The Continuing Saga of Struggle

Gopher football head coach Jerry Kill took the podium today at his weekly press conference in attempt to explain the embarrassing 58-0 defeat his team suffered at the hand of the Michigan Wolverines Saturday in Ann Arbor. Watching the entire game this week was very tough, but you have to truly feel for what Coach Kill is attempting to do here. To put some things into perspective, many fans of the program thought that things couldn't get any worse after a terrible 2010 campaign under fire. Kill inherited an even more atrocious team that lost their 4 year starting quarterback Adam Weber and 4 starting lineman to graduation on top of that. Kill is not the type of guy to make excuses, so I will be the one to make them for him. First and foremost, the aftermath of the Tim Brewster era has not yet run its full course, which is typical for many collegiate teams who hire new coaches to turn around a program. In many circumstances, Tim Brewster can be considered the worst hire in the history of Minnesota sports. Going back four years to Brewster's first year with the program, he also had a terrible inaugural campaign going 1-11 overall and 0-8 against the Big Ten. As a recruiter, Brewster then began to lobby hard for players to join the turnaround movement at Minnesota, and he was clearly successful in this aspect. The problem with this was the fact that Brewster had no previous experience in the college coaching profession, which doomed him when he was clearly unable to "coach up" the higher end recruits he brought in. People may not credit Athletic Director Joel Maturi for improving anything here at the U, but one thing he did realize was his mistake in hiring Brewster, and he went out and hired the guy who could do what Brewster couldn't. Our current head coach Jerry Kill is known for his ability to get the most out of his players, even when the odds are stacked against them. One thing that I have not seen out of Jerry Kill that separates him from that Brewster guy has to do with the fact that Jerry Kill never stops coaching. For example, not once did I see Brewster confront a player for a mistake he made on the field in attempt to provide a teaching moment. Not once did I see Brewster address the whole team immediately after a bad half of play, in order to establish some control over the situation. These are the things that give me hope for the near future, but patience may be the main key to that point. Although Jerry Kill still has to make due with the lackluster players he was left with at the close of the Brewster era, he knows that the greatest lessons come in defeat. The panic will continue to grow as the Gophers make their way through a difficult Big Ten schedule, but I assure you one thing, Jerry Kill will not stop coaching. Things have to get worse before they can ultimately get better, but we may have just hit rock bottom this week against Michigan. Those who criticize Kill for what has happened thus far in the young season are ignorant and simply placing the blame on the wrong person. I am impatient myself at times when I get cheered out of my own stadium by a herd of NDSU Bison fans after a road win, but the level of impatience that lives in the fans of Minnesota is simply disheartening. I realize it is disappointing to see the millions of dollars poured into a program that is falling faster than a California landslide, but the uniform fall and rise of college programs cannot be avoided, the Gophers are no exception. So in terms of the outlook going forward this season, be smart and ignore the losses and margin of victory by the opposing team, because that will only produce a negative feeling. Instead, look deeper than the box score and highlight the positives going forward. As Kill said himself, at one time on Saturday, 8 Freshman were on the field. These are Kill's newest guys that are gaining valuable experience and playing time that can only benefit the team as a whole. Even Jerry Kill himself realizes the situation at hand, "We have an empty roster. Young players, that's all we have." Teaching those young guys how to play tough and ultimately win is Jerry Kill's forte, but the unfair pressure that comes from impatience should not be the reason for doubt in this man. In perspective, Gopher football is attempting to make a very wide U-turn, we have a brand new driver with tons of experience with these situations, but the main problem comes in dealing with all of the other aspects working against this drastic change. The current state of the program can be found in the middle of the intersection, simply waiting for the opportunity to make the 180 degree turn toward success.