Jerry Kill Jerry Kill ( born August 24 , 1961 ) is the head football coach at the University of Minnesota . Before assuming this position with the Golden Gophers in December 2010 , Kill served as the head coach at Saginaw Valley State University , Emporia State University , Southern Illinois University Carbondale , and Northern Illinois University . Kill played college football at Southwestern College in Winfield , Kansas from 1979 to 1982 . Early life and playing career . Kill was born in Cheney , Kansas . He was raised in a " working class family " and became the first member of his family to graduate from college . He earned a bachelor ' s degree in education with a minor in biology from Southwestern College in 1983 . At Southwestern , he played football under Phil Hower and Dennis Franchione . Coaching career . Kill has moved up quickly through the coaching ranks , regularly being seen as a " hot prospect " . Despite this , Kill has never coached a team to a victory in a post - season bowl game . Saginaw Valley State . Kill landed his first head coaching job as the fourth football coach at Saginaw Valley State University in 1994 , where he produced five consecutive winning seasons , including back - to - back 9 – 2 campaigns in 1997 and 1998 . Kill compiled a 38 – 14 record in five years as head coach . His teams led the NCAA ' s Division II in rushing each of his last two years and his last season was second in the nation in total offense ( 498 . 3 ) and scoring ( 42 . 5 ) . He is ranked third at Saginaw Valley State in total wins and second in winning percentage ( as of the 2007 season ) . Emporia State . Kill was the 20th head football coach for Emporia State University in Emporia , Kansas , and held that position for two seasons , from 1999 until 2000 . His overall coaching record at Emporia State was 11 – 11 . As of completion of the 2007 season , this ranked him tenth at Emporia State in total wins and ninth in winning percentage . Southern Illinois . Kill was named to the head coaching post at Southern Illinois University Carbondale in 2001 . In 2004 , Kill ' s Salukis went a perfect 9 – 0 against Division I - AA opponents and outscored competitors by more than 30 points per game . Southern Illinois finished 7 – 0 in Gateway Football Conference games , earned the No . 1 ranking for the final ten weeks of the year , and garnered the top seed in the 2004 postseason . At Southern Illinois , Kill was the first coach to produce four consecutive winning seasons and is credited with turning the football team around to a winning program . On September 26 , 2006 , he became the school ' s all - time leader in winning percentage after a " pounding " of Indiana State , 55 – 3 . Northern Illinois . In December 2007 , Northern Illinois University in DeKalb , announced that Kill had been hired as its new head coach . He replaced Joe Novak , who retired after developing the Huskies into a successful program over 12 seasons , though just one bowl win . Before Kill ' s first season at Northern Illinois began , NIU was ranked No . 6 in ESPN ' s Bottom 10 . The team finished the 2008 regular season with a 6 – 6 record . The six wins secured bowl eligibility and an invitation to the Independence Bowl was accepted . Northern Illinois was defeated by Louisiana Tech , 17 – 10 , in the bowl game despite outgaining the Bulldogs in rushing and passing yardage . In 2010 , Northern Illinois had a nine - game win streak and reached the MAC Championship Game , losing to Miami . NIU finished 10 – 3 for the year . In December , days after the losing the conference championship to Miami , Kill accepted the position of head coach for the Minnesota Golden Gophers . His announcement came less than two weeks before the Huskies were scheduled to play in the Humanitarian Bowl . Leaving the team in the manner he did ( many teammates learned about his new job via Twitter instead of from Kill himself ) dealt an emotional blow to the members of the team ; quarterback Chandler Harnish saying about Kill ' s departure , " I have a horrible taste in my mouth " . Additionally , besides the emotional impact , USA Today noted , " The timing of the announcement further hurts the program due to Kill most likely taking the bulk of his staff to Minnesota . " Thus , Kill left NIU without ever winning a bowl game . Furthermore , the fact that Kill left NIU before the team ' s bowl game added fuel to the debate about whether or not the NCAA should prohibit coaches from abandoning their teams before their final bowl game . Minnesota . Kill brought much of NIU staff with him to Minnesota , including his offensive coordinator , defensive coordinator , and special teams coordinator . While his first season in Minnesota was not particularly successful ( finishing with a 3 – 9 record and one of only two non - bowl eligible teams in the Big Ten ) , Kill was in the headlines most often due to his health issues . Personal life , health , and charity work . Kill is close friends with Gary Patterson , currently the head football coach at Texas Christian University . Both men played football for Dennis Franchione and each worked for him as an assistant coach . Kill served as the best man in Patterson ' s wedding . Kill suffered a series of seizure s , including one on the sidelines in the waning seconds of a home loss to Illinois State on October 15 , 2005 . Subsequently , Kill was diagnosed with kidney cancer , which is now in remission . Kill has since started the Coach Kill Cancer Fund foundation to assist low - income southern Illinois residents with treatment . On September 11 , 2010 , Kill was hospitalized for dehydration hours after a 23 – 17 win over North Dakota . One year later , on September 10 , 2011 , Kill was rushed to the hospital after suffering yet another seizure and collapsing on the sidelines , this time during the final seconds of Minnesota ' s loss to New Mexico State . On September 25 , 2011 , Kill was admitted to the Mayo Clinic after suffering another seizure . On October 13 , 2012 , he suffered a minor seizure after a Minnesota - Northwestern game and was released the following day . Kill missed the entire 2nd half of the Michigan game on November 3 due to suffering another seizure at halftime . Kill was a nominee for the 2011 Uplifting Athletes Rare Disease Champion Award , presented by Uplifting Athletes , but lost to Princeton running back Jordan Culbreath .