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UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA MEDIA CONFERENCE

September 9, 2014

Jerry Kill

COACH KILL: Well, we appreciate everybody coming out and to go back to last week's game, and I'm not going to spend a lot of time on that because it's over.
But I think that‑‑ thought we played much better in the first half than we did the first game. The second half, I don't think we performed as well. And after watching the film, I think a lot of it just had to do with having been in that situation that often.
And I just think we weren't as intense as we need to be in the second half, and you can usually tell that by execution on offense and missed tackles on defense. I just think it was a lack of intensity, and we need to learn when we do get up on somebody, we need to take care of business and not let things kind of hang out.
But we'll continue to improve on that and move forward, and we have a big game coming up. They are all big, but this one is on the road, our first road trip; and playing TCU, a team that has been tremendously successful over the last‑‑ long time. I think that Coach Patterson feels like they are going to be really, really good because they are healthy and they weren't that way last year.
They have got a great football team. We know that. We know what challenges are ahead of us, and we look forward to it. We'll see where we're at.

Q. Could you talk a little bit about Coach Patterson as far as each of you in each other's wedding parties and can you talk about your feelings in playing against such a good friend Saturday?
COACH KILL: Well, I wouldn't let him come to mine‑‑ no (laughing). I got married when I was 21 and my wife was 19, so I didn't even know Gary at that time.
But it's like anything, just like you all, you build a relationship. We built it through and Coach Franchione. Coach coached me, and Gary and him worked together and that's how that bond started.
I was an offensive coordinatorat the time ‑‑ well, I was defensive coordinator actually, and he was on the defensive side of the ball and shared ideas, and then I went to offense. And then he became‑‑ I would tell you, I think most coaches in our profession, he's as good a defensive football coach as there in the country and I think everybody knows that.
So we shared ideas and just got to be friends through that and stayed friends. Then when he got the head job at TCU, I was actually at Emporia State. He had offered me a job as the offensive coordinator there, but also had an opportunity to go to Southern Illinois.
And through him and Coach Franchione's advice was if I wanted to be a head coach, he goes, "You're not going to get any of those other jobs, so you'd better take one and turn it." So that's what I did. And then we stayed in touch. Our staff has been sharing ideas and Coach Klein has been going there every year and we've doing that for years. So that's it.

Q. Can you give an update on Mitch and status of his knee?
COACH KILL: He'll practice today. He's a tough son of a gun and that's straight up. Everybody wants to know, ohCoach; no, that's straight up. I told you he was tough and he's tough.

Q. If you were worried at all, would you hold him out Saturday for the long term of the season?
COACH KILL: Well, I won't know that until the week goes. I mean, you've got to see his progression, but he's going to practice today, and we certainly won't wear him out today. Wouldn't be very smart. We'll give Chris Streveler a lot of reps. And we've been doing that, anyway, because of nature of the game which we have to do. And Jacques has had some reps, too. But he'll practice today.
I mean, I'll tell you that we'll limit some of the things because I don't want to wear him out and be smart. But we'll see how it goes. I can't guarantee anything, but I can guarantee you that he's going to practice today and that will help us determine some things. But, you know, he's tough. Been on the phone with Jordan Lynch. Jordan is pretty tough too. I don't know what they talk about but evidently it's pretty good. So we'll see how it goes.

Q. Is he ready to go or is it still?
COACH KILL: No, we won't know until we get him out. I can just tell you he's running and moving around. He actually moved around on Sunday. So he's a tough cat.

Q. If you have to go to Chris what have you seen from him just in the way he's developed?
COACH KILL: He's done a good job. He's been red‑shirt. He's got four years left. He got an opportunity to play in both ballgames and he's done a good job. He's executed well. He can really run. He's got great speed and he's developing as a quarterback.
But I mean, it's not like having a junior or senior. He's still a freshman. But he's worked hard. He's been here all summer. He's worked with Mitch. So that's part of college football. You've got to‑‑ biggest thing in this game, got to stay healthy and got to be lucky and stay healthy. So hopefully he can play but we'll have Chris ready if he needs to be and if Mitch is not ready.

Q. We hear a lot about TCU's defense and they switched coordinators on offense. Do you have a good read on them offensively right now or do you feel like you're still‑‑
COACH KILL: I think we've got a pretty‑‑ we know who they hired. So we know enough about who they hired from Houston and Texas Tech when we were playing in the Bowl game.
So you're going to get Baylor speed of no‑huddle. So they are going to snap it about every 15, 16 seconds. It will be a lot like that. I think that's what we've got to it down to. But they are going to be ‑‑ with the Bowl game, I think everybody has seen Texas Tech. It's going to be like that because that's where all the ties tie in.
So we've got a pretty good idea. I mean, I know Gary well enough that he'll come out and do some things that he didn't show in the first game.
It's a little bit different situation because they play in the first game, and then they have got an off week. And I promise you, he worked on us all spring. So I know how he does that with opponents and how he does preparation. That's what makes him so good. But he's been working on us for a long time and that extra week doesn't help us, you know, having two weeks to prepare.

Q. Have you talked to him at all before he made that changes or did it surprise you at all that he made such a radical change?
COACH KILL: You know, I think that he‑‑ not a lot really to tell you the truth. But I think a lot of it has to do with the conference and what they are doing and what they are seeing defensively. That allows them to work against each other, you know what I mean. It helps the offense and the defense. Most of those teams are all spread.
And so I think trying to prepare for‑‑ just like us, our defense trying to prepare for the no‑huddle is not easy. If we were no‑huddle all the time on offense, you know what I mean, you could get prepared easier so I think that has to do with it, and then their athletes. They have got athletes and you can spread the field with the guys they got, and I think it fits their personality with what they are recruiting right now.
But we haven't talked a ton about that. Since we are playing each other, we more just talk out of friendship and just give each other a hard time. We haven't‑‑ as far as football stuff, you know, we haven't talked a lot of football stuff because of the situation.

Q. Going up against a team that's as good defensively on the road, but then especially with no bye week, do you have like this is the toughest non‑conference game you've had since USC in 2011?
COACH KILL: Oh, there's no doubt about that. There's no doubt about that. Plus we're playing there. So there's a twofold deal. I know he's healthy‑‑ this is the whole thing. Last year, they got all kinds of injuries and so forth and they lost the great defensive end, but he felt like they had the best front four they have had in a long time and he's still got three of them standing there. So the other three didn't go anywhere. There's no question about that.

Q. Do you go with one offensive game plan that you would expect either quarterback to execute or do you have 1A and 1B?
COACH KILL: No we'll have the same game plan. They both can execute.

Q. You played, what, eight true freshmen?
COACH KILL: Yeah‑‑ maybe three or four‑‑ and right now we are in that spin, it's hard to explain. But the cycle of where we had empty, we had empty classes caught up with us a little bit. This is where, that big class of freshmen and you have that separation. So that's what's happened.
But injuries have hurt us there, too. We had some injuries and had to do that, because we are playing most of them on defense right now. And we are playing one on offense and three or four, we're kind of seeing what happens. So hopefully we're done playing a freshman, but I can see us with one or two more possibly.

Q. Is there something that you do to prepare the guys for weather a little more?
COACH KILL: Not going to talk about it. I mean, the more you talk about something, it's like fumbling the football; the more you talk about fumbling, the more they fumble it.
I think we've been preparing for all is that situation since‑‑ most of it's about nutrition and how much water you take in and things of that nature. With a couple kids that happened to on Saturday, you know, you look into that. And I won't sayall, I'll just say sometimes they don't eat as properly and take as much water in and so forth.
So when it's the temperature it was on Saturday and you cramp, there's more to it. But at the same time, I grew up in that area and so forth. You've just got to take care of it. I know Ed had mentioned that the Gophers went down to Miami when he was a trainer and didn't have a lot of trouble with some of the preparation they did before.
So I just told him, we don't need no LeBron James deal. If we need to drink pickle juice the whole time, we'll drink pickle juice. We'll see. You can't control the weather and all those kind of things. You can control how you play. We have to do a good job and who we're travelling and special teams and things of in nature and we have to got have some guys step up to take some plays off people that are starting.

Q. With Nick Rallis's injury, what is your comfort level with second line at linebacker?
COACH KILL: Nick's out. I think everybody ‑‑ I think that leaps out. He's done for the season. Tough thing is he worked so hard and has really, really played well. So it's just, again, I mean, you can't afford to lose depth.
So we pulled a red‑shirt off Everett and he's got to step up. That's really all you do. Certainly he can play all three spots. That's what made him special. I feel bad for him. He's worked so hard and so forth. You don't want to see that happen to kids but unfortunately in this game, it happens.

Q. Knee injury?
COACH KILL: Yeah.

Q. Do you have a reaction to Penn State's Bowl ban being lifted?
COACH KILL: I didn't pay‑‑ I really haven't thought about it to be honest with you. I've been too busy, caught up. So I really‑‑ I mean, I walked by yesterday and went down to the training room and I see they took it off.
I think they, you know, whatever, what happens happened to them the last two or three years, what's bestfor ‑‑ I always go by what's best for the players and what's fair and all that kind of stuff and I'll let people that handle that, handle that. I don't know that much about it.
But I'm not going to complain and moan and grown and all that kind of stuff. They certainly got punished and it's not as long as it was. Sometimes you have those things happen and it's not the kids that were‑‑ you know what I mean. Some of that stuff's out of their control.

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