Kill not coaching today
@CBSSports #BREAKING: #Minnesota's Jerry Kill suffered a seizure this morning, will not coach at #Michigan - http://cbsprt.co/killseizure
October 5th, 2013 at 1:20 PM ^
Feel for him and his team. Yes its a distraction, but it also has to be a bit unnerving to see this happen regularly to your team's leader.
October 5th, 2013 at 1:20 PM ^
Two that we know of.
October 5th, 2013 at 2:05 PM ^
since he took over, according to ESPN. You'd think his FAMILY would encourage him to get out.
October 5th, 2013 at 2:13 PM ^
And yet what a fearless leader he is. I have a friend with epilepsy, and she gets seizures regularly, but from what I can tell, she tries to treat them as a simple reality rather than a frightening one.
Seriously--any person who stares down a neurological adversary like epilepsy and continues coaching Division I college football in a major conference has my respect. Imagine that your coach regularly has seizures and doesn't back down on high demands and expectations.
Nothing but respect and admiration for Jerry Kill's personality. I hope he keeps healthy.
October 5th, 2013 at 3:08 PM ^
alt view; maybe mine is wrong
October 5th, 2013 at 1:20 PM ^
It's his 5th seizure since taking the Minnesota job. Hope he recovers quickly
October 5th, 2013 at 1:20 PM ^
October 5th, 2013 at 1:44 PM ^
Free ride to a decent state school where it's your only "major program" offer?
October 5th, 2013 at 2:09 PM ^
Why not? He doesn't is ultimately staring a severe neurological problem in the face and telling it that he won't let it stop him.
It does intensify the pressure on having good assistant coaches, however.
October 5th, 2013 at 7:51 PM ^
...are far greater than Paterno for the last decade of his tenure. I think players and recruits recognize that the position coaches and coordinators have a lot more importance than is acknowledged by commentators.
October 5th, 2013 at 1:21 PM ^
October 5th, 2013 at 1:23 PM ^
When do they force him to retire for his health? Even if football isn't a cause of the seizures, his health is getting in the way of him doing his job.
October 5th, 2013 at 1:28 PM ^
The stress of football may or may not make his condition worse, but I guarantee it's not helping.
October 5th, 2013 at 1:24 PM ^
October 5th, 2013 at 1:27 PM ^
get well soon, but this is becoming unfair to the rest of the team & the AD.
There has to be another place in college football for a coach as passionate & talented as Kill other than on the sidelines on Saturdays.
October 5th, 2013 at 1:31 PM ^
October 5th, 2013 at 1:33 PM ^
October 5th, 2013 at 1:39 PM ^
The school should make any accomodation available to an employee with a handicap to allow them to do their job. A major piece of Kill's job is coaching on Saturdays. If he's unable to do so due to his handicap many weeks a year, what accomodation can they make? A blind person cannot be an airline pilot because they cannot fulfill the basic functions of the job.
October 5th, 2013 at 1:44 PM ^
Well, we do. He has repeatedly said, over and over again, that his condition is not exacerbated by stress. He's been dealing with repeated and unexpected seizures for years.
Yet at some point he has to take account that a condition that gives him repeated seizures is not conducive to some jobs, and it appears being the head coach of a football team is one of them.
October 5th, 2013 at 1:45 PM ^
October 5th, 2013 at 1:51 PM ^
Fifth time since 2011 that he can't perform perhaps the biggest part of his job--coaching his team on the field.
That's, what, about 30 games, and he's missed part or all of 1/6 of them due to his health condition? I think it's admirable that he's taking a stand about epilepsy awareness, and it's nice his AD is so supportive, but at what point do you have to admit it's not a great sell that your coach unpredictably cannot perform his duties?
It's unfortunate he has this problem, but it's undeniably becoming a problem.
October 5th, 2013 at 2:04 PM ^
Not being able to do your job 5 times out of 30 could very well be seen as not being qualified to be the head coach.
October 5th, 2013 at 1:24 PM ^
October 5th, 2013 at 1:30 PM ^
it's become a problem doing what he was hired to do.
October 5th, 2013 at 1:26 PM ^
October 5th, 2013 at 1:28 PM ^
I'm not going to get in whether this is a distraction to his team and whatnot. But before everyone calls for him to be fired, they should read up on how this affects the team. Coach Kill has epilepsy which is a condition most of us could use more education on. Not saying it is right or wrong, but before making baseless comments I think a lot of people could use some additional information.
October 5th, 2013 at 1:45 PM ^
October 5th, 2013 at 4:14 PM ^
As in, you've had this discussion with her this morning? Or you know what she'd decide? Surely you don't mean you'd tell her what's best for her and she'd do it because you say so. I'm just curious as to source of certainty.
October 6th, 2013 at 10:30 AM ^
But before everyone calls for him to be fired, they should read up on how this affects the team.
Well, I can take a guess on how it affects their team. It's probably a terrible, frightening experience for the players and probably doesn't make them fired up for the game. Remember Michigan in the 1970 Rose Bowl after Bo's heart attack? The players admitted they weren't the same without their leader on the sidelines.
I feel bad for Kill, since coaching is obviously his passion, but it's getting to a point where I think he needs to seriously considering putting his own health first and taking a less-demanding position.
October 5th, 2013 at 1:29 PM ^
I feel bad for him. Football coaches are notorious control freaks. It must drive the football coach part of his personality absolutely crazy to not know when these attacks are going to occur next.
If you're a Minnesota fan, not only do you wish Kill well, you've got to hope the players somehow rally behind this and try to win the jug for Kill.
October 5th, 2013 at 1:30 PM ^
I respect the hell out of him, but football needs to come second to your health. Not fair to your family and your loved ones.
October 5th, 2013 at 3:38 PM ^
Isn't that up to his family and his loved ones? Maybe they would rather see him continue to do what he loves to do.
October 5th, 2013 at 1:31 PM ^
October 5th, 2013 at 1:33 PM ^
I know Kill is a resilient guy and a good coach. His records at his previous stops speak for themselves. But I think it might be time for him to throw in the towel and call it a career. At least from a coaching standpoint.
Its almost unfair to keep having to put your players through this week after week, and it undoubtedly affects their psyche on the field. They should be focused on winning football games, not their coach's health. I know this is completely out of Kill's control, and he's got Minnesota heading the right way, but it might be time for him to walk away from coaching. This is happening on an almost weekly basis now, it seems like.
October 5th, 2013 at 1:36 PM ^
October 5th, 2013 at 1:41 PM ^
They knew about this when they hired him. If they dumped him for a condition they accepted when they hired him they would have a substantial lawsuit ahead of them.
October 5th, 2013 at 1:42 PM ^
Gotta feel bad for both him and the team. Wishing him well.
October 5th, 2013 at 1:42 PM ^
October 5th, 2013 at 1:43 PM ^
And to think the New York Times published an extended piece on his seizures less than eighteen hours ago...
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/05/sports/ncaafootball/for-coach-jerry-k…
If you're a Minnesota fan, this has to be troubling:
"Immediately after Jerry Kill has a seizure on the sideline, one longtime assistant takes over the headset and communicates with officials. The defensive coordinator handles the postgame news conference and splits the remaining news media obligations with the offensive coordinator. Should Kill miss practice, they revert to their schedule from a week earlier, with adjustments based on their next opponent."
It's routine. And that's sad.
October 5th, 2013 at 1:45 PM ^
October 5th, 2013 at 1:48 PM ^
October 5th, 2013 at 1:48 PM ^
October 5th, 2013 at 1:49 PM ^
October 5th, 2013 at 1:51 PM ^
Twincities.com had an interesting piece regarding Kill's issues with seizures back in August - (full article here)
Norwood Teague said then that he was looking at different areas over the course of this last offseason for Kill to work on in order to help control his epilepsy, but that he was also pleased with the progress in the offseason. Teague said that Kill had changed his lifestyle to help mitigate the seizures. There is also mention about trying to get Jerry Kill to delegate duties better.
October 5th, 2013 at 1:52 PM ^
Really sad for Kill. Not to be insensitive, but how long can a program realistically keep around a guy who can't coach due to medical issues?
October 5th, 2013 at 1:54 PM ^
It's a shame, and I really feel for Coach Kill and his team.
I remember some quotes from Bo's players that during the first Rose Bowl, when Bo had a heart attack before the game and was unable to coach the team, it truly affected their play.
Yet he went on to a great career.
I'm not sure how I feel about all this. I have a health condition and yet I continue to work, and would not want to hang 'em up. I can understand how someone else would feel the same way.
October 5th, 2013 at 1:54 PM ^
I believe he is a good coach, but this is tough on the team and the players. you actually pull for him, but he has so many seizures at what point does it become counterproductive. At the end of the day, it does raise awareness and hopefully creates a positive response in fighting the illness.
October 5th, 2013 at 1:59 PM ^
October 5th, 2013 at 2:12 PM ^
I know it sucks to fire/ask someone to resign for a medical reason, but it has to be done. You cannot have your head football coach consistently having seizures. Jerry Kill should also realize that he just needs to retire.