Shama: Expect U to Address Jerry Kill Salary

per Shama:

Multiple sources will attest to the affection University of Minnesota president Eric Kaler has for Kill. Kaler admires his coach for more than wins and losses. Kill has made a dramatic impact on the academic work of his players and the coach’s struggles with epilepsy have inspired even non-football fans. So, too, has Kill’s good deeds in the community and the way he represents the University.

Increasing Kill’s compensation would be both a reward for his work and indication the Gophers are serious about discouraging other schools from pursuing him. His $1.2 million pay is almost embarrassing. Purdue coach Darrell Hazell — who a year ago was hired from MAC member Kent State and in 2013 led the Boilermakers to a winless season in the Big Ten — earns $2.1 million, according to USA Today. Dave Doeren, who took over for Kill at Northern Illinois in 2011, left the Huskies after last season to become head coach at North Carolina State where he reportedly earns $2.5 million per season.

http://shamasportsheadliners.com/

Go Gophers!!

Does anyone know how many years we have kill locked up for? Someone told me he has gotten an extension. Just trying to get all
the facts.

I'm more concerned about Claeys than Kill. Yes Kill's salary is somewhat embarrassing, but for the next year or so there is NO danger of losing Kill due to the health issues, where there is a HUGE concern of losing Claeys. I don't think they can give Claeys head coach type coin, but that all depends on what his and Kill's roles are next year. I'm assuming Kill will be taking back most duties, but if not I have no issue with them being co-head coaches or something. And if so, paying them similarly would be fine by me.

diddy3191 said:

Does anyone know how many years we have kill locked up for? Someone told me he has gotten an extension. Just trying to get all
the facts.

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His first contract was for 7 years. This was/is year 3. As of now, he has not signed an extension, but that may happen if they bump his pay. Being he's still under contract for 4 years and him staying because of health reasons is way more of a question for recruiting than his contract running out, I don't see a huge priority to extend it, but if you're going to bump his pay anyway...

This came up last year which might be where some were confused about whether or not he signed an extension.

We are at no risk of losing Kill. Wouldn't be against giving him a raise though. Giving raises to the assistants should be the priority though, they did a hell of a job covering for Kill this year.

MadtownGopher said:

We are at no risk of losing Kill. Wouldn't be against giving him a raise though. Giving raises to the assistants should be the priority though, they did a hell of a job covering for Kill this year.

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I also agree the assistants should be a priority over Kill however if they are going to give Kill a raise I really hope it does not come attached to an extension. He still has 4 years left on his deal and while things seem to be moving in the right direction he will need to prove that he can sustain the upward mobility before he gets more years added to his deal.

MNVCGUY said:

I also agree the assistants should be a priority over Kill however if they are going to give Kill a raise I really hope it does not come attached to an extension. He still has 4 years left on his deal and while things seem to be moving in the right direction he will need to prove that he can sustain the upward mobility before he gets more years added to his deal.

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Agree 100%. That's why I used "raise" instead of "extension."

An extra mill for kill.

An extra mill for assistants.

Next.

Pay the staff more. Not a kings ransom. Just more.

Maybe the staff should be paid more, but one .500 season in the B1G= pay raise? C'mon man. The Purdue and NC State examples are irrelevant because those coaches just signed their first deal and have not been given pay raises. If Shama can find a coach (regardless of health issues) who has received a pay raise after one .500 conference season and 8-16 conference record, that would be of interest to me.

Does anyone seriously read his blog? He's like a fourth rate Charley Walters.

EG#9 said:

Maybe the staff should be paid more, but one .500 season in the B1G= pay raise? C'mon man. The Purdue and NC State examples are irrelevant because those coaches just signed their first deal and have not been given pay raises. If Shama can find a coach (regardless of health issues) who has received a pay raise after one .500 conference season and 8-16 conference record, that would be of interest to me.

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There not irrelevant, can you really look at someone with a straight face and say Purdue's coach is worth an extra 900k than Kill right now. I'm not saying Kill should get Urban Meyer or Captain Kirk money, but despite being in the booth for the games, this is Kills program, he's mostly responsible for everything Monday through Friday, game day is the easy part of being a coach in any sport. I would say Kill's worth anywhere between 2 million and 2.5

bemidjigopher said:

There not irrelevant, can you really look at someone with a straight face and say Purdue's coach is worth an extra 900k than Kill right now. I'm not saying Kill should get Urban Meyer or Captain Kirk money, but despite being in the booth for the games, this is Kills program, he's mostly responsible for everything Monday through Friday, game day is the easy part of being a coach in any sport. I would say Kill's worth anywhere between 2 million and 2.5

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Hazell is worth 2.1 million because Purdue agreed to that contract last year with him, that's what they needed to pay to get him on campus. The University of Minnesota did not need to pay Jerry Kill 2.1 million a year to get him on campus (and they certainly didn't need to give him a 2 year extension and $100K raise after a couple horrible games). A reasonable expectation of a contract is being competitive in your conference, which the Gophers have been just once in Kill's tenure. The resume thus far is 8-16 in conference play and 14 of those 16 losses (including all 4 this year and 5 of 6 last year) have been by double digits. I don't think you can say with a straight face that a coach deserves a raise based on this resume. Let's see if the improvement that happened this year can carry over in to next year or if this was just a 4 game mirage.

EG#9 said:

Hazell is worth 2.1 million because Purdue agreed to that contract last year with him, that's what they needed to pay to get him on campus. The University of Minnesota did not need to pay Jerry Kill 2.1 million a year to get him on campus (and they certainly didn't need to give him a 2 year extension and $100K raise after a couple horrible games). A reasonable expectation of a contract is being competitive in your conference, which the Gophers have been just once in Kill's tenure. The resume thus far is 8-16 in conference play and 14 of those 16 losses (including all 4 this year and 5 of 6 last year) have been by double digits. I don't think you can say with a straight face that a coach deserves a raise based on this resume. Let's see if the improvement that happened this year can carry over in to next year or if this was just a 4 game mirage.

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Get out of your cave.

Structure of the deal is important on an amended contract. What things have changed that need to be fixed? I am not certain that we exceeded expectations enough this year to warrant more than a modest increase in the base pay and benefits. When we hired Kill, I think 8-4 at this point in his contract would be a normal expectation. Some of the things the team is still overcoming is reputation, increasing our traveling fan base, consistency in field performance, etc. Some of these things are improving, but within normal expectations for this time in the contract.

I think there are assistant coaches who deserve substantial raises and the U should seek to include protection clauses. But, some coaches need to really step up their game and keep up with the expectations of the program and some of those coaches have yet to fully demonstrate that they deserve additional pay. This would be a great year for Jerry Kill to do another off season staff development tour and raise the bar of expectation for his junior staff.

For most of the staff, a bump would be worth the investment. However, with that extra money, even higher performance should also be expected. The bar must be raised accordingly. Staff stability is only worth it if they meet expectations as a group and as individuals. This is not the year to push for bigger bucks for many of the staff as they have not earned it yet. They have met expectations but they have not yet exceeded expectations. So, I don't think it is worth rewriting a whole budget to address certain fan and administrative fear.

Frankly, I would give some coaches bonuses for performance this year. But, I would not increase many of the staff base pay by amending their contracts without a long term commitment to the school, higher performance expectations, and a higher impact on the reputation of the school. I think extra money is attractive in keeping the staff stable and demonstrating the schools interest in keeping them. However, I would make it clear that they need to continue to improve the program and right now we are merely meeting basic expectations. To earn higher pay, higher performance along several categories is a necessity. Areas that need improvement are program reputation among prospective recruits. The coaches need to demonstrate improvement year-over-year in numerous other categories.

This is really too early to start bragging by the staff to other schools. Many had a good year. But, in most categories it was merely satisfactory and did not exceed expectations in most. A few coaches are starting to show value. But, there is a difference in value short and long term. If we see continued improvements next year, then we will start to see the need for a larger payroll budget for them. Right now, I still see too many areas that need improvement to warrant anything other than offering performance bonuses for a few narrowly defined categories.