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Jerry R. Kill (born August 24, 1961) is an American college football coach who currently serves as a consultant at Vanderbilt. He was the head coach at New Mexico State University from 2022 to 2023. He played college football at Southwestern College in Winfield, Kansas, from 1979 to 1982. Kill served as the head coach at Saginaw Valley State University, Emporia State University, Southern Illinois University Carbondale, Northern Illinois University and the University of Minnesota, as well as serving as the interim head coach for the final four games of the 2021 season at TCU.
Kill has also served as an athletic department administrator, most recently at Southern Illinois University as an assistant to the Chancellor and athletic director. He was also briefly at Kansas State as associate athletic director.
During the course of his career he was credited with bringing several programs to new heights, and these successes led to increasingly more prestigious coaching positions. Despite retiring from the game in 2015 for health reasons, Kill returned to coaching in 2020 after accepting a special assistant's job at TCU and was named the interim head coach on October 31, 2021, after the resignation of Gary Patterson.
He is ranked third at Saginaw Valley State in total wins and second in winning percentage (as of the 2007 season). All-Time Coaching Records by Year . Cfbdatawarehouse.com. Retrieved July 26, 2012.
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. :: TheSouthern.com – Southern Illinois' Homepage :: On September 26, 2006, he became the school's all-time leader in winning percentage after defeating Indiana State, 55–3. I-AA College Football News: I-AA.org Southern Illinois Pounds Indiana State, 55–3
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. Why Does The NCAA Let Coaches Leave Before Bowl Games?. Bleacher Report (December 14, 2009). Retrieved July 26, 2012. OU football: Kevin Wilson should coach the bowl game Berry Tramel's Blog . Blog.newsok.com. Retrieved July 26, 2012. Getting to know: Tuke and the zombie Humanitarian Bowl staff. Red And Black Attack (December 10, 2010). Retrieved July 26, 2012.
After Kill led Minnesota to a 4–1 start in the 2013 season, a seizure prevented him from attending Minnesota's game at Michigan. He announced on October 10, 2013 that he would take a leave of absence to focus on epilepsy treatment. With his longtime defensive coordinator Tracy Claeys serving as acting head coach, Kill watched their next game, a win over Northwestern, from the press box. Minnesota went on to win four consecutive Big Ten games for the first time since 1973. Even without Kill present on the field, the Gophers finished with an 8–5 record. The American Football Association named Kill the Region 3 Coach of the Year.
Kill returned to the field for the 2014 football season. For the first six games of the season, the Golden Gophers went 5–1, with their only loss to TCU (30–7), and conference wins over Michigan (30–14) and Northwestern (24–17). The team ended with an 8–5 record, with losses to TCU, Illinois (28–24), Ohio State (31–24), Wisconsin (34–24), and Mizzou (33–17) at the Citrus Bowl. Surprisingly, Kill was awarded the Big Ten Coach of the Year award for the 2014 season.
Jerry Kill began the 2015 season with the Gophers, building a 4–3 record. However, worsening health problems led him to retire from his position as head coach on October 28, 2015. He was succeeded by defensive coordinator Tracy Claeys.
Kill is a close friend of Gary Patterson, former head football coach at Texas Christian University. TCU coach Gary Patterson: What you see is what you get – ESPN Dallas. Sports.espn.go.com (November 13, 2009). Retrieved on July 26, 2012. 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. Jerry Kill kills it at presser with enthusiasm, charisma, humor, and vision . Footballscoop.com. Retrieved on July 26, 2012.
Kill suffered a seizure toward the end of a game in October 2005. Subsequently, Kill was diagnosed with kidney cancer, which is now in remission. Kill has since started the Coach Kill Fund to assist low-income southern Illinois residents with treatment. The Coach Kill Cancer Fund Then, from 2010 through 2013, Kill was plagued by a series of gameday hospitalizations, most of which were also seizures. Shortly after a game in September 2010, he was hospitalized for dehydration. Kill hospitalized . Huskie Wire. Retrieved July 26, 2012. He then suffered two gameday seizures during the 2011 season, followed by one each in 2012 and 2013. After the 2013 seizure, Kill announced that he was taking a leave of absence to address his health and get his seizures under control. After coaching for the entire 2014 season and the first seven games of the 2015 season, Kill announced that he was resigning as head coach on October 28, 2015. He cited health reasons, including at least two additional seizures, as the cause for his decision.
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. Seeking Nominations for the 2012 Uplifting Athletes Rare Disease Champion . Uplifting Athletes. Retrieved July 26, 2012. In 2016, he was named to the Kansas Sports Hall of Fame.
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