Jerry Kill signs seven-year extension as Minnesota coach

Jerry Kill finally got some good news this morning.

​Minnesota football coach Jerry Kill is having a rough year. In his first season with the Gophers, Kill's team is 1-6, with colossal losses against Big Ten rivals and embarrassing failures against minor football schools.

Much more important, the lovably blunt coach suffered a seizure on the sidelines at the end of a game. Twice, Kill went to a hospital for treatment, checking himself into Mayo Clinic in Rochester on the second occasion. Kill also acknowledged at one point that he'd had "20 seizures in the last six damn days."

At long last, then, comes something of a bright spot: This morning, the University announced that it had extended Kill's contract seven years, meaning the job is his until at least 2018.

Joel Maturi, Jerry Kill: A major vote of confidence from the U of M.

​The Gophers suffered a close loss to the University of Southern California in their first week, and the week afterward had another close loss, which culminated with Kill's scary seizure episode. Clearly, these events left the team somewhat shell-shocked: In their last three weeks, in losses against Big Ten opponnents Michigan, Purdue and Nebraska, Minnesota has been outscored by a combined 144-31.

Regardless of those results, the U's Athletics Director Joel Maturi says the school is confident they've found the right man for the job.

"He has proved over the past 10 months what a great fit he is at the University of Minnesota and I have been very impressed with him as both a coach and a person," Maturi said in this morning's press release. "We are lucky to have him and I am thrilled that we now have an agreement in place that has secured Coach Kill as our head football coach well into the future."

In the same press release, Kill expressed relief that he and the U could reach such a long-standing agreement.

"Rebecca and I, along with our family and staff, are very thankful to the university and certainly to our administration, including director of athletics Joel Maturi and president Eric Kaler," Kill said. "I'm glad it's now settled and we can move on from here. We are excited about the future of our program."

The press release did not include details of the contract extension, and said Kill will be available to speak to media at a noon press conference today.

Previously:

• Jerry Kill has seizure on sidelines during Gophers home opener
• Jerry Kill, going on 20 seizures in six days, holds greatest press conference ever
• Jerry Kill taking time off to seek treatment at Mayo Clinic for ongoing seizures