BleedGopher
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per Bennett:
There's a reason why everybody around the Minnesota football program and even outsiders rushed to embrace Jerry Kill. There's a reason why Golden Gophers students created the "JerrySota" slogan and why he was almost universally respected among his fellow coaches.
Sure, Kill had the ability to turn previously moribund programs into winners throughout his career. Even better than that, though, people related to him. There was nothing slick or invented about Kill. He was a true, by-your-bootstraps success story who never forgot his roots.
As Minnesota interim athletic director Beth Goetz put it Wednesday morning, "They don’t come any more authentic than Jerry Kill."
Kill's sudden retirement causes some immediate turmoil for the football program. The school lacks a permanent athletic director and is still waiting for an external review of the department after the Norwood Teague scandal. The Gophers are set to break ground later this week on a crucial $166 million facilities campaign, and now they have no face for the football team. Interim coach Tracy Claeys has to get the Gophers ready for Michigan, Ohio State and Iowa in consecutive weeks.
But Minnesota will figure the football angle out eventually. What's most important now is that Kill takes care of himself. He can no longer do the only job he's wanted his whole life, but he can still do lots of good with his children's epilepsy foundation. Kill is undoubtedly crushed today, but he should know that so many people related to him and rooted for him because of who he was, not just what he did. And he should know everyone will still be pulling for him now as he walks away.
http://espn.go.com/blog/bigten/post...retirement-is-a-heartbreaker-for-all-involved
Go Gophers!!
There's a reason why everybody around the Minnesota football program and even outsiders rushed to embrace Jerry Kill. There's a reason why Golden Gophers students created the "JerrySota" slogan and why he was almost universally respected among his fellow coaches.
Sure, Kill had the ability to turn previously moribund programs into winners throughout his career. Even better than that, though, people related to him. There was nothing slick or invented about Kill. He was a true, by-your-bootstraps success story who never forgot his roots.
As Minnesota interim athletic director Beth Goetz put it Wednesday morning, "They don’t come any more authentic than Jerry Kill."
Kill's sudden retirement causes some immediate turmoil for the football program. The school lacks a permanent athletic director and is still waiting for an external review of the department after the Norwood Teague scandal. The Gophers are set to break ground later this week on a crucial $166 million facilities campaign, and now they have no face for the football team. Interim coach Tracy Claeys has to get the Gophers ready for Michigan, Ohio State and Iowa in consecutive weeks.
But Minnesota will figure the football angle out eventually. What's most important now is that Kill takes care of himself. He can no longer do the only job he's wanted his whole life, but he can still do lots of good with his children's epilepsy foundation. Kill is undoubtedly crushed today, but he should know that so many people related to him and rooted for him because of who he was, not just what he did. And he should know everyone will still be pulling for him now as he walks away.
http://espn.go.com/blog/bigten/post...retirement-is-a-heartbreaker-for-all-involved
Go Gophers!!