The Gophers football team lost at Illinois on Saturday, and it's amazing how all the people who were loving a winner fell off the bandwagon once the team suffered an unexpected loss.

Listen, Jerry Kill inherited a tough situation when he took over the Gophers football program. While a lot of people criticized former coach Tim Brewster, and he had his issues, Brewster had a hard time getting kids into school, and that was one of the reasons he didn't win much.

It's not easy to get the average kid into school at Minnesota, and when they cut out the General College at the university in 2005, it was a big blow of the ability of all major coaches at the university – football and basketball especially – to recruit kids who didn't have strong academic record in high school. General College helped those students get started at the university.

The basketball programs and football programs at Minnesota are still hurting because of the absence of the General College. And Minnesota is one of the toughest schools in the Big 10 to stay eligible because of their rules concerning advancing academically from the freshman year to the senior year each semester.

Jerry Kill needs more time to recruit good players to put Minnesota in a position with Iowa and Wisconsin, similar programs.

One last thing – there is a danger of the Gophers losing a couple of coaches after this year, and that would be a big blow.

Stay patient with Jerry Kill. He will continue to improve the winning records at Minnesota. Just give him time.