Coach Kill's comments and responses to Sid Hartman's and Mike Max's questions on today's Sports Huddle:
1) Max opened the questioning by asking about this coming week's Big 10 Coaches meeting and whether or not the Conference will expand to 9 or 10 conference games in the current 12 game schedule: Kill anticpates that it will be a topic of discussion as well as NCAA rules that will be coming down August 1st.
Max asked if he thought they'd be going to a 13 game schedule and Kill responded saying, "I don't know." However, he did express some concerns with an expanded schedule. His primary concerns were safety-related and academics. He had a cautionary tone. He didn't sound too positive about adding a 13th game to the regular season schedule.
2) Sid asked if he was still signing guys (2013 recruiting class): Kill, once again responded, "We'll always be recruiting." He then said they're focusing on next year's class; however, he said that he had a recruit in Friday and Saturday, but he didn't indicate whether he was a junior or potential member of the 2013 recruiting class. I sensed it might have been the latter.
3) Sid asked about the players' routine now that school is back in session: "They're lifting Monday, Wednesday and Friday and running at 6 a.m. on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday." He also mentioned academic schedules and community service activities as an important part of their routine.
He sounded pleased with the players work effort. The squad has been broken down to small groups so that they can receive individual attention in the weight room.
4) Max asked about the Gopher's 6-9 TE recruit, Wozniak: "I'm hoping he'll be like Matt Spaeth . . . definitely a tight end . . . he'll get bigger and stronger."
5) Sid asked about Donavahn Jones: Kill said Jones was heavily recruited by teams across the country and especially in the SEC. Some of the SEC teams, i.e., Arkansas looked at him as a defensive back; however, Jones is wanting a shot at quarterback. He's currently 6-3 and 195 pounds and is athletic and fast. Kill said that there are 6 or 7 other recruits in this year's class that are very similar in their athleticism, which he likes, and he said it is unusal to have that many similar athletes in a class. Kill credited assistant coach Anderson for recruiting Jones . . . he said Jones' mother and Anderson are from the same town, Rockford, Illinois. He talked about the importance of building relationships when recruiting.
6) Sid asked about some walkons receiving scholarships: Kill acknowledged that he had given some scholarships recently to some walkons and will probably be granting another scholarship to a current walkon player. However, Kill did not give out any names: "I don't want to give the names up at this point and time."
7) Sid then asked about the four recruits that are already enrolled and in school: Kill sounded excited when he discussed the four players.
Hendrick Ekpe: He's put on 11 pounds since arriving at Minnesota. He's presently 241 pounds and he expects him to play DE at 260-265 lbs.
Damien Wilson: He's 6-2 and weighs 253 pounds. He'll play the Mike (inside) Linebacker position.
Chris Streveler: He's excited about the strength that he's shown and his foot speed, "He's a 4.5 guy."
Jordan Hinojosa: Kill said he's a hardworking kid that is raw and needs to gain strength in the weight room. Despite being raw, he sounded very positive about Hinojosa's potential and the effort that he's putting forth.
He sounded pleased with the team's workouts in the weight room as well as their individual drills and that they've bought into the Jerry Kill system and the necessity of hard work.
Go Gophers!!
1) Max opened the questioning by asking about this coming week's Big 10 Coaches meeting and whether or not the Conference will expand to 9 or 10 conference games in the current 12 game schedule: Kill anticpates that it will be a topic of discussion as well as NCAA rules that will be coming down August 1st.
Max asked if he thought they'd be going to a 13 game schedule and Kill responded saying, "I don't know." However, he did express some concerns with an expanded schedule. His primary concerns were safety-related and academics. He had a cautionary tone. He didn't sound too positive about adding a 13th game to the regular season schedule.
2) Sid asked if he was still signing guys (2013 recruiting class): Kill, once again responded, "We'll always be recruiting." He then said they're focusing on next year's class; however, he said that he had a recruit in Friday and Saturday, but he didn't indicate whether he was a junior or potential member of the 2013 recruiting class. I sensed it might have been the latter.
3) Sid asked about the players' routine now that school is back in session: "They're lifting Monday, Wednesday and Friday and running at 6 a.m. on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday." He also mentioned academic schedules and community service activities as an important part of their routine.
He sounded pleased with the players work effort. The squad has been broken down to small groups so that they can receive individual attention in the weight room.
4) Max asked about the Gopher's 6-9 TE recruit, Wozniak: "I'm hoping he'll be like Matt Spaeth . . . definitely a tight end . . . he'll get bigger and stronger."
5) Sid asked about Donavahn Jones: Kill said Jones was heavily recruited by teams across the country and especially in the SEC. Some of the SEC teams, i.e., Arkansas looked at him as a defensive back; however, Jones is wanting a shot at quarterback. He's currently 6-3 and 195 pounds and is athletic and fast. Kill said that there are 6 or 7 other recruits in this year's class that are very similar in their athleticism, which he likes, and he said it is unusal to have that many similar athletes in a class. Kill credited assistant coach Anderson for recruiting Jones . . . he said Jones' mother and Anderson are from the same town, Rockford, Illinois. He talked about the importance of building relationships when recruiting.
6) Sid asked about some walkons receiving scholarships: Kill acknowledged that he had given some scholarships recently to some walkons and will probably be granting another scholarship to a current walkon player. However, Kill did not give out any names: "I don't want to give the names up at this point and time."
7) Sid then asked about the four recruits that are already enrolled and in school: Kill sounded excited when he discussed the four players.
Hendrick Ekpe: He's put on 11 pounds since arriving at Minnesota. He's presently 241 pounds and he expects him to play DE at 260-265 lbs.
Damien Wilson: He's 6-2 and weighs 253 pounds. He'll play the Mike (inside) Linebacker position.
Chris Streveler: He's excited about the strength that he's shown and his foot speed, "He's a 4.5 guy."
Jordan Hinojosa: Kill said he's a hardworking kid that is raw and needs to gain strength in the weight room. Despite being raw, he sounded very positive about Hinojosa's potential and the effort that he's putting forth.
He sounded pleased with the team's workouts in the weight room as well as their individual drills and that they've bought into the Jerry Kill system and the necessity of hard work.
Go Gophers!!
