Why come and coach here? Kill likes challenges and believes Minnesota has the resources to have a special college football program. Previous challenges on his resume include Southern Illinois where there was once talk of abandoning the football program but Kill went 50-14 there his last five seasons and now the school has a new stadium.
Minnesota can be successful, too, and Kill scoffs at the pessimism surrounding the program. It’s his job to find solutions to problems, not reinforce excuses. Rather than problems, Kill prefers to hear about the school’s strong academic offerings, renovated campus, huge alumni base, vibrant local business community, educated workforce, quality of life reputation in Minneapolis-St. Paul, state-of-the-art football stadium and the recruiting advantages of being the only Division I football program in the state.
To be successful Kill said the state must embrace his program. Part of his mantra is that if everyone ─ from the football office to the president’s office, from the Minneapolis business community to the small town coffee shop ─ believes Gophers football is important than it will be a winner. What’s emphasized produces results.
Kill believes the fans will respond. He won’t buy into the notion that the Vikings own the football marketplace here and that the Gophers can’t develop a passionate following.
“That’s our fault,” he said. “Everybody blames the Vikings, that we’ve lost fans. Let me tell you. …Fans are frustrated because the team (Gophers) is not winning.
“We gotta put a good product on the field. That’s our job and (my) responsibility as a coach. I think if we put a good product on the field I think we’ll get the support.
“We can’t blame all the things why we can’t be successful. We gotta find a way to be successful. We gotta find a way to get the people excited about college football. We can’t use a pro town all the time as an excuse.
“That’s like the weather. What the hell? Am I gonna talk to God to make sunshine 365 days a year so we can recruit better? Embrace what you have. …”