Stay Curious. Stay Connected.
MailNewsletters♡Donate Now
Sign up
*Password must be at least 8 characters and contain one uppercase letter, one lowercase letter, one number and one symbol.
Already have an account?
By submitting, you consent that you are at least 18 years of age and to receive information about MPR's or APMG entities' programs and offerings. The personally identifying information you provide will not be sold, shared, or used for purposes other than to communicate with you about MPR, APMG entities, and its sponsors. You may opt-out at any time clicking the unsubscribe link at the bottom of any email communication. View our Privacy Policy.
Sign in to your profile
Forgot Password?
New to MPR News?
Welcome back
to news
for you
Reset Password

Enter the username on file and we'll send you a code to reset your password.

Still require assistance or not sure what your User Name is?
Welcome back
to news
for you
Email Verification

A verification code has been emailed to

Still awaiting the code?
NewsCut
Bob Collins

Pulling for a coach

Go Deeper.

Create an account or log in to save stories.

Like this?

Thanks for liking this story! We have added it to a list of your favorite stories.

As far as I can tell, there aren't many people who haven't been charmed by Jerry Kill, the football coach for your University of Minnesota Gophers. He's quite a character and seems to be a likeable guy. And you have to respect a man who won't talk to Sid Hartman.

But the dark side, as we now know, is Kill has a health problem of unspecified sort, which caused him to collapse at the end of one game this year, and sent him to Mayo Clinic after another game last weekend, taking what was reported as a leave of absence from the program for as long as it took to find out what's wrong.

When he returned to the practice field yesterday, he said the report that he'd "checked himself in" at the Mayo, was incorrect, as was the report of a leave of absence. And he insisted that doctors are tweaking his medication to prevent the estimated 20 seizures he has a week, which he indicated in a news conference a week or so ago.

Still, his quote -- reported in the Star Tribune today -- is cringe worthy to anyone who's had a father or uncle or brother with a serious medical problem who declared, "it ain't nothin'."

"I can't take two weeks off. I can't take three weeks off. Minnesota hired me to turn a program around, so that's what I'm trying to do. I can't do it not being here. If I have to be a little different at practice or whatever, that's fine. But I have to be here."

That comes on the heels of a news conference on September 20 that set a new local record for tough talk from a coach in Minnesota:

It's hard to hear those words without thinking about a 2009 study that said men with "macho attitudes" are less likely to seek health care, or the analysis of that study that suggested that -- at least for the health problems cited -- they were right.

We have to take the coach at his word, believe that he has his priorities in order, and assume he's not in any life-threatening danger. There's zero evidence that we know more about the threat to the coach's health than he and his family do, nor that we're in a better position to decide what's best for him.

But on Sunday morning, for example, Twitter lit up with concern for the guy and a hope that he can get whatever medical problems he has under control, regardless of what it means on Saturday afternoons.

That concern in Gopher Nation does not appear to be because it needs him to fix a football program, a testament to how quickly he's worked his way into Minnesota's heart.

Minnesota wants a winner, but this ain't Texas.