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By demonizing pleasure, we set ourselves up for unfulfilling sex lives.
Opinion: Let’s talk about sex
Published March 27, 2024

In his climb up the coaching ladder, Kill has left a wake of admirers

The Jerry Kill hire angered Gophers football fans expecting a bigger name, and perplexed Northern Illinois fans and players still trying to get over an upset loss to Miami-Ohio in the MAC Championship. Both sides have a fair point. However, itâÄôs not the first time Kill has ditched a school for the next rung on the ladder, and he left all of his previous stops in better shape than he found them. If that pattern continues, it bodes well for the Gophers and Huskies alike. At KillâÄôs previous four head coaching positions, his teamsâÄô records improved by an average of 4 3/4 wins between his first and final seasons. At Southern Illinois, where Kill coached from 2001-2007, the team he inherited his first year went 1-10. Six years later he capped off his Salukis career with a 12-2 record. Though fans at Northern Illinois, where Kill coached from 2008-2010, are still reeling over his unexpected departure âÄî he wonâÄôt coach the team in the Humanitarian Bowl on Dec. 18 âÄî there isnâÄôt much bitterness in his wake of former programs. âÄúYou could argue that Kill was at the helm for the best stretch in Saluki history,âÄù said Mike Reis, the Salukis play-by-play radio announcer of 32 years. âÄúI would say itâÄôs not a stretch to say that he saved Southern Illinois football. I donâÄôt think Southern has a program right now if he doesnâÄôt win the league beginning in 2003.âÄù Under Kill, Southern Illinois won the Missouri Valley Football Conference three straight years, from 2003 to 2005. Reis said if Kill hadnâÄôt resurrected the schoolâÄôs football program, it would not have had the support needed to build Saluki stadium, the teamâÄôs brand new, 15,000-seat stadium that replaced 73-year-old McAndrew Field. âÄúHeâÄôs the most popular football coach that IâÄôve seen at Southern,âÄù Reis said. âÄúItâÄôs almost like a Pied Piper effect because he raised the level here.âÄù KillâÄôs three-year tenure at Northern Illinois showed his success at Southern Illinois was no fluke. As the HuskiesâÄô coach, he went 6-7, 7-6 and 10-3 respectively, earning bowl appearances each year. Even Kent Weiser, athletics director at Emporia State University where Kill had his shortest and least successful tenure as a college coach, called Kill a friend and spoke of his integrity, lack of pretention and ability to win. âÄúPeople know that [Kill] is not a self-serving person,âÄù Weiser said. âÄúWhen he works for you and with you he is doing his best and [he] never really works a job with an eye to get another job. I think those opportunities have come his way and not because heâÄôs tried to parlay one into the other.âÄù Kill spent two seasons at Emporia State, going 11-11 overall (5-6, then 6-5) before leaving to take the head coaching job at Southern Illinois. KillâÄôs track record demonstrates an ability to coach and make the most out of the talent he has. The question now is whether he can change a culture and resurrect a program for a third straight time, and on the biggest stage yet of his career. KillâÄôs college roommate and teammate Gerald Young, currently the athletics director at Carleton College, said Kill has always performed beyond expectations. âÄúHe was a very tenacious little linebacker,âÄù Young said of the physically unimposing Kill. Young said Kill was able to play beyond his size because of his intensity and scrupulous attention to detail, to which he credits KillâÄôs success as a coach. As for the skeptical Gophers fans who say Kill isnâÄôt a big enough name to resurrect the program, Young echoed the sentiments of the athletics department. âÄúThey have every right to be skeptical,âÄù Young said. âÄúJerry is not a big-name coach, but Jerry is a successful coach.âÄù

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