Sources: Vanderbilt football is in the process of hiring longtime college head coach Jerry Kill to a staff role. It's expected to be an off-field consulting role where he'll work with head coach Clark Lea and OC Tim Beck.

— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) January 11, 2024

In 2018, he took an assistant role at Southern Illinois before moving on to Virginia Tech, TCU, and eventually returning as a head coach at New Mexico State in 2022.

Jerry Kill’s Record Year at New Mexico State

On November 24, 2021, Kill was announced as the head coach at New Mexico State University. In his first season, the Aggies secured their second bowl game victory since 1960, finishing with a 7-6 record. Jerry celebrated the success with a tattoo on his right arm after the Quick Lane Bowl win.

Related: PJ Fleck Determined to Stop Jerry Kill from Burning Bridges Back to Dinkytown

In year 2, Kill’s Aggies took another step forward, finishing with a 10–5 record just the second double digit win season in school history. Wow, life for Big Jer’ must be going really well down south, huh? Well… maybe not.

Kill Resigns and Rules Out Future Head Coaching Roles

Kill’s exit surprised many, given that he successfully reconstructed the football program, leading the Aggies to consecutive bowl games. But in his post game presser following the Aggies 37-10 loss in the New Mexico Bowl, Kill blew his top on over rival New Mexico University not letting his team use their indoor practice facility earlier in the week.

THREAD At end of NM Bowl presser, NMSU head coach Jerry Kill went on rant discussing Diego Pavia's incident @ UNM facility, saying he was punished for it. Kill then went on to call out UNM AD Eddie Nunez for not allowing NMSU to practice in indoor facility this week. pic.twitter.com/HlUhf6rT7b

— Colin Deaver (@ColinDeaverTV) December 17, 2023

A week later, on December 23rd Kill announced he was stepping down as head coach at New Mexico State. In Kill’s resignation presser, he said he would never be a head coach again. “As far as what plans I have down the road, and I’ll never be a head coach.”

Related: Jerry Kill Just Can’t Help Himself…

Former Minnesota Gophers head coach off to the SEC

Kill’s role at Vandy will be off the field but speculation suggests the move was influenced by his offensive coordinator at NMSU, Tim Beck, being hired by the Commodores for the same job. So, Jerry reunites with his former OC in the SEC, as they take aim at once again rejuvenating a struggling program that hasn’t experienced a winning season since 2013.

Jerry Kill steps down as head coach at New Mexico State

Sources: Jerry Kill is stepping down as head coach at New Mexico State. The school is expected to name former UNLV head coach Tony Sanchez the new head coach.

— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) December 23, 2023

The Aggies enjoyed one of the best seasons in the history of their football program, in 2023, but it ended in a ball of fire, with an epic Jerry Kill rant, after NMSU was blown out in the New Mexico Bowl 37-10 by Fresno State.

Related: PJ Fleck Determined to Stop Jerry Kill from Burning Bridges Back to Dinkytown

They were supposed to practice in the University of New Mexico’s indoor practice facility but weren’t allowed to because their quarterback pissed on the field as part of a rivalry beef weeks earlier. That made Jerry mad and when Jerry is made, everyone knows about it.

THREAD At end of NM Bowl presser, NMSU head coach Jerry Kill went on rant discussing Diego Pavia's incident @ UNM facility, saying he was punished for it. Kill then went on to call out UNM AD Eddie Nunez for not allowing NMSU to practice in indoor facility this week. pic.twitter.com/HlUhf6rT7b

— Colin Deaver (@ColinDeaverTV) December 17, 2023

Why did Kill step down and what’s next?

To be clear, we do not know exactly why Kill stepped down, whether it was related to what happened at the New Mexico Bowl or otherwise. When he stepped down as head coach at Minnesota, it was because of epileptic seizures that he could not get under control.

Let’s hope that has nothing to do with why he stepped down from the same post for the Aggies. According to 247Sports, it’s possible Jerry could be on his way to Vanderbilt to serve as a special assistant.

With the 38-0 victory, they beat the 36-point spread assigned by many sportsbooks. Some had it set at 36.5. The headline from last night, however, was the return of former Gophers head coach, Jerry Kill. Leading up to the game, Kill continued with his refusal to reference PJ by name, instead choosing to refer to him as “the other guy”.

Jerry even told media outlets that he wasn’t sure if a handshake with Fleck would take place. PJ, meanwhile, has taken the permanent high road in all matters pertaining to Jerry Kill. Not once has PJ Fleck responding to Kill’s insults or insinuations.

Fleck Builds Bridges Back to Jerry Kill

And on Thursday night, Fleck walked directly up to Kill during pregame warmups and extended his hand, even a hug. Jerry seemed to be taken aback, but had to smile and make nice. What choice did he have but to set his Minnesota Gophers bridge burning torch down?

PJ Fleck and Jerry Kill shake hands before tonight's game. #gophers pic.twitter.com/Y0ftUPAuRF

— FOX 9 Sports (@Fox9Sports) September 2, 2022

This angle (from BTN) on last night's Fleck/Kill handshake is the best. Can't find the full video, tho. pic.twitter.com/2PT3TMLnLc

— Minnesota Sports Fan (@realmnsportsfan) September 2, 2022

Fleck didn’t stop with his surprise pregame handshake, though. PJ’s postgame handshake was equally sincere and welcoming. Then, during his postgame press conference, Fleck heaped admiration on Kill and dialed up the excuse computer for any and all of Jerry’s past transgressions against him.

With arms wide open…

Country Jer’ has talked endlessly over the last week about how much he regrets losing track of his health, while coaching at the University of Minnesota. How he’s never been the same. And there’s no doubt Jerry Kill loved being the Gophers’ head coach. Just like PJ Fleck does. In other words, Kill’s negativity toward Fleck is solely based in Jerry’s own self-pity. And PJ clearly realizes as much.

Here is Fleck’s entire press conference after last night’s win vs New Mexico State. He’s asked about Jerry Kill and their handshakes toward the end (10:45 mark – transcribed below).

“I respect this game wholeheartedly. I respect Jerry kill wholeheartedly. I’ve never said one thing, ever, negative about Jerry Kill. In fact, my opening press conference I said I’m a Jerry killed guy. I said thank you for all that you’ve done in my career. I [told Jerry] I’ve always had the utmost respect for you. Always will. Simple as that. I mean, this profession is a very passionate profession and, I know this, I appreciate Jerry’s passion. – PJ Fleck (Postgame Press Conference)

Because I know how bad, you know, Jerry loves this place. And the one thing I’ll say, is so do I, And I know how he feels because I want to be here. And it’s a very special place to me. I couldn’t imagine not being here. And when you’re not here, and it’s not by necessarily even your choice, the choice maybe you have to make outside of [football], that can be really difficult. I don’t judge people on that. I never have. He’s done a lot for my career. I wish him all the best I hope he’s doing well. Hope him and Rebecca are good. And uh, you know, I appreciate him coming back. And I told him, you know, welcome back. It’s good to have you back.” – PJ Fleck (Postgame Press Conference)

Fleck wants to keep Jerry’s UofM bridges up.

Think what you want about PJ Fleck and the motives for his actions. But he brings people together. Since taking over as the Minnesota Gophers head football coach, he’s made a very strong push to bring former players back to Dinkytown. Former Gophers from all ages can be seen at team facilities during the week and out on the field before games.

And last night was PJ Fleck’s first move in a slow process to bring Jerry Kill back too. Not as a future coach or anything crazy like that. But as a Gophers figure. Someone who is welcomed inside of facilities, post career. A voice who can speak at Golden Dunker events and nobody raises an eyebrow. A fellow coach who can stop by and talk to kids and coaches about football.

Who knows how long it will take or if it will work, but PJ Fleck knows how important Jerry Kill is to Minnesota Gopher football history. And he wants to preserve it. Maybe someday, Jerry will still get the commemoration video he was once so deserving of.

Eric Strack | Minnesota Sports Fan

We all know what Kill, now head coach at New Mexico State University, said about Fleck, now entering his 6th season as Gophers head coach, said back in 2019. But just in case you forgot. Here’s the full quote again.

“And when he went into Minnesota and treated the people the way he treated my guys and telling ‘em he had to go in and completely change the culture, and it was a bad culture and bad people, you know, he made it sound like we didn’t know what we were doing, and I took it personal. You just don’t treat people that have been with you and helped you career and you don’t even talk to him, you know, once you get the job.” – Jerry Kill on PJ Fleck (2019)

Here is the Jerry Kill on his return to Minnesota at midnight pic.twitter.com/svjMDQSCJQ

— Jason Groves (@JPGroves) August 28, 2022

Kill was/is Detached from Reality

Of course, none of those allegations are true. Fleck never criticized Jerry Kill, after landing the head coaching job before the 2017 season. Yes, PJ talked a lot about the program’s culture and how it needed change. How it needed to Row the Boat. But that’s what every new coach says, minus the boat-rowing part (trademarked) when taking over a program.

The new guy in charge has a different personality, thus he wants different personality traits from his football team and the players on its roster. Nobody should see that more clearly than Jerry Kill, who would be the first to tell you that he and Fleck are nothing alike. Those who appreciate Jerry’s leadership style are unlikely to fall for the way PJ does things, and visa versa.

But don’t tell that to Jerry Kill. After three years, nothing has changed in the way he approaches the PJ Fleck subject. He refuses to mention PJ by name, instead insisting on using “the other guy”. Which is why he’ll get booed on Thursday, instead of being celebrated:

Revisionist History

But it’s not just about Kill’s refusal to acknowledge Fleck’s existence. It’s not even about Jerry’s refusal to take any accountability for his petty attacks on PJ when all PJ did was accept a head coaching position AFTER Claeys was fired. For me, it’s Kill’s revisionist history.

Kill still believes that Fleck personally attacked him, his old program and his right-hand man, Tracy Claeys. Just take a look at what Jerry said earlier this week. to the Las Cruces Sun News. Ignore some of the past tense references, and it’s the same quote from 2019 (above).

“That’s my best friend (Claeys) so what am I supposed to do,” Kill said on Monday. “I stuck up for my guy. Everybody else in the country stuck up for him, too. When (Fleck) got the job, he talked about that he had to rebuild and the program was in shambles so of course there was a reaction and I made a statement at that particular time.” – Jerry Kill (Las Cruces Sun News)

Kill is mad at himself

At the end of the day, Jerry Kill is mad at himself. He wasn’t monitoring and keeping up his health like he should have been, when he was head coach of the Minnesota Gophers. Because of that, he lost everything he had worked his entire career for.

Now, he’ll never get that opportunity back. Clearly, it’s a reality that weighs heavily on him. A reality he hasn’t found a healthy way to cope with. So instead, he turns that anger on Mark Coyle, for firing his best friend. But that’s not enough. PJ Fleck needs blame too, even if we have to makeup reasons for it.

“I would still be coaching there,” Kill said after practice on Monday. “It sent me on a path. I’ve stated several times that I’ve never been the same since what happened to me in Minnesota in 2015 and I never will be.” – Jerry Kill (Las Cruces Sun News)

Kickoff between the Minnesota Gophers and New Mexico State Aggies is 8 PM CT and the game will be televised on Big Ten Network.

Eric Strack | Minnesota Sports Fan

Kill stepped down as Gophers head coach because of recurring seizures that stemmed from an epilepsy disorder. His protege and long-time defensive coordinator, Tracy Claeys, took over as Minnesota’s head coach for the next 1.5 seasons. After a 9-4 season in 2016, new Athletic Director Mark Coyle fired Claeys for a variety of reasons.

Handshake or No Handshake?

All of that led to Jerry Kill’s infamous radio comments on SKOR North about how he’d “never step foot inside that stadium again” and how PJ Fleck, “isn’t about his players, he’s about himself”. But to Jerry’s chagrin, he will return to Dinkytown. On Thursday, as head coach of the visiting New Mexico State Aggies.

Naturally, Kill has already began to make the media rounds, locally. And one question he hasn’t been willing to answer is whether or not he will shake hands with Fleck after the matchup next week.

Shaver: “Will you shake his hand, when you walk on the field in Minnesota?”

Kill: “I wish I knew what was going to happen when I get there and everything and, you know, we’ll let it play out and so forth.”

Randy Shaver Interview (KARE – CH.11)

But lucky for Jerry, he won’t have to make the decision on whether or not to shake PJ’s hand at midfield. Because, on the other side of the field, the Minnesota Gophers have a head coach who acts like an adult.

We still do not know how Fleck feels about Kill, and we likely never will. Because he’s never going to tell us. PJ took the high-road back in 2017, when Jerry talked his shit, and he will continue to do the same thing this week.

When asked if he will shake Jerry Kill’s hand on Thursday, PJ Fleck was taken aback. Of course he would shake hands, because that’s what head football coaches do. And he’s been a head football coach for 10 years. All of which have been filled with weekly handshakes. Thursday’s handshake is happening, even if PJ has to find Jerry himself.

“I have been a head coach for 10 years. I’ve never not shaken the hand of a head football coach.”#Gophers HC PJ Fleck when asked if he plans to shake Jerry Kill’s hand on September 1st.

—> https://t.co/z5RykCoTM8 pic.twitter.com/OHh1ItUXeL

— Tony Liebert (@TonyLiebert) August 26, 2022

“Listen, I’ve been a head coach for 10 years. I’ve never not shaken the hand of a head football coach. I think there’s a there’s a tradition of 100 years ago of coaches meeting at midfield…but I’ve been head coach 10 years guys, and haven’t not shaken one head coach’s hand in my entire career. I might have to go find a guy.” – PJ Fleck (via 247Sports)

Eric Strack | Minnesota Sports Fan

But while waiting for the end of December to draw a little closer, I’ve been looking forward to the 2022 season schedule. On paper, it looks easier than what we saw in 2021, mostly because the Big Ten schedule misses both Ohio State and Michigan. That, however, is a blog for another day.

We know that PJ Fleck and the Minnesota Gophers have a knack for making early season matchups vs lesser opponents way too competitive. Game plans and scheming against teams like South Dakota State, Georgia Southern, Miami (OH) and Bowling Green during the last two non-conference season have been more much more bland than what we’ve seen in Big Ten play. They got away with it in 2019 (barely) but it cost them a win vs BGSU in 2021.

But if there was any year where Fleck and his staff would “change their best” during non-conference play, it might be in 2022.

Wk 1: New Mexico State w/new HC, Jerry Kill

Jerry Kill hates PJ Fleck and that’s not hyperbole. Kill has come out publicly multiple times, since the University of Minnesota hired Fleck, and denounced both the hire and how his former staff was treated on their way out.

There is absolutely nothing else Jerry Kill will think about during this offseason than beating PJ Fleck. He could lose every other game and still call the season a success if he comes to Huntington Bank Stadium to knock off his old Gophers and his most-hated peer.

For PJ Fleck, that’s a nightmare he cannot afford to see come true. Writers in this town would NEVER let him forget about losing to a “Year Zero” New Mexico State team coached by Kill.

Wk 3: Colorado w/new OC, Mike Sanford

Mike Sanford lasted two season as Minnesota Gophers offensive coordinator, before being fired at the end of November. His tenure will not be remembered fondly. Sanford will forever be known as the OC who ruined (or almost ruined, depending on how 2022 goes) Tanner Morgan as a quarterback.

Now, Mike Sanford is heading to Colorado University where he’ll be offensive coordinator and QB’s Coach. The Buffaloes football brain trust must’ve liked what they saw when the Gophers thumped them 30-0 in Boulder. So much so that they’re willing to ignore what happened to Minnesota’s passing game after Sanford took over.

Tanner Morgan's career #Gophers stats:

– 2019: 250.2 passing yards per game, 30 TDs

**Mike Sanford Jr. hired as OC

– 2020: 196.3 passing yards per game, 7 TDs

– 2021: 161.3 passing yards per game, 10 TDs

— Tony Liebert (@TonyLiebert) November 29, 2021

Sanford vs Rossi

The Minnesota Gophers and Colorado Buffaloes will fulfill their two-year home/away football agreement in 2022 when CU comes to Huntington Bank Stadium in week 3 of the non-conference. I can promise that Joe Rossi and his defensive staff aren’t bringing a vanilla scheme or game plan to that matchup.

Mike Sanford will be in a new environment and working for a new head coach. His offense is bound to have a much different flavor than what we saw while he was here. It will be up to Joe Rossi and PJ Fleck to change up what they’re doing enough defensively that Mike can’t take advantage of what he learned while here.

We’ve seen PJ Fleck’s Gophers play down to, and even lose, vs opponents who shouldn’t belong on the same field. So it doesn’t really matter how good the 2022 New Mexico State or Colorado teams are. Fleck will have to get his team more ready to play in next season’s non-conference than he has in the past or he could face a terrible and embarrassing start to the season. Because more than ever, the opposing coaching staffs will be ready and hungry to taste the tears of PJ.

Now watch the Gophers’ one non-conference loss be against Western Illinois in week 2. That would be the Minnesota way.

Eric Strack | Minnesota Sports Fan

Welcome to Hokie Nation!

3-time National Coach of the Year Jerry Kill joining VT as special assistant to the head coach.

Details ⤵️https://t.co/hxkv4oA9Zw #Hokies ? pic.twitter.com/2E4cQd5Jhx

— Virginia Tech Football (@VT_Football) September 16, 2019

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Remember that head coach we had before PJ Fleck, who was forced to leave the Minnesota Gophers football program due to health reasons, was replaced by his defensive coordinator (who was even worse at recruiting than he was), and then slandered the University when they fired Claeys after a major sexual assault investigation rocked the program?

No? Come on… he was the one who preached loyalty and threw shots at PJ Fleck for treating people poorly, but has now up and left prominent positions at 4 different schools in 3 years… He thought Mitch Leidner was sent from aliens and to make sure he never felt uncomfortable, never recruited another QB for his entire tenure….

Yeah, that Jerry Kill. And, he’s nothing but a laughingstock now. He’s a grumpy old man who has shown his true self, since leaving Minnesota. We thought Jerry would stay here forever no matter how much success the Gophers had underneath him but that’s clearly not true (besides the fact that his recruiting was never taking us past an overachieving Big Ten middle-man). Now we know that Jerry would have been gone as soon as a bigger school came knocking. He just proved that again, by turning his back on Southern Illinois, after they trusted him as their new AD less than a year ago.

Good luck in retirement .. at Rutgers .. at SIU .. at Virginia Tech, Jerry.

Eric Strack | Minnesota Sports Fan

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You can find PJ Fleck rowing on the high river. #classy ?‍♂️〽️ pic.twitter.com/VRkirMgzzC

— Minnesota Sports Fan (@realmnsportsfan) February 22, 2019

I hope he’s ok.”

Just the best.

I don’t know if that was meant to be shade thrown at Jerry Kill in subtle fashion or not but, if it was shade, it was genius shade. Jerry Kill has also had his own health struggles so maybe PJ does wish Jerry the best. He is a much better person than I am so it’s possible.

Jesus… if Kill thinks PJ is such a bad person, WTF does that make me…

via GIPHY

If you’ve been under a rock and don’t know what Jerry Kill said about PJ, you can play catch-up here.

Eric Strack | Minnesota Sports Fan

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EPISODE 42 SUMMARY

Jerry Kill made a fool of himself on Tuesday evening when he went on national radio with an agenda to slander PJ Fleck. Unfortunately for him, everyone listening has a brain and knows what he said was false. We discuss why Jerry is so salty and jealous of PJ Fleck.

Then, we move on to the other coach on campus, Richard Pitino. The Gophers are on the NCAA bubble and Richard Pitino’s job should be on the line. We discuss why it’d be the perfect time to fire him if he isn’t dancing in March.

With so much negativity around town, it’s nice to have some hope in the Twins and Rocco Baldelli is a big reason for that hope. With sweeping changes around Fort Myers for Spring Training, the Twins seem to be on the cutting edge of the MLB instead of being last to the party like we’ve been used to. Now….. can he win?

Lastly, who is to blame for the Kirk Cousins Twitter controversies? Should we feel bad for Kirk Cousins? Are his mentions getting out of hand? 

Also, Charlie Coyle got traded right before the show and we know nothing about who the Wild got back for him. GREAT hockey minds!

Jerry HATES us cause he AIN’T us.

To get serious for a hot second.

Ok, Jerry.