Minnesota coach Jerry Kill abruptly retired because of health reasons on Wednesday, ending his efforts to rebuild the Golden Gopher football program during a tenure that included a series of game-day seizures. Tracy Claeys, the team’s associate head coach and defensive coordinator, will be the team’s interim coach for the rest of the season.
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Kill was 156-102 in coaching career and 29-29 at Minnesota.
Kill, who was named the Gophers’ head coach in December of 2010, leaves the university with a record of 29-29.
Kill announced in July that he had been seizure-free for the last 18 months and was able to make it through all of last season and the first seven games this year without one. He also overcame kidney cancer during his time as the Southern Illinois coach.
Kill signed a one-year contract extension in August that went through 2019.
Kill previously had health issues related to epilepsy, causing him to step away most recently in 2013.
Kill suffered a seizure in his first home game, a lose to New Mexico State.
Minnesota plays host to Michigan on Saturday. Six Minnesota players have been drafted by National Football League teams in the last few years. In 2014, Ra’Shede Hageman was selected in the second round by the Atlanta Falcons and Brock Vereen was a fourth-round pick of the Chicago Bears.
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Kill’s rebuilding of the Minnesota program also took place in the classroom. The 994 score is the highest single-season score that the Minnesota football team has ever recorded and the Gophers’ multi-year rate of 975 is also a school record.
