Coach Kill’s comments and responses to queries by Sid Hartman and Dave Mona on today’s Sports Huddle.
IMO, Coach sounded very frustrated and subdued in his responses. His answers were short and usually without much elaboration.
1) Sid opened up the segment wanting to know if Kill and his staff had viewed the tape of yesterday’s debacle in the opening of conference play:
Kill said he had looked at the tape, but not with the coaching staff. He said the Gophers were down three and then Northwestern had a big play with a punt return, “and we didn’t respond.”
Kill did not make any excuses about the loss, rather, there were a lot of things that were amiss. His responses throughout the Coach Kill segment were somewhat guarded, as he did not want to single out any one player or position in yesterday's defeat.
His closing comment to the first question was one of frustration as the team tries to correct mental/physical missteps and as the team moves forward in conference play. “A lot of work to do . . . (to) figure it out.”
2) Sid opined the Gophers have slid downhill since the TCU game:
Kill gave a terse response: “We’ve had a lot injuries and different things . . . (Played) the number 16 team in the country (Northwestern) is a good team . . . We’ve had a lot of things happen – no excuses!”
3) Sid brought up his weekly question about Minnesota’s quarterback – Mitch Leidner and now freshman Demry Croft – and its passing game:
Coach Kill did not focus his criticism on any one player, but, rather, the entire offensive team: “On the offensive side of the line (we’re) not executing – one or two make a mistake on every play . . . Bottom line, we’re not playing well.” Coach Kill’s frustration was readily apparent in his comments and response to Sid’s query.
4) Sid asked specifically about the “running backs from Georgia” – redshirt freshman Rodney Smith and freshman Shannon Brooks:
“I think they’re good running backs,” Kill replied. He quickly shifted his comments to the problems in the offensive line, “No seams” for Brooks and Smith to hit and gain positive yards. “Northwestern was better up front,” Kill concluded.
5) Sid mentioned other Big Ten teams that won or that played their opponent tough yesterday as well as their 2015 season, thus far:
Kill’s response was again short and succinct. He said he hasn’t been paying much attention to the other teams in the conference. (IMO, though he didn’t say it, he’s more focused and concerned about the problems that the Gophers are presently encountering, rather than the other teams.) However, he did mention one team that is having success, thus far, which is Iowa.
6) Dave Mona brought up Demry Croft’s name now that Kill has taken off Croft’s redshirt and whether or not he'll be seeing more action:
Coach Kill sounded reluctant when discussing Leidner and Croft at quarterback as well as Croft’s play in yesterday’s game. “I’ll make comments on Tuesday (his weekly presser) . . . (Croft) Put in a bad situation . . . needs reps (and be) ready to play.”
7) Sid wanted to know if any players were injured yesterday and if they expect some of the injured players to return next week:
Two players were injured yesterday - Joe Bjorklund and Craig James. “Craig James broke a bone in his leg,” Kill said. I didn’t catch the nature of Bjorklund’s injury, however.
It didn’t sound good, injury wise, when Kill was talking about the offensive line. Apparently they’re esxpecially hurting at the offensive guard position – “(tackle) Foster Bush went in and played guard.”
8) Sid asked about freshman quarterback Demry Croft:
Kill answered Sid’s question, “I’m not going to make any big remarks . . . We (entire offense) did not play well . . . (Croft) Fourth quarter we played him.”
His concluding remarks: “We need to get healthy.” He also said they need to stay healthy every week when the injured players return – the team's continuity has been hampered because of the number of injuries.
9) Dave Mona asked the day’s final question, which was related to the tight end position, specifically, Lincoln Plsek. Dave also mentioned Joe Bjorklund being hurt:
The news about Lincoln Plsek’s status was not good. “Plsek is out for the year,” Kill said in a subdued and matter-of-fact tone.
Regarding the rash of injuries that have affected the Gophers, Kill said, “Need to be healthy week-to-week . . . We hope we get Jon Christenson back this week.”
Note: My observations - the sound of Kill's voice in his remarks - are solely mine. Body language in responses is very important and helpful, which of course I don’t have via a radio broadcast. So if my conclusions are wrong, I apologize.
Go Gophers!!
IMO, Coach sounded very frustrated and subdued in his responses. His answers were short and usually without much elaboration.
1) Sid opened up the segment wanting to know if Kill and his staff had viewed the tape of yesterday’s debacle in the opening of conference play:
Kill said he had looked at the tape, but not with the coaching staff. He said the Gophers were down three and then Northwestern had a big play with a punt return, “and we didn’t respond.”
Kill did not make any excuses about the loss, rather, there were a lot of things that were amiss. His responses throughout the Coach Kill segment were somewhat guarded, as he did not want to single out any one player or position in yesterday's defeat.
His closing comment to the first question was one of frustration as the team tries to correct mental/physical missteps and as the team moves forward in conference play. “A lot of work to do . . . (to) figure it out.”
2) Sid opined the Gophers have slid downhill since the TCU game:
Kill gave a terse response: “We’ve had a lot injuries and different things . . . (Played) the number 16 team in the country (Northwestern) is a good team . . . We’ve had a lot of things happen – no excuses!”
3) Sid brought up his weekly question about Minnesota’s quarterback – Mitch Leidner and now freshman Demry Croft – and its passing game:
Coach Kill did not focus his criticism on any one player, but, rather, the entire offensive team: “On the offensive side of the line (we’re) not executing – one or two make a mistake on every play . . . Bottom line, we’re not playing well.” Coach Kill’s frustration was readily apparent in his comments and response to Sid’s query.
4) Sid asked specifically about the “running backs from Georgia” – redshirt freshman Rodney Smith and freshman Shannon Brooks:
“I think they’re good running backs,” Kill replied. He quickly shifted his comments to the problems in the offensive line, “No seams” for Brooks and Smith to hit and gain positive yards. “Northwestern was better up front,” Kill concluded.
5) Sid mentioned other Big Ten teams that won or that played their opponent tough yesterday as well as their 2015 season, thus far:
Kill’s response was again short and succinct. He said he hasn’t been paying much attention to the other teams in the conference. (IMO, though he didn’t say it, he’s more focused and concerned about the problems that the Gophers are presently encountering, rather than the other teams.) However, he did mention one team that is having success, thus far, which is Iowa.
6) Dave Mona brought up Demry Croft’s name now that Kill has taken off Croft’s redshirt and whether or not he'll be seeing more action:
Coach Kill sounded reluctant when discussing Leidner and Croft at quarterback as well as Croft’s play in yesterday’s game. “I’ll make comments on Tuesday (his weekly presser) . . . (Croft) Put in a bad situation . . . needs reps (and be) ready to play.”
7) Sid wanted to know if any players were injured yesterday and if they expect some of the injured players to return next week:
Two players were injured yesterday - Joe Bjorklund and Craig James. “Craig James broke a bone in his leg,” Kill said. I didn’t catch the nature of Bjorklund’s injury, however.
It didn’t sound good, injury wise, when Kill was talking about the offensive line. Apparently they’re esxpecially hurting at the offensive guard position – “(tackle) Foster Bush went in and played guard.”
8) Sid asked about freshman quarterback Demry Croft:
Kill answered Sid’s question, “I’m not going to make any big remarks . . . We (entire offense) did not play well . . . (Croft) Fourth quarter we played him.”
His concluding remarks: “We need to get healthy.” He also said they need to stay healthy every week when the injured players return – the team's continuity has been hampered because of the number of injuries.
9) Dave Mona asked the day’s final question, which was related to the tight end position, specifically, Lincoln Plsek. Dave also mentioned Joe Bjorklund being hurt:
The news about Lincoln Plsek’s status was not good. “Plsek is out for the year,” Kill said in a subdued and matter-of-fact tone.
Regarding the rash of injuries that have affected the Gophers, Kill said, “Need to be healthy week-to-week . . . We hope we get Jon Christenson back this week.”
Note: My observations - the sound of Kill's voice in his remarks - are solely mine. Body language in responses is very important and helpful, which of course I don’t have via a radio broadcast. So if my conclusions are wrong, I apologize.
Go Gophers!!
