Jerry Kill just can鈥檛 quit coaching. And his love of the game 鈥 and coaching offense in particular 鈥 nearly cost Missouri dearly on Saturday.
Kill, 63, is best known in these parts for his successful coaching stint at SIU Carbondale and his later run as athletic director there.
He also had head coaching success at Northern Illinois, then at Minnesota despite suffering health problems that led to multiple seizures. He appeared ready to turn the page on coaching when he returned to Carbondale as the SIU AD . . . but his health improved, and football kept calling him back.
He found his niche as an offensive guru, working at Virginia Tech and TCU before serving as interim head coach for the Horned Frogs. That success led him to take the head coaching job at New Mexico State, where he got the program rolling fast in Year 2.
People are also reading…
He stepped aside after last season, citing his age and the heavy demands of the job, but he resurfaced at Vanderbilt as an offensive advisor to coach Clark Lea.
He brought dual-threat quarterback Diego Pavia with him and the Tigers had their hands full with Vandy's offense. Kill was there on the sidelines, doing far more than just advising.
Pavia passed for 178 yards and two touchdowns and gained 84 yards on the ground against Missouri. He had them in position score a massive upset.
鈥淲hat Diego brings as a competitor is inspirational to our team.,鈥 Lea said. 鈥淲hen he鈥檚 out there with the ball, you know you have a chance.鈥
Pavia鈥檚 ability to use his mobility and freelance gave Missouri鈥檚 defense fits.
鈥淲e鈥檙e not going to slow him down,鈥 Lea said of Pavia's scrambling. 鈥淲e鈥檙e going to ride with him and the style of play he has and we鈥欌檒l get the other guys ready. I鈥檓 glad he鈥檚 on our team.鈥
Along his winding coaching trail, Kill has given his share of unfiltered media interviews and news conferences. His salty outburst at last year鈥檚 New Mexico Bowl was memorable.
The University of New Mexico, New Mexico State鈥檚 arch-rival, hosts that bowl. Kill took issue with how his team was treated at the event -- and he blamed then-UNM athletic director Eddie Nunez during a spirited tirade.
Here is a snippet of that:
鈥淲hen he doesn't let us practice in the indoor facility, when he doesn't want us to do this, do that, that's chicken (bleep). I don't care, that's my opinion. I get in trouble, I don't give a (bleep), either. I can go down to Mexico tomorrow, drink margaritas and let y'all enjoy your life, because I'll be enjoying mine.鈥
Kill didn鈥檛 go to Mexico. He went to Nashville instead, where he would have no trouble locating a place that serves margaritas.
But he's there to coach, not party. The Commodores defeated Virginia Tech earlier this season they came this close to upsetting Missouri Saturday. Kill keeps coming back to the game and he keeps succeeding.
THE GRIDIRON CHRONICLES
Here is what folks have been writing about college football:
David Hale, : Just look around in Week 4, and everything felt a bit topsy-turvy. In Texas, the headlines were all about the ballyhooed quarterback with the magical name who would lead an undefeated team into battle. Arch Manning got the start for the Longhorns, and people seemed excited about that, too. In fact, Manning was so good Saturday -- 258 yards, 2 touchdowns, 2 interceptions -- it was almost easy to forget about that other guy as Texas beat ULM 51-3. In Columbus, Marshall head coach Charles Huff proved that not all tampering is bad, dangling all-you-can-eat biscuits to any Ohio State players who opted to transfer before the game. For some reason, none of the Buckeyes accepted the offer and were left with nothing but a 49-14 win to console them. You can't eat that. In Chapel Hill, after North Carolina was steamrolled by James Madison, Mack Brown said he told the players that the loss was his fault and he would step away if he couldn't get things fixed, ensuring he'll be the first coach to patrol a sideline after turning 100. Perhaps most shocking of all, Indiana is 4-0. These are, indeed, strange times.”
Dan Wolken, USA Today: 鈥淲e live in a society that struggles with the concept of age. People are living longer, working longer and becoming more resistant to the idea that they鈥檙e supposed to fade into the background and pass the torch to a new generation. In some ways, it鈥檚 aspirational. We all want to be vibrant and productive in our 70s and 80s. At the same time, hanging on to power looks selfish and delusional when the results are no longer there.聽 North Carolina coach Mack Brown, now 73 years old, has had an incredible life in college football. It began as a head coach in 1983 when Appalachian State made him a head coach at age 32. It brought him to Tulane, then North Carolina, then Texas where he won a national championship and had a decade-long run of success few have ever matched.聽Brown eventually went to the television booth when his run at Texas went south, but he always wanted one more shot on the sidelines. North Carolina and athletics director Bubba Cunningham gave it to him in 2019, when Brown vowed that his goal was to win a national title at a place that meant so much in his life and career.聽 It seemed really romantic back then. Now, it seems ridiculous. Brown isn鈥檛 going to win another national title. Will he even make it through this season?鈥
Will Backus, : “Saturday showed that his time in North Carolina is over. The Tar Heels have already smashed into their ceiling with Brown running the show and are now caught in the ensuing tailspin. It certainly doesn't get much worse than a 70-50 loss, at home, against James Madison. North Carolina allowed a program-record 53 points in the first half. It probably goes without saying, but the defense looked worse than it ever has under Brown -- and that's been a consistent problem. The Tar Heels are on their third defensive coordinator since 2019, including their second in the last three years. Geoff Collins clearly isn't cutting it, but at some point this consistent problem falls on the head coach. Maybe the game has passed Brown by. There's not much upside left to tap, if any.”
Chris Wright, Saturday Down South: 鈥淪ay what you want about Gus Malzahn 鈥 and Auburn fans certainly said a bunch 鈥 but one thing they can鈥檛 say, 4 years later, is that they鈥檙e better off without him. They most certainly are not. Malzahn never had a losing season on The Plains. Auburn hasn鈥檛 had a winning season since cutting the check. Even worse, Hugh Freeze鈥檚 second Tigers team still looks inept on offense 鈥 and not just in Saturday鈥檚 loss to Arkansas. Freeze is juggling quarterbacks, and the quarterbacks are juggling the football. Auburn threw 4 more interceptions against Arkansas. They have 8 in 4 games 鈥 most in the SEC by an uncomfortable margin. They also lost a fumble. Not surprisingly, they also lead the SEC with 14 turnovers. Bottom line: 9-4 rarely looked better 鈥 or farther away.鈥
Stewart Mandel, The Athletic: 鈥淭wo years ago,聽Tennessee聽rose to No. 1 in the CFP rankings with a bend-but-don鈥檛-break defense that eventually broke. This Vols defense is not that one. The sixth-ranked Vols (4-0) went 19 straight quarters (dating to last season) without allowing a touchdown before No. 15聽Oklahoma聽(3-1) tacked on two in the fourth quarter of Tennessee鈥檚聽25-15 win in Norman. The defense forced three turnovers and notched 11 tackles for loss. Vols quarterback Nico Iamaleava, who threw a 66-yard touchdown, may not be as fully formed as 2022聽Hendon Hooker, but it doesn鈥檛 matter. With a strong rushing attack and a now-dominant defense, Tennessee is as well-equipped to contend for an SEC title as anyone.鈥
Ari Wasserman, : “This isn’t the first time Tennessee has been good under Heupel. Two years ago, behind quarterback Hendon Hooker and receiver Jalin Hyatt, the Tennessee offense took the country by storm. The Volunteers were one of the most fun teams to watch in 2022. But that came crashing down when it went to Athens and got destroyed by deeper, more talented, more athletic Georgia team in early November. Tennessee still has to play Georgia and Alabama this year, but this team feels deeper, more athletic and, yes, more versatile. This team has the look and feel of one that can win against the big dogs of the SEC. The Volunteers match up athletically and have the pieces in place to do something bigger than just be the entertaining college football story of September and October. This is the 12-team College Football Playoff era, too. It can drop one — or even both of those games — still make the postseason and try to go on a run. The expectation internally, though, is that it can win those games. And it’s just not naive optimism from players who feel good about themselves. It’s real.”
Ross Dellenger, Yahoo! Sports: 鈥淩emember Toledo鈥檚 big win at Mississippi State last week? How about Northern Illinois knocking off Notre Dame? Or Memphis downing Florida State?All three Group of Five teams lost in a wild day of college football Saturday, possibly knocking them out of consideration for the grand prize. They may no longer control their own destiny in pursuit of the illustrious spot reserved for at least one of them in the College Football Playoff (the highest-ranked Group of Five conference champion gets an automatic berth).The Rockets, Huskies and Tigers followed big power conference wins with losses to Western Kentucky, Buffalo and Navy, respectively.鈥
MEGAPHONE
鈥淚t kind of threw us back to last year a little bit, didn't it? Like that nostalgia, that's the way stuff was starting last year. I'm like, 'Man, I'm going gray, what you trying to do to me, fellas?' It was a tough one. This press conference could be totally different right now, but I'm excited that we won.鈥
Colorado coach Deion Sanders, after his team鈥檚 pulled out a 38-31 overtime victory over Baylor after hitting on a 鈥淗ail Mary鈥 pass.