Former Gophers head coach Jerry Kill has praise for running back Johann Cardenas who announced recently he is transferring to Minnesota from Vanderbilt. Kill is a top assistant coach at Vandy and he talked Monday to Sports Headliners about Cardenas.
“If he stays healthy, he’ll be a really good player,” Kill said.
Cardenas battled injuries last fall and this spring. He redshirted in 2024, not playing in any games. Kill said this spring the Kay, Texas native played with the “third or fourth string.”
Cardenas, listed at 6-foot and 223-pounds, has “lots of ability,” per Kill. “He’s a Big Ten (quality) back.”
Cardenas, whose style Kill described as that of a “downhill runner,” came out of high school ranked among the top 50 prep running backs nationally by Rivals (29th), On3 (33rd), ESPN (42nd) and 247Sports (49th). He accepted Vandy’s offer over those from Kentucky, Texas Tech, Colorado, Missouri, Oregon and others.
With four seasons of eligibility ahead at Minnesota, Cardenas joins a talented running back roster that includes 2025 transfers Cam Davis from Washington and A.J. Turner of Marshall. They will back up one of the Big Ten’s best running backs in junior Darius Taylor who the last two seasons was a conference honorable mention selection.
Cardenas was recruited to Vandy by Jayden Everett, now the Minnesota running backs coach. Kill and Everett were together briefly in Nashville. He described Everett as a “good person” and passionate coach.
Kill, whose coaching stops have been plagued by epilepsy, is healthier now than when he had to step down at Minnesota in 2025. He’s happy coaching for head coach Clark Lea, likes Nashville and is only about two hours away by car from southern Illinois where his two daughters live.
In Kill’s first season with the Commodores last fall, they were one of the surprises of college football when they pulled off an historic 40-35 upset of Alabama. The Commodores had a 7-6 record while playing competitively in the vaunted SEC against teams like Texas and Missouri.
Back for a final season is quarterback Diego Pavia who as a transfer in 2024 established himself as one of the best at his position in America. He finished the season 177-for-298 passing for 2,293 yards with 20 touchdowns and just four interceptions. He ran for 801 yards and scored eight times.
Pavia played two seasons for Kill at New Mexico State (historically a college football graveyard) including a 10-win 2023 season highlighted by a road upset of SEC bully Auburn. Pavia, an Albuquerque native, was a way under the radar player coming out of high school and New Mexico Military Institute. He chose Kill and the Aggies over offers from Jackson State and Saint Francis.
This fall Kill’s discovery and protege will be a Heisman Trophy candidate in his last season of college football. Asked if years ago he saw that coming, Kill quickly said, “No.”
Worth Noting
The Timberwolves, who figure to close out the Warriors tonight and then move on to the Western Conference Finals, are +600 to win the NBA title, per FanDuel SportsBook. The website lists only the Thunder at -140, and the Knicks, +490, as bigger favorites.
The drama between a potential matchup against the Knicks will be off the charts locally and nationally because of the preseason trade that sent Minnesota’s Karl-Anthony Towns to New York in exchange for Julius Randle and Donte DiVincenzo. Talk about bragging rights on the line for the players, franchises and fanbases!
And then there would be the “reunion” with Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau. He was fired by the Wolves in January of 2019 and was widely criticized by Minnesota fans for the lengthy minutes he demanded of his top players during his time with the team.
The NFL wasn’t going to take a home game away from the Vikings and their fans when they scheduled the team twice in 2025 international games. The Vikings played a home game in London last year and so they only had eight games in Minneapolis. That’s the same total for U.S. Bank Stadium in 2025, with the Vikings playing in Dublin (Steelers home game) on September 28 and London (Browns home game) on October 5. The NFL 17-game schedule dictates alternate years in which teams have nine or eight home games.
The Vikings, who this writer expected to extend GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah’s contract before the April 24-26 NFL Draft, still seem certain to come to terms with their GM soon. He was hired in January of 2022 with a four-year deal and has been instrumental in the team’s progress including free agent acquisitions.
Another expected offseason contract announcement is likely a new deal for versatile defensive standout Josh Metellus. The 27-year-old defensive back has also been an outstanding team leader.
As of Monday, the Vikings offseason roster, BTW, was at 91 players including “international player pathway/practice squad exemption” punter Oscar Chapman, an Australian who played at Auburn.
Luke Ryerse, the baseball-football star from East Ridge High School who enrolled at Minnesota in January, has struggled this spring pitching for the Gophers. He is 0-4 with a 11:22 ERA but he has struck out 23 batters in 21.2 innings.
The true freshman was rated as a five-star football prospect in high school by Chris Sailer Kicking, which ranked him as the No. 4 punter in the nation and as the No. 26 kicker.
The LaunchPad Golf The Meadows entertainment venue in Prior Lake will open this fall. The year-round facility will be nestled near Mystic Lake Casino and The Meadows at Mystic Lake.
LaunchPad Golf is a Canadian Company that announced last year the Prior Lake venue would be its first in the United States.
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