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Phil Miller is returning to his Big Ten roots to follow Minnesota’s football fortunes for the Star Tribune after a decade of chronicling the NBA and Major League Baseball. The Illinois native began his writing career by covering Utah football for six seasons, and still insists that 12-1 Florida stole the 2009 BCS Championship from the unbeaten Utes.
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Posts about Gopher coaches
Gray is Gophers MVP again; Kill misses banquet
Posted by: Phil Miller Updated: November 25, 2012 - 4:08 PM
MarQueis Gray is the Gophers' most valuable player for the second straight year, the team announced Sunday after its annual awards banquet Sunday afternoon.
Gray, who opened the season as the starting quarterback but moved to receiver after suffering knee and ankle injuries in the season's third game, was also named the winner of the Paul Giel award as the most unselfish player and most concerned about Minnesota.
Gray joins Laurence Maroney in 2004-05 and eight other Gophers as back-to-back winners of the award. The last quarterback honored in two straight seasons was Rickey Foggie, who won it in 1984-85 and also 1987.
Coach Jerry Kill, who suffered a seizure during halftime of Saturday's 26-10 loss to Michigan State, did not attend the banquet at the Hilton Hotel in downtown Minneapolis.
Tailback Donnell Kirkwood, who finished the regular season with 849 rushing yards, was chosen the team's outstanding offensive player, and defensive back Michael Carter was named the outstanding defensive player -- an award won by his cousin, cornerback Tyrone Carter, in 1998 and 1999. Punter Christian Eldred was named the outstanding special-teams player.
The inaugural Gary Tinsley Award, named for the former Gophers linebacker who died in April, went to his former roommate, linebacker Keanon Cooper. The award will be given annually to the player "who best embraced Tinsley's underdog personna," the university said.
The award for best competitor on the field and in the classroom went to linebacker Aaron Hill for the second straight year. Receiver Connor Cosgrove, who has become active in cancer fundraising since being diagnosed with leukemia two years ago, received the team's community service award, while senior linebacker Mike Rallis was honored with the Neil Fredenburg Award for "the most courage and love of the game."
Quarterback Philip Nelson and tailback Rodrick Williams shared the award for best freshman on offense, while defensive tackle Scott Epke was the top freshman on defense.
Also honored at the season-ending banquet:
Offensive Lineman of the Year – Zac Epping
Offensive Back of the Year – Donnell Kirkwood
Wide Receiver of the Year – Isaac Fruechte
Defensive Lineman of the Year – D.L. Wilhite
Linebacker of the Year – Mike Rallis
Defensive Back of the Year – Michael Carter
Offensive Work Team Player of the Year – Cole Banham and Mitch Leidner
Defensive Work Team Player of the Year – Matt Garin and Jack Lynn
Kill: I treated Barker like I treat my daughters
Posted by: Phil Miller Updated: November 19, 2012 - 1:36 PM Jerry Kill sounded more surprised than upset Monday over A.J. Barker's sudden, public departure from the Gophers' football team, but the coach defended his handling of the junior receiver.
"I feel bad for A.J. I feel bad that's the way he feels about the situation," Kill said of Barker's 4,000-word explanation for quitting the team. "But I don't treat my players any differently than I treat my own two daughters."
Kill, at a news conference called Monday in response to a series of media interviews Barker has conducted since announcing his departure, said he interceded during practice last Thursday when he noticed Barker having a "confrontation" with the team's athletic trainer. "I called A.J. over and let him know I wasn't very happy. ... Players have to do all the things we ask all our player to do," Kill said. Barker had not followed the trainers' instructions for treating the ankle injury that had kept him out of action for three weeks, Kill said, and he "very vividly" made it clear that that was unacceptable.
"You do not talk to an adult or someone of authority in that voice," Kill said, describing what he told Barker after finding out about his conversation with the training staff.
Once practice ended, Kill said, he had another 20-minute conversation with the 21-year-old receiver, in which he emphasized how much success he could achieve if he followed instructions.
Barker, in his explanation posted on a blog, called that second conversation particularly offensive, saying it was an attempt to "manipulate" and "deceive" him.
Kill said he has tried to contact Barker since the story became public, but has not spoken to the receiver. Barker, in an interview on KSTP Radio, said he was particularly upset that Kill had not awarded him a scholarship for his strong play -- the junior walk-on remains the team's leading receiver, with 30 catches and seven touchdowns this season.
But Kill said Monday that the football team's 85 scholarships have to be awarded by the first day of classes, and the Gophers had played only one game by that time -- a 30-27 victory over UNLV in which Barker caught three passes for 101 yards.
The coach defended his methods as a disciplinarian, and said he has "saved" many players with his approach. "When you have a roster of 120 players, to keep them all happy isn't possible," Kill said. "I'm not here for a popularity contest."
'Crazy' coaching decisions? Planning helps avoid them
Posted by: Phil Miller Updated: November 15, 2012 - 11:47 AM The Gophers led by only a touchdown last Saturday, and eight minutes still remained to play. So Jerry Kill's decision to run a play on fourth-and-five from the Illinois 32, rather than send in his field-goal kicker or punter, may have seemed like a spur-of-the-moment gamble.
But it was really a decision that had been made three hours earlier, Kill said.
"You don't want the guys that worked their tail ends off all week long (to lose because) the head coach goes and makes a crazy decision," Kill said. "So we talk about it (ahead of time). We try to get everybody on the same page -- 'We may do this. How do you feel about it?' "
That happens every week, Kill said; he and his staff discuss as many situations that may come up as they can, and write down their consensus so they don't need much discussion at the time.
In the case of the Gophers' eventual 17-3 victory over Illinois, Kill had prepared for just such a call since the moment he got off the bus. Rather than head to the coaches' office in Memorial Stadium, he headed straight for the field. "It's always windy in Champaign. So I walked around and checked the wind conditions from my standpoint," Kill said. "Then we got the punters and kickers out there. I grabbed a seat, got my chart out and watched our guys kick."
After writing down his observations, he then he discussed the conditions -- a stiff wind of 20-25 mph blew from the south end zone to the north during the entire game -- with the kickers and special teams coach Jay Sawvel. They concluded that Jordan Wettstein could reliably hit a field goal from no farther than 40 yards kicking to the south, meaning the ball had to be on the 25 or closer. But when they were headed north, Kill said he would have been comfortable trying a field goal of up to 57 yards. "That's how strong the wind was," he said.
The turf between the 30 and 40 yard lines is a sort of no-man's-land for coaches, often too far to kick a field goal, since the defense would get the ball at that spot if the kick misses. But in Kill's opinion, it's also too close to punt, since any kick that reaches the end zone comes out to the 20; with so little yardage to gain, the odds of converting the fourth down seem worth trying. "It's always a close decision," he said.
So when the Gophers' drive stalled at the 32 in the fourth quarter, Kill briefly discussed taking a delay-of-game penalty, in order to back up five yards and give punter Christian Eldred more of a cushion for a pin-them-deep punt. He considered, just for a moment, having Eldred try a rugby-style punt in order to keep it from rolling into the end zone. And he had already reviewed the pregame findings with Wettstein.
"I went down to Jordan as we were moving the ball (and said), 'Hey, are you sure we can't go from 30?' You can tell if they go, 'Oh yeah, Coach, let's go.' Or, 'Aw, (I don't know),' " Kill said. "I didn't get that, 'Hey, I'm ready to stick it.' So we made a decision."
They tried a pass that Brandon Green couldn't hold on to, and the ball went back to Illinois. But the Gophers' defense held, and the decision ultimately didn't matter.
"There are some games when you know you're going to have to go make a play," said Kill, whose team is 7-for-15 on fourth downs this year. "You're going to have to roll the dice."
But it's not as big a gamble if you game-plan ahead of time.
Gopher coaches enjoying NIU's winning ways
Posted by: Phil Miller Updated: November 8, 2012 - 11:22 AM They've won nine straight football games, including four by a margin of 30 points or more, they own one of the top 10 offenses in the nation and a top-20 defense, and they are just one spot away from the AP Top 25. They are the Northern Illinois Huskies, and they've got two coaching staffs -- their own, and Minnesota's -- taking a great measure of pride in their success.
"We all watch. We're very, very happy for what those young men are doing," said offensive coordinator Matt Limegrover. "It's neat to see guys who were on the work team (two years ago), who weren't the stars, have stepped into the spotlight now and taken it to a higher level."
That level, higher even than when Jerry Kill was their coach and most of the Gopher assistant coaches were on the NIU staff, is both a model and a goal for what they hope they can accomplish in Minneapolis.
"Every place we've been, that's one thing I'll say -- as a staff, we've built it right. It takes a little bit more time, but every place we've left, they've continued to win for the next few years," said defensive coordinator Tracy Claeys, pointing to the continued playoff run of Southern Illinois in the mid-2000s, too. "We left an awful lot of good young kids there. Everybody gets frustrated because maybe it's not going fast enough here, but if you do it right, (you'll) have a consistent winner."
The Huskies, 9-1 this season, certainly fit that definition. Kill and his longtime employees left after leading the Huskies to a perfect 8-0 record in the Mid-American Conference in 2010 (though NIU was upset in the conference championship game), and the university hired former Wisconsin assistant Dave Doeren to replace him. Utilizing a roster mostly assembled by Kill and his recruiters, Doeren has coached the Huskies to a 20-4 record over two seasons, including 14 consecutive victories over MAC opponents and a victory in last December's godaddy.com Bowl.
"A large amount of those kids, you know, we recruited, the majority of them. So we're part of it," Kill said. "But I'm very proud of Coach Doeren for doing a great job of coming in and making the transition easy for those kids."
Gopher coaches discuss NIU's latest exploits each week, and watch with amazement, pride -- and even a little guilt -- at what's going on in DeKalb.
"You feel bad, because you recruit those kids there, and then you leave because of how well they play," Claeys said. "It makes you feel a little bit guilty for leaving, so it's great to see them continue to win."
The Huskies are playing so well, the school has even launched a longshot campaign to promote quarterback Jordan Lynch's Heisman Trophy candidacy. The junior, finally getting a chance to play after school record-holder Chandler Harnish graduated, leads the nation in total offense and touchdowns, and is second in rushing. He set a new NCAA record for quarterbacks this year by rushing for more than 100 yards in seven consecutive games, largely using the same offense Kill installed.
"He's a great player and a great kid. Great family," Kill said, before admitting that he didn't really recruit Lynch -- he just did an old friend a favor.
Frank Lenti, who owns more victories than any other coach in Illinois high school football history, was Lynch's coach at Mt. Carmel High, near the south Chicago lakeshore. Lenti's offense was an option attack, with few passing opportunities for the quarterback, so recruiters were ignoring Lynch.
So Lenti called Kill. "He said, 'You've known me for a lot of years. He can throw the ball, I'm telling you,' " Kill recalled of their conversation. " 'I'm trying to help you here. Trust me.' So I trusted him, and that's been an awful good decision for Northern Illinois."
Kill: Weaker schedule necessary, but temporary
Posted by: Phil Miller Updated: October 18, 2012 - 9:35 PM The Gophers' non-conference football schedule will be toughened up again, coach Jerry Kill said Thursday, once the team improves to the point where it can be competitive in those games.
"Once we get our program it needs to be ... then let's go play those people. I've got no problem with that," the Gophers coach said on his weekly KFAN radio show. "If we tried to go play a schedule we have no chance (against) and then we go play a Big Ten schedule, and we're beat up on top of it -- we've got to be careful with that."
It was Kill's first public response to the furor that arose this week when Minnesota athletic director Norwood Teague cancelled a two-game series against North Carolina at the coach's urging, paying $800,000 to negate the contract. And the coach also addressed the seizure that struck shortly after the Gophers' loss to Northwestern on Saturday, sending him to the hospital overnight.
Kill said he was surprised by the criticism he received over cancelling the home-and-home with North Carolina -- in an unrelated move, the Gophers' 2019 and 2020 games with Navy reportedly have also been cancelled -- but he defended the move, saying that lowering the strength of schedule until the program improves was a part of the plan he used to turn around the football fortunes of Southern Illinois and Northern Illinois, too.
"All I'm doing is following the things we've done. We need to find a way to get our kids some playing time, win some games, get some confidence," Kill said. "Frankly, we have a plan. It's worked. But there's got to be a little bit of a trust factor in what we do."
Minnesota's football program "is not at the level where (former coach) Glen Mason had it," Kill said. "Do we want to do this the whole time we're here? No."
Besides, Kill said, the non-conference season is meaningless next to his No. 1 goal.
"We've got to worry about winning the Big Ten. We haven't done it for 45 years," Kill said. "That's the only thing that matters to me. And (when you're) preparing for the Big Ten, you better be smart."
He's also trying to be smart about managing his epilepsy, which has manifested itself in "15 to 20" seizures since last season. Kill cited statistics that show epilepsy is far more common, and manageable, than most people realize, and said his condition has gradually improved since last year. Saturday's seizure was notable, he said, only because he was in his locker room at TCF Bank Stadium when it struck. And because of the public attention, which he loathes, that the incident drew.
In fact, Kill said, he was irritated that he was taken by ambulance to a suburban Minneapolis hospital, which made the incident public. "I told (my wife Rebecca), 'Don't you ever let them take me to the hospital again,' " Kill said. "Just let me lay there" until it subsides, so he can get back to work.
Team doctors had little choice, he admitted, because he was alone when the seizure hit, so they ordered an ambulance as a precaution. But when such incidents happen in private, he recovers quickly, Kill said.
"All I know is, when you get up from them, you're sore. You feel like someone ran you over with a truck," Kill said. "And then you go back to work."
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