Jerry Kill declined to comment on the Penn State scandal and Joe Paterno's future Tuesday, other than to say that if the 84-year-old coach's career ends this way, "that would be sad."
But Kill also noted that "as coaches, we get paid a hell of a lot of money, and we have a huge responsibility. We're certainly role models."
The Gophers' coach, speaking at his weekly press conference, said he is aware of the child-molestation allegations against former Penn State defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky, and while he didn't want to discuss "my personal opinion, I think everyone knows what my opinion would probably be."
It's impossible to know everything that's going in a program, Kill said, and to know for certain what's in a person's character. "If I have a problem on our staff or we have a situation, I'm going to take care of it. No different than I am with the player. I've done it all my life," Kill said. "I've had to make some hard calls in my life, but I've always felt like they were the right ones."
Mostly, Kill said he is concerned for society as a whole.
"We've got a lot of problems. My dad told me a long time ago, he said, 'This world is getting messed up,' " Kill said. "So it keeps spinning, and now it's leaked into the coaching and the teaching and all those kind of things. Sooner or later, I told you all a long time ago when I took the job -- kids aren't the problem, grownups are. That's the bottom line."