Minnesota Gophers football coach Jerry Kill has announced his immediate retirement a he struggles with health issues.
It’s been a depressing week for Minnesota head coaches, as Minnesota Gophers head football coach Jerry Kill has announced his retirement due to health issues. Kill has struggled with epilepsy, suffering seizures both on the field in front of his team ad behind the scenes as well in his duties with the Gophers.
The university announced early on Wednesday that Kill will retire effective immediately due to his ongoing struggle with epilepsy.
Minnesota announced that Tracy Claeys would serve as the interim head coach for the remainder of the season with Kill stepping down.
"Minnesota Interim Athletics Director Beth Goetz named Tracy Claeys Interim Head Coach this morning. Claeys, who has worked with Kill for 21 years, was previously Minnesota’s Associate Head Coach and Defensive Coordinator."
The news comes on the heels of the soul crushing news from this weekend that Minnesota Timberwolves head coach Flip Saunders died on Sunday after battling cancer. While Kill’s health concerns are less life threatening, it’s still something that is a dangerous situation that is preventing Kill from continuing his duties as Gophers head coach.
In his tenure with the team, Kill has managed to take a young team and morph it into an interesting team to watch in the Big Ten. Minnesota hasn’t blown up under the guidance of Kill, but they’ve becoming infinitely better than what they were before his tenure and will be a changed program because of him.
But his health is more important than a football program, and his retirement is a reminder that football is just a game and not the way of life we try to romanticize it as. Sometimes family and health is far more important than x’s and o’s on a sheet. Kill left an impact both at Minnesota and in his previous jobs, but he has bigger issues at hand to deal with, and everyone is going to be wishing him the best.