‘He’s just a ball coach.’ TCU’s Patterson set to hire longtime friend Jerry Kill
TCU coach Gary Patterson has created a position for his best man.
Patterson is expected to hire former Minnesota coach Jerry Kill, a source confirmed.
TCU has not confirmed the hiring, or any staff changes, but an official announcement is expected in the coming days. Kill is still going through the HR process, a source said.
Kill is expected to become a special assistant to Patterson, overseeing the offensive side of the ball. He had a similar with Virginia Tech last season.
This position does not count toward one of 10 on-field assistant jobs.
Kill would become the third new hire, along with on-field assistants Doug Meacham (inside receivers and passing game coordinator) and Bryan Applewhite (running backs).
Patterson raved about Kill during a speech at the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) earlier this week, as Patterson became president of the association. He remembered talking with a search committee about head coaching candidates and told them to talk with Kill after all the “podium candidates.”
In other words, candidates that would be considered “splash” hires.
“I told them, ‘When you get done doing the podium guys, I want you to go to Northern Illinois and I want you to talk to a guy by the name of Jerry Kill,’” Patterson told the crowd. “He’s just a ball coach. He’ll roll his sleeves up, people in the community are going to like him, he’s going to get his kids to love him.”
Patterson then added: “He still loves coaching the game. He can’t do it anymore because of his health. The bottom line to it is he still loves the game. Don’t take this game for granted.”
Kill and Patterson are long-time friends. Kill was Patterson’s best man.
Both are native Kansans and Dennis Franchione disciples, although neither have worked on the same staff until now.
Kill, who was born in Cheney, Kansas, served as Franchione’s defensive coordinator at Pittsburg State from 1985-87. Patterson, who grew up in Rozel, Kansas, joined Franchione at Pitt State in 1988 as linebackers coach.
Patterson and Kill faced each other as head coaches in a home-and-home series between TCU and Minnesota in 2014 and 2015. TCU won both games.
Kill resigned from his post as head coach at Minnesota in the middle of the 2015 season, citing health reasons. He returned to the sidelines to be Rutgers’ offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach in 2017 before stepping away again.
He had a brief stint as athletic director at Southern Illinois before joining Justin Fuente’s staff as a special assistant at Virginia Tech three games into the 2019 season. Fuente coached at TCU from 2007-11.
Kill compiled a career record of 152-99 as a head coach with stints at Saginaw Valley State (1994-98), Emporia State (1999-2000), Southern Illinois (2001-07), Northern Illinois (2008-10) and Minnesota (2011-15).
Patterson, meanwhile, is set to enter his 20th season as head coach at TCU in 2020. He has a career record of 172-70 and ranks as the second-longest tenured coach at one school behind Iowa’s Kirk Ferentz.
Horned Frog Blitz first reported that Kill would be joining TCU.
This story was originally published January 15, 2020 at 1:25 PM.
