BREAKING NEWS: Jerry Kill retiring immediately due to health, Claeys interim HC


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Go Gophers!!
 

The media at the press conference could not understand what the coach was saying, to control his epilepsy sometimes you need to take medications that can effect your cognition and memory.

To keep his situation under control the best he could, most likely with poly therapy of AED's left him as a different individual and he decided that try and prevent all seziures took to much out of him.

His life is not in danger from his seziures but the choice of having to have an occasional seizure vs taking more meds to try stop them as much as possible was taking to big of a toll.

He will be successful at the next stage of his life and as many others with epilepsy have and will in the future, but without having to worry about having another seizure on national TV or infront of his players and fans.
 

Very tough to listen to. Great coach, great mentor, great leader, great teacher, great role model....better human being. Be well, Jerry.....enjoy retirement and thank you for everything you did for our program. When Gopher fans remember the name "Kill", it will always be with great pride and reverence.
 

Kirkwood:

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Go Gophers!!
 


Ace:

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Go Gophers!!
 

Don:

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Go Gophers!!
 

Jerry Kill is one of the most hardworking, inspirational figures we've had in MN sports. This is terrible news, most of all for Jerry. Thanks go to Jerry for restoring integrity and discipline, competence and respect to the program.

He needs time off to let his body recover. The stress and lack of quality rest isn't helping his seizure control.

Like others, would love to have him on in a much lower stress admin job down the road, up to and including AD, pending his progress. He's not the type of guy that can sit on the couch.
 

Coach Kill certainly bared his heart at the press conference. Anyone who didn't see it should take a look. He did mention the death of Flip Saunders did weigh on his decision. Clearly it was not an easy choice for Jerry to pick himself and his family over his job, but I think everyone would agree that is the right decision. Best of luck to Jerry with all that he does. This will, as President Kaler said, be an interesting next year as we search for a permanent AD and new football Head Coach.
 




Congratulations to Coach Kill - today I believe he just saved his life
 

Wow, not the news i expecting on a random morning. Kill will be missed. Brought credibility to the program after it was at it's worst. Nothing but love for Kill.
 

Thank you Jerry, that was truly courage today. I wish him the best with his health and thank him for the professionalism he and his staff brought to the U.
 




Minnesota will always be in Coach Kill's debt. He made me proud of our football program again; not just on the field, but off the field as well. Thank you Jerry.
 

That was an unbelievably hard to watch press conference, but I only could watch the nine minute clip on WCCO's website. Is there a video or transcript of the entire thing somewhere?
 

A very sad day. Kill was a consummate team builder. He clearly got the Gophers on track and moving in a great direction. It's amazing he could coach for 30 plus years and never once be fired. Even more impressive than his building of football teams, is his building of a team of coaches. It will be interesting to see how this plays out, but there's a good chance that Kill can leave behind a lasting legacy if his coaching team stays together and continues to lead the Gophers. It's not at all surprising that he inspired the type of loyalty necessary to achieve this level of continuity among his staff.
 

That was an unbelievably hard to watch press conference, but I only could watch the nine minute clip on WCCO's website. Is there a video or transcript of the entire thing somewhere?

It probably will be up on YouTube and BTN soon.
 

The Big Ten is now without one of its finest coaches. Coach Kill is a class act.
God bless you, Coach Kill.
 

That was extremely hard to listen as a father, husband and son. My heart breaks for him not being able to go out the way he wanted to while following his dreams. He is 100% on point that if you don't have your health for yourself and your family, what do you have? I wish Coach Kill and his family the best and I hope that he is able to live a happy and long life after coaching. You will be missed.
 

Coach referenced something about wanting to be able to think in the future and he wanted to be able to do that for his family and hopefully grandchildren. Also Dr. told him he was crazy/fool for not taking his meds before each game and he was getting only 1 hr of sleep for the past 2-3 weeks and having to take sleeping pills. At first, I thought coach was talking about dementia. Maybe someone with medical background could expound on this. At any rate, coach was indeed an "unvarnished" man, as Beth Goetz said, a man with high values and a complete dedication and love for the U and great people of Mn. Best of luck coach.
 

Coach referenced something about wanting to be able to think in the future and he wanted to be able to do that for his family and hopefully grandchildren. Also Dr. told him he was crazy/fool for not taking his meds before each game and he was getting only 1 hr of sleep for the past 2-3 weeks and having to take sleeping pills. At first, I thought coach was talking about dementia. Maybe someone with medical background could expound on this. At any rate, coach was indeed an "unvarnished" man, as Beth Goetz said, a man with high values and a complete dedication and love for the U and great people of Mn. Best of luck coach.

I took what he meant to mean that taking medication before the games clouded his thinking a little, and he didn't like it. So he chose instead to NOT take his medicine. Which is what the doctor thought was crazy. So they want him to take his medicine, take his sleeping pills and get rest. That's best for him and his family. And those choices don't work with a job where he felt he need to give 12-15 hours a day...
 

I took what he meant to mean that taking medication before the games clouded his thinking a little, and he didn't like it. So he chose instead to NOT take his medicine. Which is what the doctor thought was crazy. So they want him to take his medicine, take his sleeping pills and get rest. That's best for him and his family. And those choices don't work with a job where he felt he need to give 12-15 hours a day...

That is 100% correct. I was on anti-seizure medication as a child and they do a number on you mentally.
 

Wow. Shocked. Heartbroken for coach, as it must be really bad to resign in the middle of a season. Also confused how this could happen so quickly.

Seems inappropriate to think football in a time like this, but I could not be more nervous about the future of the program. We finally get some stability and momentum with recruiting and facilities, then boom. No AD, no head coach.

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It's been a down year, but I've always felt that, as long as Coach Kill were with us, there was hope - hope for a renaissance at Minnesota. Now... I guess it makes sense that this was too good to be true.

I hope to heck this isn't more serious than his ongoing struggle with epilepsy. Prayers are in order.
 

Coach referenced something about wanting to be able to think in the future and he wanted to be able to do that for his family and hopefully grandchildren. Also Dr. told him he was crazy/fool for not taking his meds before each game and he was getting only 1 hr of sleep for the past 2-3 weeks and having to take sleeping pills. At first, I thought coach was talking about dementia. Maybe someone with medical background could expound on this. At any rate, coach was indeed an "unvarnished" man, as Beth Goetz said, a man with high values and a complete dedication and love for the U and great people of Mn. Best of luck coach.

I'm guessing some combination of not taking the meds or the risks of head injury from seizures due to not taking the meds.
 

Best of luck to Coach Kill. I'm glad he made the right decision for himself and his family despite how hard it was. I share his faith in Coach Claeys.
 


Very tough emotional press conference to watch. Appreciate everything Coach Kill has done for the program and the state of Minnesota and most importantly hope he gets well.
 


Finally watched the press conference.

Brutal. Simply brutal to watch. I get fired up about football but this is the first time I've shed real tears. Listening to a proud man bear it all like that was simply heartbreaking. ****.
 




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