Walk-Ons This Fall

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Killjoy

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One of the things that I really appreciate about Coach Kill is how well he understands what he needs to do to have a successful football program here. But even betteryhan that is that he knows how to do it and then he actually does it. A good example of this is significantly improved walk-on program he is building here this year. I am sure it is not where he wants it to be, but th pieces are geing put in place.

I counted the following seven new walk-ons for this year on the roster: John McKelvey, Augustine Pupungatoa, Tyler Hartmann, Jackson Miller, Cedric Dicke, Ben Holcomb, and Covante Johnson.
In addition the following three have indicated that they plan to walk-on also: Edward Sardinha, Kyle Fodness, and Hunter Friesen.

Coach Kill has stated several times that walk-on will be treated like everybody else and will be given the opportunity to both play and win a scholarship if they are worthy. He also seems to understand their psychic since he is a former walk-on himself. I expect that is one of many reasons that Kill will be successful in attracting his share of walk-ons.

Got to love that man. He is always trying to make this team better.
 

Killjoy said:
One of the things that I really appreciate about Coach Kill is how well he understands what he needs to do to have a successful football program here. But even betteryhan that is that he knows how to do it and then he actually does it. A good example of this is significantly improved walk-on program he is building here this year. I am sure it is not where he wants it to be, but th pieces are geing put in place.

I counted the following seven new walk-ons for this year on the roster: John McKelvey, Augustine Pupungatoa, Tyler Hartmann, Jackson Miller, Cedric Dicke, Ben Holcomb, and Covante Johnson.
In addition the following three have indicated that they plan to walk-on also: Edward Sardinha, Kyle Fodness, and Hunter Friesen.

Coach Kill has stated several times that walk-on will be treated like everybody else and will be given the opportunity to both play and win a scholarship if they are worthy. He also seems to understand their psychic since he is a former walk-on himself. I expect that is one of many reasons that Kill will be successful in attracting his share of walk-ons.

Got to love that man. He is always trying to make this team better.
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Hmm, I like your enthusiasm, but I think I'll wait until the on field results back up how well he understands what needs to be done and show that he is actually doing it. How exactly is this walk on program significantly improved?
 


btowngopher said:
Hmm, I like your enthusiasm, but I think I'll wait until the on field results back up how well he understands what needs to be done and show that he is actually doing it. How exactly is this walk on program significantly improved?
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Killjoy likes to talk as if he has insights into Coach Kill and how he runs his program as if they are best friends. I would be shocked however if he knew who Jerry Kill even was 3 years ago. I like what Kill has done so far but not willing to put him in the HOF yet like someone.
 

It's hard not to be excited about the walk-on program. We've added a number of players who had FCS offers. These guys will get the chance to compete and hopefully one day earn playing time and a scholarship. It's a great way to help build the program.
 


btowngopher said:
Hmm, I like your enthusiasm, but I think I'll wait until the on field results back up how well he understands what needs to be done and show that he is actually doing it. How exactly is this walk on program significantly improved?
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I realize that many people here need to see the results before they are going to accept what I am saying. I have no problem with that. I do believe though that people seem to forget that Jerry has done this before and has been doing it for a long time. He does know what he is doing. You might look at his results at Northern Illinois with walk-ons.
 

A program like ours, the walk-on program is pretty important. The fact is that we are going to need to take some risks in recruiting (guys who aren't as much of "sure things"), when you are forced into those situations, a good walk-on program lets you hedge your bets a bit. Kill enthusiastically recruits walk-ons and that's really important. Like Killjoy, I am excited about the future of a few of these walk-on players from this year and last.

Dicke is intriguing, Friesen was impressive in the game that I saw him play, Hartman's recruitment would have been completely different had he been healthy. It's impossible to tell how these guys will turn out, but it is exciting to have them in the fold.

That said, Brew actually did an ok job with walk-ons.

Mottla was/is a walk-on, Botticelli came to the U as a walk-on, Rallis came to the U as a walk-on, Aaron Hill came to the U as a walk-on, Bak is a walk-on, and even Mike Henry (who played a lot at the begining of last year) was a walk-on.

That's two starters and another 2-4 more players who will likely be in the two deeps.
 

BTW. . . I didn't know this, but Jackson Miller is Bill Miller's son.
 

GopherGod said:
Killjoy likes to talk as if he has insights into Coach Kill and how he runs his program as if they are best friends. I would be shocked however if he knew who Jerry Kill even was 3 years ago. I like what Kill has done so far but not willing to put him in the HOF yet like someone.
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Can you help me out and tell me where Killjoy implied or stated that he "has insights into Coach Kill"? He wrote that Coach Kill "understands what he needs to do to have a successful football program here" - and "he knows how to do it and then actually does it". He has, in actuality, had success at the programs he headed before he came here in building a good walk-on program. I read that to mean that he believes that Kill can, and will do well with the walk-on program. I really don't know how you can construe his words into more than that.
 



Unregistered User said:
Can you help me out and tell me where Killjoy implied or stated that he "has insights into Coach Kill"? He wrote that Coach Kill "understands what he needs to do to have a successful football program here" - and "he knows how to do it and then actually does it". He has, in actuality, had success at the programs he headed before he came here in building a good walk-on program. I read that to mean that he believes that Kill can, and will do well with the walk-on program. I really don't know how you can construe his words into more than that.
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Thank you for critiquing the critics. It is fine to be skeptical, it gives you a realistic view of your real progress, but being a cynic has no positive use in life and there is a big difference.
I spent most of my career trying to rebuild or improve organziations that had performance issues, and what Kill is trying to do is not much different than what really a good leader would do in business, the armed forces or anywhere else you really need to get results, except in business you don't have to wait three to four years for candidates to physically grow into their bodies. (But they do take a while to learn a new business, so things are not completely different.)
There are no guarantees it will work here, but his chances are better with a President and AD that want to win than a burned out AD who had completely lost his faith in turning it around.
Having a management team that knows the business and each other is a huge advantage in any business.
 

Coach Kill

corcoran1 said:
Thank you for critiquing the critics. It is fine to be skeptical, it gives you a realistic view of your real progress, but being a cynic has no positive use in life and there is a big difference.
I spent most of my career trying to rebuild or improve organziations that had performance issues, and what Kill is trying to do is not much different than what really a good leader would do in business, the armed forces or anywhere else you really need to get results, except in business you don't have to wait three to four years for candidates to physically grow into their bodies. (But they do take a while to learn a new business, so things are not completely different.)
There are no guarantees it will work here, but his chances are better with a President and AD that want to win than a burned out AD who had completely lost his faith in turning it around.
Having a management team that knows the business and each other is a huge advantage in any business.
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Thanks for your comments. To me the biggest part of Kill's job is being a "change agent". His job title may be head coach but the number one job requirement is to be an experienced change agent. From day one everything coach Kill has been doing here is designed to do exactly that, change the culture. I believe most people here understand this and appreciate how skillful coach Kill is in building a new culture here. But we still have a few here who haven't bought into what is going on. They often seem to be more comfortable with skepticism and negativity. With attitudes like that no wonder they are uncomfortable with coach Kill. He reeks of optimism. Yes, coach Kill may not succeed but he is doing the right things and that's good.
 

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