Fansided

Rutgers offensive coordinator Jerry Kill may have to step down

By Brad Berreman

WEST LAFAYETTE, IN - OCTOBER 10: Head coach Jerry Kill of the Minnesota Golden Gophers is seen during the game against the Purdue Boilermakers at Ross-Ade Stadium on October 10, 2015 in West Lafayette, Indiana. (Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images)
WEST LAFAYETTE, IN - OCTOBER 10: Head coach Jerry Kill of the Minnesota Golden Gophers is seen during the game against the Purdue Boilermakers at Ross-Ade Stadium on October 10, 2015 in West Lafayette, Indiana. (Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images) /
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As he continues to battle complications from epilepsy, Rutgers offensive coordinator Jerry Kill may be forced to leave the coaching profession for good.

After one season in a non-coaching role at Kansas State, Jerry Kill took over as offensive coordinator at Rutgers under second-year head coach Chris Ash this year. The Scarlet Knights won two more games to finish 4-8, but they were only marginally better offensively.

Kill was forced to step down as head coach at Minnesota in October of 2015, due to a ramping up of seizures as he deals with epilepsy. He dealt with the seizure issue off and on dating back to his time as head coach at Southern Illinois, missing games occasionally to get his health back on track.

Stress is a possible trigger for epileptic seizures, and Kill was hospitalized in September after having a minor seizure that may have been triggered by a sideline collision during the previous day’s game against Eastern Michigan. He returned to his coaching duties a couple days later, obviously without missing a game, and no further issues have been known publicly since.

But that has turned the other way now, with NJ.com reporting Kill is “evaluating his options and is expected to make a health-related decision in the coming days.” The report goes further to say Ash has informed recruits of Kill’s potential departure on recent official visits, in an effort to get ahead of any false rumors ahead of the early signing period that starts on Dec. 20.

Kill has been a pretty successful college head coach, with a 152-99 record at Saginaw Valley State, Emporia State, Southern Illinois, Northern Illinois and Minnesota. But his health will not allow him to function as he needs to in that post anymore, and now his ongoing battle with epilepsy is jeopardizing his ability to serve in a lower-stress role as a coordinator.

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Kill is still a relatively young man, at 56 years old, with a wife and family. His long-term health needs to take priority. So in the coming days Kill should step aside as offensive coordinator at Rutgers, and leave coaching behind for good this time.

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