause he sure as hell isnt working for the U of M. Just imagine if you had to choose between Paterno, Beilema, Trussel or Kill? I guess I know what I would do.

I have to puke again

[email protected]

[JIvers]

So what big name should Maturi have hired?

Leach is the only big name who showed interest in the job, and his, uh, eccentricities made the U rule him out right away. Whether that was right or wrong remains to be seen.

I've seen no reason to think Kill is a bad coach beyond "OMG, he didn't coach in the SEC, I've never heard of him, so he must be terrible!".

This criticism was levelled at Jim Tressel, who coached at D-II Youngstown State before taking the Ohio State job; he turned out alright.

[JIvers]

The last I checked, Bielema, Paterno, and "Trussel" were not looking for new jobs this year.

There were plenty of people in Madison a year ago who wanted to tar and feather Bielema; Paterno was almost retired six or seven years ago.

[toughguy]

Paterno would have been even worse

[toughguy]

It should have been Leach. The fact that they didn't even consider the guy is exactly what's wrong with the U of M mentality. It shouldn't be all "just win baby" but winning seems to be #23 on their list of priorities instead of being in the top 2 or 3. Leach wanted to come here. He would have energized the alumni, fans, and most importantly the recruits. If they didn't go with Leach I would have rather they waited until the bowls were done and hired a freshly fired coach from the Big Ten, SEC, ACC, Big 12 that could bring in recruits and buzz with his name alone then go with another no name, unproven, possible upside guy.

No, the top tier coaches were not on the Gopher's menu but there are plenty of guys at top programs that are on shaky ground. I was hoping they would pull off something like they did with Tubby when he was at KY. Maybe not to that level - but close. Watch all the coaches that move around this off season. There will be 5-10 that would have been better than Jerry Kill.

[LMITOUT]

Kill led Northern Illinois to the championship game of the MAC and a bid in the Humanitarian Bowl this season.

In three seasons at Northern Illinois, Kill went 6-7, 7-6 and 10-3. Previously, Kill was coach at Southern Illinois, leading that program to five straight postseason appearances.

[pike doctor]

I am saying if these four would come to recruit you that Kill would be your last choice almost everytime. MN has always let the biggest talent we have escape the state. Larry F, That reciever Floyd from Cretin, Laurenitis, John Carlson. The list goes on and on and on. Heck, Mauer may even have played FB if we would have had a decent program. These are just a couple examples. The top name prospects in this state dont want to stay here cause we always have a loser no name coach and a loser program. They wont get any attention.

We could have hired a well-respected and known cordinatoor from a successful school. Someone who knows how to win at the top level. Or we could have got a guy like Mike Grant who coaches Eden Prairie High School. Strong connections to the state, would almost certainly be able recruit better than anyone else and has a well-known name. He is also a proven winner and a strong disiplinary. He has just as much experience as head coach as Brewster.

Kill, nobody knows him. Perception is more than half the battle in getting a head coach that people will believe in. We had a chance to do something much bigger than this, we came out storminn like a wet fart.

[JIvers]

How many high school coaches have had success when they moved up to head coaching jobs at the college level?

Notre Dame tried that thirty years ago with Jerry Faust: how did that work out?

Coaching at a Big Ten school is an entirely different animal than coaching high school, and hiring any high school coach as HC at the U would have been a colossal mistake.

[JIvers]

" Larry F, That reciever Floyd from Cretin, Laurenitis, John Carlson. The list goes on and on and on. Heck, Mauer..."

What does Jerry Kill have to do with failing to land any of these in-state recruits?

[JIvers]

"We could have hired a well-respected and known cordinatoor from a successful school. Someone who knows how to win at the top level..."

For instance, an assistant coach at the University of Texas? A coach with a reputation as a great recruiter? An assistant coach who convinced a Heisman Trophy winner to come play at his Big 12 school? An assistant coach whose recruits helped win a National Championship game?

Congratulations: you just hired Tim Brewster.

[toughguy]

His point is this just stinks of all of the past coaching hires this program has made the last 30 years. A guy with rising stock that nobody's heard of from a weak conference that will, as history has shown us, fail. We were hoping for something to change but they stick with the same, proven to fail, tactics that have drilled this once great program straight into the ground. I hope I'm wrong. I hope that 2-3 years from now were not back here having this same discussion and that the gophers will help nurse me through another new years hangover with a rose bowl win. My money is on a new coach in 2012.

[bobbymalone]

They could have hired another 1.2 million dollar coach and dig further into the tuition and tax payer coffers to pay for it.

[JIvers]

And my point was that short of hiring Urban Meyer or Nick Saban away from their present employers, nothing Maturi did was going to satisfy a portion of the fan base.

I probably would have taken a chance on Leach, had it been my call, but his off-field issues raise enough question marks to make me accept the U's decision not to hire him.

An assistant coordinator from a big school? The U of M just tried that four years ago.

A high school coach with no experience in the college game? Can anyone give me an example of when that has worked in living memory?

I am not impressed with Maturi's track record either, but I see no reason to already write Kill off as a failure before he meets with a single recruit, much less coaches a single game.

Remember that Auburn fan who met Gene Chizik, who had a 5-18 record in his two years at Iowa State, at the airport right after his hiring and called him a "loser"? How did Chizik do this season at Auburn?

[thatoneguy]

"They could have hired another 1.2 million dollar coach and dig further into the tuition and tax payer coffers to pay for it."

Winning coaches in the two revenue sports - e.g. football and basketball - generally pay for themselves. Increased ticket sales, merchandise sales, booster donations, bowl game/postseason tournament revenue etc etc...