Even Jerry Kill would have been skeptical.
The Minnesota coach’s collection of doubters was vast after he was hired from Northern Illinois and brought along a resume that included stops at Saginaw Valley, Emporia State and, as much of a successful rebuilding job as it was, Southern Illinois.
“Shoot, I would have been,” he said. “If I was on the other side, I’d say, ‘Minnesota’s struggling. What’s that guy know?'”
Turns out, a lot after quite a bit of success at smaller programs.
The Gophers (6-1, 3-0 Big Ten) are the surprise of the conference, heading into Saturday’s game at Illinois as the Big Ten West leaders.
Minnesota went 8-5 last season, earning a bid to the Texas Bowl, where it lost 21-17 to Syracuse. Still, most wondered if Minnesota and Kill were legitimate.
Kill ignores those skeptics.
“As a head coach and a staff, we are who we are,” he said. “We came up a different way. As far as what we’ve done (to achieve success), I’ve stayed with the same philosophies.”
Illinois and Minnesota appear to be headed in opposite directions.
Kill knows Illini coach Tim Beckman professionally from their days competing against each other in the Mid-American Conference, when Beckman coached Toledo and Kill was with NIU.
Unlike Beckman at Illinois (3-4, 0-3), Kill has helped Minnesota improve each year, going from 3-9 in his first to 6-7 in 2012 to 8-5 last season. The Gophers were 17-33 in the five years before he arrived.
Kill said it takes time to change a program. He was 1-10 in his first season at Southern Illinois, 4-8 his second and then 50-7 in the next five before leaving for NIU. He left the Huskies after going 10-3 in his third year.
“People in this day and age are not patient,” he said. “It takes awhile to get the foundation down, to get the culture changed.”
In addition to Minnesota’s success on the field, Kill is pleased his health has been good this season.
He was driven from the sidelines last season and forced to take time off after suffering epileptic seizures, something he has dealt with since his Southern Illinois coaching days.
Now Kill manages his health as well as he can.
“Epilepsy is part of your health, but it’s something that’s hard to control,” he said. “People die from it. I don’t know if people know that. You try to do everything you can. As a coach, you’re going 100 miles per hour. I’m eating properly. I exercise every day. I try to sleep as much I can, which is not one of my strong points.”
Kill is serious about raising awareness. He has been featured in health magazines, speaks publicly about the disease and started a fund with his wife, Rebecca.
Creating success in grim circumstances, of course, is Kill’s professional forte.
“We put in hard work,” he said. “That doesn’t guarantee you anything. But it does give you a chance.”
Twitter @sryantribune
