Kill Says His Health Is Improving Following Sudden Retirement
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- Jerry Kill said his health is improving less than a week after his tearful press conference announcing his retirement as Gopher football coach because of health reasons.
Appearing Sunday morning on WCCO's Sports Huddle with Sid Hartman and Dave Mona, Kill said he started feeling better over the weekend.
"After the press conference, I continued to have seizures," Kill said. "(Minnesota assistant athletic director) Dan O'Brien came out and got me out of the house and went for a walk. I've been seizure-free here for, let's see, Friday and Saturday."
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Kill was first diagnosed with epilepsy in 2005, when he was head coach at Southern Illinois. He became Gophers' head coach after the 2010 season, and starting in 2012, Kill missed several games because of seizures, finally resorting to a leave of absence in 2013 to get his condition under control.
He coached without difficulty all of last season, and this past July during the Big Ten's media day declared himself seizure-free for 18 months.
But during the 2015 season, Kill decided on his own to adjust his medication to help him think more clearly while coaching the team. That's when the seizures returned, leading to his sudden retirement.
Kill told Sid and Dave he still doesn't know what he'll do, but insisted his coaching days are over.
"I'm going to listen to what the doctor's orders are," he said. "I might coach little league or coach the tight end on a high school team and show up for about two hours. All I'm trying to do right now is just worry about the next day and not worry about everything else down the road."
Kill's condition keeps him from driving a car, something he relished when came off his leave of absence and was healthy enough to go behind the wheel. He joked that he can't help the 95-year-old Hartman get around.
"Maybe I can be Sid's next driver, but, hell, I can't drive," Kill said. "Maybe Sid's driver will drive me and Sid around together."
In their first game since Kill's retirement, the Gophers lost to Michigan 29-26, getting stopped inside the one-yard line as the clock ran out. Kill didn't attend the game at TCF Bank Stadium, instead watching it on television at home with his wife, Rebecca.
"It was hard," he said. "Rebecca and I cried enough to keep the water in the Twin Cities for a long time. I just felt terrible for those kids at the end, because they played so hard."
Kill started becoming emotional toward the end of the seven-minute radio segment.
"We've had great memories, some tough ones, but it's been a hell of a ride for 32 years," he said.