It’s not true that Jerry Kill rides to campus everyday on a white horse. Truth is the savior of Gophers football drives to work in a white Cadillac.
Symbolism aside, those who care about the Gophers have taken a serious liking to the new head coach who is trying to resurrect a program that hasn’t been a consistent winner since Kennedy and Johnson were in the White House. Maybe it’s no love affair yet, but a lot of Minnesotans at least have a crush on Kill who has earned many admirers with his honest talk and sincere actions.
Except for Lou Holtz, no new Gophers football coach since World War II came to campus and received more adoration than Kill. University of Minnesota administrators, former Gophers and fans praise Kill as if they have known and admired him for years. Even the cynical media has found little fault with the newcomer so far.
The honeymoon bubble won’t last through the coming season. The Gophers will be pushed around on the field at times and final scores could be lopsided. A group of fans and media will find fault with Kill, justified or not.
But give the former Northern Illinois coach credit for an extraordinary offseason during which he won over a lot of people and impressed his athletic director, Joel Maturi.
“No one prepared me for the unbelievable job that he has done with our alumni, our boosters, our fans in general and certainly the media as a whole.” Maturi told Sports Headliners. “He’s been great.”
Maturi knew about the coach who had a national reputation for producing results on the field at other schools, but he wasn’t prepared for the public relations success. Kill’s ability to make friends fast is a tribute to his character, values and deeds.
“I think there isn’t a person that Jerry Kill hasn’t met or addressed that he hasn’t won over, and that’s a credit to him,” Maturi said. “It wasn’t part of the ingredient of the coach that I knew I was hiring. I hired him because the homework I did told me he was a great coach, and that our teams were going to get better, and they would play up to their ability, and we were going to win in a period of time.”
Three years from now Kill will still have admirers. The only question is how many fans will be in the Gophers football tent? Without winning, Kill and Maturi know the number will be smaller than what they want. That’s the business side of college football and phase two of the Kill era starts September 3 in Los Angeles against USC.
How long will the honeymoon last?