BTN.com staff, October 22, 2013
Jerry Kill wasn't expected to be at the Minnesota-Northwestern game Saturday. The head coach was on a leave of absence to get his epilepsy under control, after all. But there was Kill in the Minnesota coaches box at Ryan Field. Kill's wife, Rebecca, drove him to the game, because he couldn't stand not being there with his team after missing the Michigan game.
Kill spoke to the team at halftime, and he did the same after the game. As expected, his speech was emotional.
Here's what Kill told his team:
"I love every one of you. And I'll tell you this: I'm very proud of these coaches, and I'm tremendously proud of every young man because you don't deserve all the stuff you've had to deal with with this situation. But, it is what it is. I'm proud of you, (I) love you. Keep pushing forward, because you've got a lot of great things ahead of you this season. And I'm going to be right there as much as I can be there. I'm going to give it everything I got."
After Kill emotionally addressed the team, offensive lineman Josh Campion huddled the team around Kill and led the team's breakdown.
Campion's message: "We love you, too, and we love Mrs. Kill."
About Brent Yarina | BTN.com senior editor Brent Yarina covers football and men's basketball for BTN.com. He writes the popular uniform feature "Clothes Call," which also focuses on the latest cosmetic changes across Big Ten arenas and stadiums. Read all of his work here. You can subscribe to Yarina's RSS feed and follow him on Twitter @BTNBrentYarina. |