Presumably the Gophers will improve a lot in the seasons ahead but only if better players come to Dinkytown. Claeys said recruiting is all about “relationships” including with high school coaches. Kill surrounds himself with assistants who have been with him for many years and that means those coaches have ongoing successful relationships with prep coaches. Those relationships are in various states, but Claeys emphasized recruiting will start in Minnesota where six assistants will be assigned to finding homegrown product.
If prep coaches like a college coach, Claeys stated, they will send you good players. “You can’t make chicken out of chicken salad,” he said.
Kill and his staff have a reputation as exceptional teachers. Maybe one day Gophers fans will make this comment about the staff: “They could beat the other team not only with their players, but take the other team and beat the Gophers.”
Part of smart coaching is not asking players to do what they’re not capable of, Claeys said. That could apply to the X’s and O’s of football or fundamentals. Claeys quoted coach Bill Parcells: “If they don’t tackle as puppies, they’re not going to tackle.”
At Northern Illinois the Huskies could play defense. Last year Northern Illinois, a team with an 11-3 record, ranked 14th in the country in scoring defense, giving up about 19 points per game.
The stat makes Claeys feel good but so too does a strength and conditioning program that at Northern Illinois seemed to keep players mostly on the field, not on the sidelines recovering from injuries. The goal is to not only make players bigger, stronger and faster, but also healthier. Kill’s strength and conditioning head coach, Eric Klein, has been with him for 17 years prior to coming to Minneapolis.