"If this was a great job, I wouldn't be here" J. Kill

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GopherinPhilly

GopherinPhilly

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About half way through the press conference Kill said this in response to the troubles of the program and why the team wasn't getting better faster.

It was clearly a reference to the fact that Kill wasn't our first choice and the job was offered to others who turned it down...but I didn't pick up that it was Kill whining or throwing it in the face of the admin or press about him. I honestly think he was saying what we all know to be true even if we don't want to admit it...that the FB coach job at Minnesota is not a desirable position and as Kill stated, it isn't just about wins and losses. Our team has 40 years of losing, of expected failure and expected bad luck. Our fans have 40 years of disappointment, built up apathy...even a new stadium can't fix it. We were so desperate, me included, that we bought snake oil from Brewster.

After 40 years, this job is in the bottom 1/4 of the FBS and the worst in the Big Ten...worse than Indiana because they are a BB town and have almost no expectations in FB, we have 6 National Titles and 40 years of futility.

Be truthful, how many of us were really surprised when Wiscy blocked that punt, or when Northwestern intercepted that pass and ran it back for a TD? Were you sitting there like was just waiting for the bad thing to happen that would take away our hope and humiliate us yet again. I wasn't shocked when the fantom flag flew at PSU and stole our victory or when MI scored 28 in the 4th quarter to beat us or TT coming back in the Poulan Weed Whacker Futility Bowl or whatever it was called.

No, I can say I wouldn't take the job. Don't blame Al Golden from laughing at us, Brady Hoke from outing us as the incompetent fools we are, or Edsall saying yes and then realizing what a huge mistake he was making changing his mind. Lets be honest...if you were successful in your industry and someone offered you a chance to take over the worst location or operation in your industry and then didn't pay you half of what top earners in your industry make and you know that failure means you are probably done forever because nobody leaves our school and gets a job for years it seems...would you take it?

So I am going to stand by Coach Kill for the next 3 years and defend him every time he speaks and makes decisions and I will wear my maroon colored glasses with hope...hope that we finally got lucky with a guy that knows luck is earned through hard work and preparation. If 3 years from now we are back to looking for a new Coach...then I will start over again. Because I can't change where I grew up, where I went to school and who I am...I am a Gopher...regardless of where I live or how many wins we have...I will always be a Gopher.
 

Right there with you.

Well said. Coach Kill has my full support as he does all he can to turn this ship in the right direction.
 

Not to be a jerk but we now have 4 threads in regards to one press conference.
 





I don't see how that could come back to haunt him. Everyone knew that this was not a highly desirable BCS job. If he turns things around, this will become a desirable job. If he doesn't, then it will be up to the next coach to make this a desirable job.
 

I don't think this was a terrible job in 2007, it was in 2010. The process and hiring of Brewster set us way back. If Maturi had hired an experienced coach with a bit of a name going into the new stadium things could have been different.

This is also why I think Kill was the best hire this past winter.
 




Kill's goal is to make it a great job by the time he leaves.

He does that by winning.
 

I didn't view it as a slam to himself, although I can see it that way. When I heard it, I thought "if this was such a great job, Tim Brewster would still be here." He said something similar at his first press conference. I am paraphrasing, but it was along the lines where very few jobs in college open up that are good jobs. Most jobs need some sort of rebuilding.
 

Jerry was stating the facts. The truth is, the U has been mismanaging their football program for decades despite
having perfectly good coaches (Warmath, Stoll, Salem, Holtz, Mason, etc). The problem has always been at the top,
wanting a Cadillac product for Chevette dollars.
 

The Gophers problem is that they are located in Minneapolis. They aren't a college town and very few programs can overcome being in the same city as an NFL team/other pro sport teams.
 



MNfootballfan said:
I didn't view it as a slam to himself, although I can see it that way. When I heard it, I thought "if this was such a great job, Tim Brewster would still be here." He said something similar at his first press conference. I am paraphrasing, but it was along the lines where very few jobs in college open up that are good jobs. Most jobs need some sort of rebuilding.
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MNfootball fan is spot on. Kill has made the same comment before, it wasn't a dig at the program, rather a statement that if he's going to get hired for a job, it's going to be because the program has struggled and it will be a rebuilding job.
 

Former Goofer said:
The Gophers problem is that they are located in Minneapolis. They aren't a college town and very few programs can overcome being in the same city as an NFL team/other pro sport teams.
Click to expand...

Boston College, Georgia Tech, and USC (when they had the Rams) have all had some level of success in pro sports cities. I agree that having another team diminishes some of the interest in the college team and can allow fans to get complacent, but do you think the Gophers would have been in multiple Rose Bowls over the last 40 years if our campus was located in Duluth?
 

Former Goofer said:
The Gophers problem is that they are located in Minneapolis. They aren't a college town and very few programs can overcome being in the same city as an NFL team/other pro sport teams.
Click to expand...
2qnxet5.jpg
 

John Galt said:
Boston College, Georgia Tech, and USC (when they had the Rams) have all had some level of success in pro sports cities. I agree that having another team diminishes some of the interest in the college team and can allow fans to get complacent, but do you think the Gophers would have been in multiple Rose Bowls over the last 40 years if our campus was located in Duluth?
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Hence I said that few of them have been successful. And no I don't think they would be dominating the B10 but the situation would be a lot better than it has been.
 


MaxyJR1 said:
I don't think this was a terrible job in 2007, it was in 2010. The process and hiring of Brewster set us way back. If Maturi had hired an experienced coach with a bit of a name going into the new stadium things could have been different.

This is also why I think Kill was the best hire this past winter.
Click to expand...

THIS! +1 here. this was a reasonably attractive big ten job coming into 2007 before maturi hired brewster. especially with the new on-campus stadium scheduled to open just two years later. in 2010, it was a much tougher position to fill.

no matter how the maturi apologists want to spin it.........it is joel maturi that set this program back about 6 years considering where it was (a respectable and often competitive big ten team) when he fired mason at the absolute worse time of the year in early 2007. you don't fire and hire a new coach in january, one month before recruiting ends. it was this complete failure in hiring/firing logic that maturi bashers rightfully hold over his head at every opportunity.
 

It could also mean that Kill is excited for and motivated by the challenge. Maybe he's saying he would turn down a job at OSU because he wants to build a program and make it his own (a la Alvarez or Paterno).
 

metrolax said:
Jerry was stating the facts. The truth is, the U has been mismanaging their football program for decades despite
having perfectly good coaches (Warmath, Stoll, Salem, Holtz, Mason, etc). The problem has always been at the top,
wanting a Cadillac product for Chevette dollars.
Click to expand...

you said it brother. that and U of M administrations wanting to be pathetically lame, uber egalitarian, politically correct, socialist redistribution, liberal d-bags when it comes/came to allocating athletic department dollars. considering the revenue the men's revenue sports in the athletic department bring in/have brought in over time, there is no way the football program should not be getting/have been getting a much larger slice of the pie than they do/they have.

build me a multi-million dollar women's rowing boat house for a team that bring in no revenue to the university! build me a separate (when we already have mariucci), multi-million dollar women's hockey rink for a team that brings in virtually no revenue to the university. stupid, stupid, stupid. FU Christine Voelz and your lesbian legions who ran amok in the administration of the athletic department for so many years! :)
 

supadupafly said:
you said it brother. that and U of M administrations wanting to be pathetically lame, uber egalitarian, politically correct, socialist redistribution, liberal d-bags when it comes/came to allocating athletic department dollars. considering the revenue the athletic department brings/has brought in over time, there is no way the football program should not be getting/have been getting a much larger slice of the pie than they do.

build me a multi-million dollar women's rowing boat house for a team that bring in no revenue to the university! build me a separate (when we already have mariucci), multi-million dollar women's hockey rink for a team that brings in virtually no revenue to the university. stupid, stupid, stupid. FU Christine Voelz and your lesbian legions who ran amok in the administration of the athletic department for so many years! :)
Click to expand...

Well now.. Tell us how you REALLY feel.. Haha!
 

supadupafly said:
you said it brother. that and U of M administrations wanting to be pathetically lame, uber egalitarian, politically correct, socialist redistribution, liberal d-bags when it comes/came to allocating athletic department dollars. considering the revenue the athletic department brings/has brought in over time, there is no way the football program should not be getting/have been getting a much larger slice of the pie than they do.

build me a multi-million dollar women's rowing boat house for a team that bring in no revenue to the university! build me a separate (when we already have mariucci), multi-million dollar women's hockey rink for a team that brings in virtually no revenue to the university. stupid, stupid, stupid. FU Christine Voelz and your lesbian legions who ran amok in the administration of the athletic department for so many years! :)
Click to expand...

not a new theory but for me the biggest mistake the U of M adminstrators made was instead of putting money into Memorial Stadium they took the program to the Metrodome.
 


I like Jerry Kill and believe he can get the job done if given enough time. Problem is that most fans continue to say that after year three we will know if he is the right guy. Well folks, in this day and age regarding a college football program like Minnesota's you better be willing to give a coach at least five years to gauge where he can take the program. After three years at Minnesota my guess is that Kill's team will start to show improvement and be moving in a positive direction but will still be in the bottom half of the BIG.

I guess it depends on what each individuals expectations are after year three. If you think he should have the Gophers winning 9-10 games and playing on New Years Day you are not being realistic. If you can accept a team only winning 4-5 games but improving and being very competitive in most if not all BIG games, building depth for the future and playing fundamentaly sound and not making many mental errors then you are giving the coach a chance. I don't claim to be a college football genious but I firmly believe this program will take 5-6 years to really turn the corner, and that is assuming some positive things happen, administrative support from the top, coaching stability, decent but not unrealistic recruiting and player buy in, etc. etc. After 5-6 years of one system we can then judge if the coach on hand is our guy.
 

GopherSOB said:
I like Jerry Kill and believe he can get the job done if given enough time. Problem is that most fans continue to say that after year three we will know if he is the right guy. Well folks, in this day and age regarding a college football program like Minnesota's you better be willing to give a coach at least five years to gauge where he can take the program. After three years at Minnesota my guess is that Kill's team will start to show improvement and be moving in a positive direction but will still be in the bottom half of the BIG.

I guess it depends on what each individuals expectations are after year three. If you think he should have the Gophers winning 9-10 games and playing on New Years Day you are not being realistic. If you can accept a team only winning 4-5 games but improving and being very competitive in most if not all BIG games, building depth for the future and playing fundamentaly sound and not making many mental errors then you are giving the coach a chance. I don't claim to be a college football genious but I firmly believe this program will take 5-6 years to really turn the corner, and that is assuming some positive things happen, administrative support from the top, coaching stability, decent but not unrealistic recruiting and player buy in, etc. etc. After 5-6 years of one system we can then judge if the coach on hand is our guy.
Click to expand...

Fair assessment...for me, when I say year 3, I mean by year 3 Kill will have gotten rid of the old mentality players and will have his system installed and running...at that point we should see the kind of football that, if able to secure the talent, can win at the Big Ten level, even if we aren't winning 8 games now...we can see that milestone. I say Mason got to this mark and then plateaued. He could never seem to get over the hump and finish a season. If Kill gets Masonesque after year 3...he has 3 more years to get us over the hump and at least mentioned as a wild card in the Big Ten race. 6-2 in the Big Ten would be the mark...a little luck and we are in the title game...a little unluck and we are a 7-8 win team and playing in a top tier bowl game. Bad years are 6-6 and playing in the Insight Weed Wacker Bowl. Just my opinion.
 

Kill seems to have a lot of pride in himself and his staff and what they can accomplish. My guess is that if he ever feels he can't turn it around, he'll be the first to admit it and step down.
 

Just remember that the job is even tougher than it has ever been for any other Coach at the U of M for Coach Kill. Nebraska has now joined the conference. That is one more decent to great, year in and year out program to jump. Good luck Coach Kill!

I say give Coach Kill a 10 year extension right now to eleminate the temptation of the media, the fans and anyone else who may have an opinion that a new coach should take over again at the three...or four...or even five year mark. This job is so tough right now that we need to give our coach tenure. Coaching the Gophers needs to be a lifelong dedicated higher calling.

As John Galt says above:"...if he ever feels he can't turn it around, he'll be the first to admit it and step down..." With Coach Kill, I would trust that would, indeed, be the case. I believe he truely is an honest man.

Let's set back inflation in coaching salaries by giving the tenure idea a try!

I really do mean this: let's try something that has only been done at the High School level and for a while at Florida State, and currently at Penn State and St. John's in Collegeville as well as at the original: Grambling with Coach Robinson. Let's grant Coach Kill tenure and trust him to be a man who will do the right thing. Let's set college football on it's ear!

How could it work out ANY worse than what has been happening here at the University of Minnesota for a very long time? Give Coach Kill tenure NOW!
 

http://harvardsportsanalysis.wordpress.com/2011/01/17/what-factors-contribute-to-attendance-in-college-football/


Former Goofer said:
The Gophers problem is that they are located in Minneapolis. They aren't a college town and very few programs can overcome being in the same city as an NFL team/other pro sport teams.
Click to expand...


since graduating i've lived in evanston, bay area, boulder, austin, fayetteville AR, sydney, and san diego
fan support for the hogs throughout AR was rabid and very different from fan support i've seen elsewhere.

in sydney only ernest nzigasomethingsomething and i cared about gophers
 

Former Goofer said:
The Gophers problem is that they are located in Minneapolis. They aren't a college town and very few programs can overcome being in the same city as an NFL team/other pro sport teams.
Click to expand...

Oh good. This again. Yes, I think the Gophers problems would all go away if they moved the main campus to Duluth. Or the Vikings moved to LA. Either way, instant wins.

I mean sure GT wins despite the Falcons and UGa. But it can't be done by anyone else. Except Miami. And Maryland. And BC. And Washington. And Colorado. And Arizona State. And Stanford. And Cal. And Pitt. And TCU. And Cincinnati. And USF. And even Northwestern.
 

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