Carter Coughlin's father shook him awake early on Wednesday morning with a confusing message for the sleepy teenager: Jerry Kill, the coach Coughlin had committed to seven months earlier, was on TV announcing his retirement.

As Eden Prairie High School's star linebacker stumbled upstairs, Kill leaned on a familiar lectern, uttering unfamiliar words. With the Gophers football program on the cusp of a major facilities groundbreaking and a mammoth recruiting stretch with 10 prospects in town this weekend, the emotional coach was stepping down to deal with health complications.

"It was tough," Coughlin said. "Tough."

But after the initial shock wore off, Coughlin felt another emotion: confidence.

"Seeing how much he cared about football and how much he cared about the Gopher football program was pretty inspiring," he said. "After watching that I was as reassured as ever that I made the right decision to commit to Minnesota. That's a man that truly gave everything he had to his players … He's been a fighter. With his health situation, he could have quit coaching 10 years ago, but he stuck with it for this long and built an incredible program at Minnesota."

Eighteen players have committed to Kill for 2016, and Coughlin's sentiment was mostly echoed throughout the ranks on a chaotic Wednesday. The prospects, close enough that they already share an ongoing group text and contacted each other throughout the day, remained stunned and saddened. "Everyone is in shock," said Sean Foster, a senior offensive tackle from Mundelein, Ill., outside of Chicago. "Yesterday, he was our head coach and today he is retired."

Despite the change, all but one of the Gophers' commits held firm on their pledges.

Defensive coordinator Tracy Claeys will take over as interim head coach, and Claeys and offensive coordinator Matt Limegrover planned to call each of the recruits Wednesday evening.

"I have questions and so do my parents," Foster said, "and when the coaches call, we'll ask our questions and go from there. But right now, me and my family are full Minnesota."

Only JoJo Garcia — a defensive lineman from St. Paul about whom there were already questions regarding whether he would be a part of the program — publicly announced a change of heart, tweeting that he was going to "hang up the cleats & decommit."

Five other recruits — Chaska guard Matt Kegel, Monticello guard Conner Olson, Minneapolis North athlete Tyler Johnson, Marshall receiver Drew Hmielewski and Mayer Lutheran offensive tackle Sam Schlueter — tweeted, texted or called to profess their allegiance.

Coughlin, meanwhile, found optimism in the future.

"As long as the [current] coaching staff stays at Minnesota, I'm 100 percent staying at Minnesota," he said. "[Claeys is] a genius and he's been around Coach Kill as long as anybody. Personally, I want him to be my head coach for the next four years … Those guys have been around coach Kill. ... His morals and ethics that he teaches are going to stay with the Gopher program as long as that staff stays.

"In a way, I still would be playing for Coach Kill."