Shooter: Jerry Kill: “We miss Minnesota a lot — it was a great time in our lives"

I recall in 2015 the Gophers finished the regular season at 5-7 but earned a bowl game because of their high academic record. So, if I am recalling this correctly, there were many parts of the program that Kill/Claeys had already greatly improved.

Kill and staff did the heavy lifting to improve the program. Fleck has continued the right steps for additional improvement.

They improved it a great deal. I also kinda suspect they may have plateaued. Kill & Co's offense... just sputtered so often, and they didn't seem to want to change it.

I could go so many ways with my views on it. Yeah they deserve credit for a foundation, but maybe not too much of what if anything happens after that ... and yet still credit.... duno how to say that.
 

They improved it a great deal. I also kinda suspect they may have plateaued. Kill & Co's offense... just sputtered so often, and they didn't seem to want to change it.

I could go so many ways with my views on it. Yeah they deserve credit for a foundation, but maybe not too much of what if anything happens after that ... and yet still credit.... duno how to say that.

Kill produced a competent program on multiple levels, following Brewster who was incompetent on multiple levels. Fleck shows the same competence with perhaps the ability to take it to the next level. For comparison purposes, as a head coach I'd have rather followed Brewster than Kill.
 

Certainly PJ has benefitted from building off the discipline Kill & Co brought to the program. Kill was very tough on the players the first few years post Brewster. He had to be.

That said, I wouldn't say that PJ was "standing on the shoulders of giants". As reflected by our record the first two years.

While your not wrong, the program was where it was, the last two years had something to do with the current head coach. The decisions he made. And the coaches he hired. Right or wrong we could have and probably should have had a better record the past two years. We didn’t. We’ll see where we go from here.


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I recall in 2015 the Gophers finished the regular season at 5-7 but earned a bowl game because of their high academic record. So, if I am recalling this correctly, there were many parts of the program that Kill/Claeys had already greatly improved.

Kill and staff did the heavy lifting to improve the program. Fleck has continued the right steps for additional improvement.

Exactly. Not only this, but he did a lot of work, begging, and complaining in order to help get the facilities moving. The U is not a football friendly school. Jerry did a mountain of work. PJ has also done a good job so far. Excited to see where it goes.
 

Exactly. Not only this, but he did a lot of work, begging, and complaining in order to help get the facilities moving. The U is not a football friendly school. Jerry did a mountain of work. PJ has also done a good job so far. Excited to see where it goes.

Jerry definitely made great steps with academics and responsibility that I can tell.

If Fleck was taking over from Brewster it would have been more of a culture shock than Fleck taking over from Kill / Claeys.
 


If I were Jerry this would irk me too. He and his staff did a lot to clean up things here, from grades and APR to player retention and off-field conduct. Improved the team to boot. There may have been a culture of accepting good instead of ELITE, but it wasn't a character cesspool here because a few freshmen did something stupid before even attending a class after Jerry had left.

I'm sure many of the values PJF is instilling are very similar to the ones Kill and his crew did, just repackaged more slickly and with more oars.

I’ve always felt like Fleck saying “change the culture” didn’t necessarily mean he thought the culture was previously bad. Just that the way of doing things would change. A new coach is going to want to do things there way. That’s not unusual at all. Kill and Fleck’s personality couldn’t be much more different.
 


It had been a while since Shooter reached out to ol country Jer for a quote, I suppose we were due
 

I’ve always felt like Fleck saying “change the culture” didn’t necessarily mean he thought the culture was previously bad. Just that the way of doing things would change. A new coach is going to want to do things there way. That’s not unusual at all. Kill and Fleck’s personality couldn’t be much more different.

Exactly. Brew was a dumpster fire, his program was undisciplined and many players didn’t even go to classes. Kill cleaned it up and brought in players that knew they had to follow team rules and take school seriously. Kill did a very good job and had his level of expectation. PJ changed things to his set of expectations which has differences from Kill’s. People and Kill are way too sensitive about the “culture changes”. Every new coach is going to change things to the program to fit his personality. Kill was a major improvement from Brew and I think PJ is another step up.

I don’t think PJ feels threatened by Kill, so it is believable that he could do something to honor his place in the U football program. But he should do something for Mason way before anything for Kill. Coaching at the U was the pinnacle of Kill’s career, it is understandable that he talks about it all the time.


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I’ve always felt like Fleck saying “change the culture” didn’t necessarily mean he thought the culture was previously bad. Just that the way of doing things would change. A new coach is going to want to do things there way. That’s not unusual at all. Kill and Fleck’s personality couldn’t be much more different.

I agree and simply think that Coach Fleck didn't have much choice but to voice the mantra that would have been projected from above during the hiring process...
 


Coaching at the U was the pinnacle of Kill’s career.

The same thing could be said for Wacker, Mason, and Brewster. Not saying you would disagree, just thought it was interesting. Minnesota is also the pinnacle of PJ's career so far.
 

The same thing could be said for Wacker, Mason, and Brewster. Not saying you would disagree, just thought it was interesting. Minnesota is also the pinnacle of PJ's career so far.

Of course, but you edited it and did not quote the whole sentence.


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I’ve always felt like Fleck saying “change the culture” didn’t necessarily mean he thought the culture was previously bad. Just that the way of doing things would change.

Fleck has repeatedly said that changing the culture doesn't mean the previous culture was bad. It is just different. And, when you are changing a culture to the degree he is trying to, growing pains come with. He was constantly talking about it, many times saying "that doesn't mean one is better than the other, just the way I do it is different."

Anyone who thinks PJ is saying Kill had a bad culture isn't listening closely enough. And, that includes Kill, who seems to be peeved by the way PJ says he is changing the culture.
 

Anyone who thinks PJ is saying Kill had a bad culture isn't listening closely enough. And, that includes Kill, who seems to be peeved by the way PJ says he is changing the culture.

That and PJ doesn't seem like the kinda guy who even would say it if he did think it...... there's no value in that and it just wouldn't fit how he works. Dude stays positive at all times if at all possible.
 

Rowing the boat academically, socially, and spiritually seems to be changing the culture, but I could be wrong.
 

Fleck has repeatedly said that changing the culture doesn't mean the previous culture was bad. It is just different. And, when you are changing a culture to the degree he is trying to, growing pains come with. He was constantly talking about it, many times saying "that doesn't mean one is better than the other, just the way I do it is different."

Anyone who thinks PJ is saying Kill had a bad culture isn't listening closely enough. And, that includes Kill, who seems to be peeved by the way PJ says he is changing the culture.

I feel like it was more Coyle who was taking shots at the previous regimes with statements about changing the culture, not as much PJ.
 


I feel like it was more Coyle who was taking shots at the previous regimes with statements about changing the culture, not as much PJ.

Could be? Maybe? I can’t figure out what Mark trying to say most of the time.


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I feel like it was more Coyle who was taking shots at the previous regimes with statements about changing the culture, not as much PJ.

I feel like changing culture was code for the head coach not embarrassing the universityy on National tv and had nothing to do with kill
 

Could be? Maybe? I can’t figure out what Mark trying to say most of the time.

You nailed it, he talks in snake like circles all the time, with a lot of HR/ PR speak mixed in. Woody Hayes, Bo, or even Harbaugh,/Bo Pelini would have tolerated a guy like Coyle for about one week, before having a showdown.

I do my very best to ignore every thing spoken by Mark Coyle, but his , southern Iowa/ Kansas nasal speech patterns start to grate on my ears, and I then start listening.... then he says nothing of interest.

When any Jerry Kill thread comes up it makes me re-think my total dismissal of the whole 2015 concept of creating an assistant AD or VP/ "layer between the football program' and the rest of the U of M as a absurd waste of time and money, plus the fear that he would be a Jr. Barry Alvarez and meddle in the HC's business. It turns out that what is what was needed.

I had no idea of what would come post- Beth G/ JK.. The best thing would have been for Jerry Kill to be present in a role like this in 2016. Coyle and Kaler never would have pulled anything like they did with Kill around. Worst case is he would have taken care of business and control Coyle and Kaler when TC went to San Diego to deal with the Holiday Bowl obligations.

It is all over now, and maybe much better days are ahead, but the original position I had on role many wanted for Jerry Kill with the U of M that he never got (and lead to his angry departure) was completely incorrect.
 
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I feel like changing culture was code for the head coach not embarrassing the universityy on National tv and had nothing to do with kill

Sadly, I think you are serious.


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Sadly, I think you are serious.


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Not sure a single person in the entire athletics department said anything negative about Kill ever.

Can you name one?



Clearly to me those are all shots at Claeys and not kill.
 




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