Gophers defensive coordinator Tracy Claeys said Tuesday that head coach Jerry Kill is at home and “doing good” after a seizure Saturday morning before the game at Michigan.
“He’s continuing to get the rest he needs and work with the doctors to do the best they can to get the situation under control with his medicine,” Claeys said.
Kill has yet to rejoin the team, Claeys said.
Filling in for Kill on the weekly media call for Big Ten coaches, Claeys said he talked to Kill on the phone Tuesday morning. He declined to elaborate, however, when asked about the details of their conversation and said he doesn’t know when Kill will return to work.
“It’s all around when his doctor’s appointments are and that type of stuff,” Claeys said. “We’ll just take it one day at a time and see how it goes.”
Kill didn’t travel with the team to Ann Arbor, Mich., on Friday because he wasn’t feeling well, according to a news release. He had planned to meet the team Saturday, the release said, but remained in Minneapolis after the seizure. This was the first time in Kill’s Minnesota tenure that he’s missed an entire game because of health.
Claeys served as interim head coach at the game as the Gophers (4-2, 0-2 Big Ten) lost 42-13.
Claeys told reporters Sunday he thinks Kill’s health issues may have been caused by adjustments to his medication.
“[His doctor] claims that when [Kill] gets his medication regulated, they’ll have great control over this,” Claeys said Sunday. “Every time it happens, it’s a bad thing … but in his doctors’ eyes, he’s getting closer to being able to control the situation.”
On Tuesday, Claeys said the team was “a little disappointed” when it heard Kill wouldn’t coach the game against Michigan, but he said his absence didn’t have any effect on how the team played.
“We know coach’s situation; we know we have to be ready,” tight end Maxx Williams said after the game. “I don’t think this changed anything.”
Minnesota has a bye this week, which comes at a good time for not only Kill, but the entire team. Injuries have depleted the team’s secondary, which may force the team to make adjustments at cornerback in the coming weeks, Claeys said.
“If we played today, we’d be without four [defensive backs],” he said Sunday, noting injuries to Derrick Wells, Martez Shabazz, Cedric Thompson and Briean Boddy-Calhoun.
Claeys said the team will work on fundamentals and third-down play during its three practices this week, which begin Wednesday. The Gophers will start preparing for Northwestern later in the week — with or without Kill.
“Really, it’s the same process,” Claeys said, “And when he gets back, he gets back.”