Not exactly the super star I think we were all hoping for, but after a bit of a cool down period this might be okay. So I've been refreshing twitter and gopherhole kind of a lot for the last 7 days...how much, we'll I've had to recharge my phone like 3 times during the day because it's basically on non-stop. I just kept believing that we would make a splash and snag a great big name coach to jump start this program. Jerry Kill is not exactly the name I was hoping for. My initial reaction was disbelief, rage, and sadness...but after simmering a little, I think I have come to grips with reality on this one.
The problem appears to be the major questions at the top with an outgoing president and outgoing AD - who the hell is in charge and running the show at this place? If you are Chris Petersen or Dan Mullen do you leave a decent gig that you have right now for this rebuilding job with questionable leadership? Exactly. I don't dislike Kill, I actually think he's a good coach, but I have a real problem with the moron who hired him and should have been fired 4 years ago after his last "major hire". His "Tubby-type" comment is completely asinine...hiring a guy from NIU is not quite like taking the UK Hoops coach. Maturi made this a ridiculous secret filled search with more concern about a leak than about getting the right guy. Interest, even with the Iowa win, is at a low point for the football team and he needed a jolt to the fanbase. Jerry Kill doesn't quite satisfy that need. Most don't know who the hell he even is - this includes the players, who can not be thrilled with this hire. Joel is done - very soon - so we'll see if this things sticks or not. If the new President hits a HR on the next AD hire, then that guy might want to get his own guy in place for the football team and we should have a more stable, defined, and trusted leadership group in place at that time. But that's in the future - for now, we've got Jerry Kill for a 5 year deal...let's give him a shot.
So who is Jerry Kill, well...he's the anti-Brewster, which can't be a bad thing. Hard working, no frills, no nonsense hardcore football coach. He has been a head coach for a long time and he's only 49...I would have guessed much older by looking at him. He fits the IOWA/WIS mold of a coach...not much of a recruiter but a great fundamentals kind of guy. He has a staff, which is rumored to all be coming along (we'll find out tomorrow), that has been with him for 9+ years...all of them. They rank very high in total D and total O this season and really run the ball well. Their defense has been the best in the MAC the last 3 season (all of his time at NIU). Offensively, they want to run it but they also open it up at times and run kind of a spread type thing with heavy reliance on the run by the QB and RB's. I think this offense makes the most sense for this team and this league. Defensively, I'm all for bringing in a successful system and successful coordinator - let's hope those results translate into the B10 like they did in the MAC. Kill and staff had the NIU football banquet tonight, and the media wanted a word from him after the banquet about the new job...his answer, "I'm not talking to those people." Interesting - I think he truly is the anti-Brewster.
I'm talking myself into this one - he's a nice coach that I wouldn't mind having in most scenarios...but with the hype surrounding this search and the shallow promises of Maturi I just can't help be be a little disappointed. However, once we see what the club looks like in APR at the Spring game and give the guy a chance we could all be very happy.
Think about this - without knowing about all of the other garbage that was going on out there during this search, the bottom line is that our coach was Tim Brewster and now it's Jerry Kill...overall, that is an upgrade. We know the guy can coach and has won everywhere he's gone. We know he's a fundamentalist, much like Mase, and we know he has a solid staff that should come with him and be here to avoid the yearly changes we saw under Brew...much like Ferentz and the Iowa model. I think he values D, he was a LB in college, and his D's have been strong at every level...so this is an encouraging sign. I've said all along, we need to play D to win in this league so maybe this guy will do it.
My major concern is the recruiting which is a big unknown with this staff and the current players reaction. Kill straight up says he not going to be your best friend, he's brutally honest with his players and recruits...which can hurt him with some of these fragile egos. He sees his role as a parent for all of these guys and he teaches discipline and work ethic. Hard to not like a guy like this, isn't it? Maybe it's the best we could do, maybe it's a disappointment, maybe it's a major coup...only time will tell.
Either way - Go Gophs!!! Beat Iowa again next year and maybe throw in a NEB victory or WIS, USC, OHIOST, or really anything that Brew didn't do and we could all be singing a very different tune when we're going bowling next year. I'm not going to be negative toward Kill at all - he deserves a chance, and then we can figure out a verdict. I'm going to go ahead and guarantee he won't go 1-11 next year!!
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