Kill says he's ready to get to work leading Gopher football

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MINNEAPOLIS - The University of Minnesota officially introduced its new head football coach yesterday at TCF Bank Stadium. Jerry Kill called the job an opportunity of a lifetime and says he will out-work the competition. He signed a five-year deal with Minnesota.

He said the timing was just perfect for him to take over the University of Minnesota football program. He cited the new stadium as a major benefit of taking over the program. He promised that he would field hard-working teams that would represent the entire region and make fans feel good about their program.

Kill most recently was at Northern Illinois, where he beat the Golden Gophers at TCF Bank Stadium 34-23 in September. He took over a Husky program three years ago that was coming off a 2-10 season and this past season he had a 10-2 regular season and won the Mid-American Conference West Division title. His three-year record at NIU was 23-16.

Prior to his time at Northern Illinois, Kill coached at Southern Illinois, where he led the Salukis to five consecutive NCAA playoff appearances, going 50-and-14 his final five seasons. He also has head coaching experience at Emporia State and Saginaw Valley State. He won a Missouri High School football state championship as a head coach at Webb City in 1989. He was also the offensive coordinator for a Pittsburgh State team that won the 1991 NCAA Division II national title.

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