Jerry Kill Seizure again

[BisonTeacher]

I really like jerry kill. I hope hes ok and keeps coaching. I also get angry when i hear he gets emails telling him he needs to quit because of this. The reality is though...i think it may hurt recruiting. Not saying its right...cuz it isnt. but minnesota has a hard enough time recruiting and high school kids dont always see past this kind of stuff.

[silkamilkamonico]

Seizures are stress related. I can't imagine the type of job he has is not having any influence on his health.

I'm not being insensitive, but I am wondering if they both need to move on. Kill has been a great coach, and can surely do something that isn't as stressful as coaching, and I'm not sure if these incidents are really helping Minnesota build their program. I can see how they may most certainly be a distraction.

I like Kill and it's unfortunate. He's been a great coach. I do think Minnesota has been better with him. But that program needs a steady progressive positive development and every time this happens it takes the players/staff focus away from football for a few moments if not a couple days, and then they resume.

I would think differently if Minnesota was an established program, but for the last few years, and currently they are just trying to find an identity. The first thing college football fans think of with Minnesota is a coach that has some unfortunate health issues.

[TAILG8R]

Seizures are stress related. I can't imagine the type of job he has is not having any influence on his health.

I'm not being insensitive, but I am wondering if they both need to move on. Kill has been a great coach, and can surely do something that isn't as stressful as coaching, and I'm not sure if these incidents are really helping Minnesota build their program. I can see how they may most certainly be a distraction.

I like Kill and it's unfortunate. He's been a great coach. I do think Minnesota has been better with him. But that program needs a steady progressive positive development and every time this happens it takes the players/staff focus away from football for a few moments if not a couple days, and then they resume.

I would think differently if Minnesota was an established program, but for the last few years, and currently they are just trying to find an identity. The first thing college football fans think of with Minnesota is a coach that has some unfortunate health issues.

Fire Kill, Hire Bohl, Save Gophers?

[aces1180]

Fire Kill, Hire Bohl, Save Gophers?

Unless he goes 1-11 for a few years in a row with no end in sight or does something to embarrass the school, no way he gets fired...That would be a major lawsuit waiting to happen. He's in a good situation right now.

[KTF]

Coming from a parent of a child that has seizures, they definitely can be life threatening. They can be caused by anything and it really depends on the person and their triggers. My daughters friend also is epileptic and she can go into a seizure just from a flashing light (like used on the bison apps at the beginning of the game).

I would hate to see him lose his job over health condition in any other way then him stepping down. Him being released by the U would be a lawsuit provoking action.I am sure it is being talked about with supervisors and contingency plans are in place.

[td577]

Coming from a parent of a child that has seizures, they definitely can be life threatening. They can be caused by anything and it really depends on the person and their triggers. My daughters friend also is epileptic and she can go into a seizure just from a flashing light (like used on the bison apps at the beginning of the game).

I would hate to see him lose his job over health condition in any other way then him stepping down. Him being released by the U would be a lawsuit provoking action.I am sure it is being talked about with supervisors and contingency plans are in place.

Actually, after perusing the ADA regs, an employer doesn't have to cite a health condition to release someone. They can cite performance. If all reasonable accommodations are being made and there is still a performance issue, then the employer has every right to terminate employment. This includes missing time at work even because of the health condition if the time off is creating a hardship for the employer. A lawsuit might happen, but it won't have any merit if the employer can simply show they made reasonable accommodations, set the performance standards, and the hardship created by the employee regardless of condition warrants the removal of them from the position.

I have a lot of sympathy for Jerry Kill. I also have a debilitating illness which is actually not life threatening. I can no longer perform the original line of work I was trained for. This is why there are fallback measures like disability insurance and social security. While there isn't much argument in the way of those avenues are probably not as financially lucrative as being a D1 football coach, there are measures in place for those who can not sustain employment. It is also not on the employer if an employee can sustain employment but not in their current capacity. The laws are set up to protect both sides. It is to prevent frivolous firing by an employer and to prevent an employer from simply having to maintain employment for someone who is incapable of handling the job requirements. I would venture to guess, attendance on game days was not negotiable and failure to attend or stay during the games would constitute a breach of contract. A judge would have to determine if the absence is reasonable. Extremely infrequently would probably be considered reasonable. A pattern, not so. Considering any particular game day is around 8-10% of the entire season, it could be construed as being the equivalent to missing a month's worth of work each time. There is not an employer in this country who would be on the hook for missing that much time a year after those reasonable accommodations are being made.

If a doctor states that this condition can't be controlled and regardless of what the employer does a person will likely miss a certain amount of games a year, then I would think the best course of action would be to either let him go or find a position within the organization he can sustain employment.

The real question here is this average of missing time 2 times a season and happening 4 times on game days enough to be considered unreasonable? Those are the publicized absences. We don't know the extent of cancelled appointments, missed university duties, and other factors involved within his job realm. Was this the last time it affects the team? Is the next time the last time? Are these episodes increasing at an increasing rate? Has his health been mismanaged up until now?

Many questions and we probably won't see the answers except in how the school treats him from here on out. I hope whatever outcome it is will be the best one for Jerry Kill and the student/athletes. From what I know about him, he is one of the good guys even if I don't really care about the goofers.

[natstar1]

This is so ignorant. A siezure is not going to kill a man that has epilepsy. Good grief!!!

I have definitely read about people that have died during a seizure. Maybe Kill doesn't have worry about that, I'm by no means an expert.

Yeah, and quitting because you have a non-life threatening disease that rears its head a few times a year is going to boost morale. Are you serious?

If he resigned at the end of the season I doubt it would have any negative effect on morale. If he resigns tomorrow it probably affects morale very little.


Anyone know how many game day seizures he had at NIU?

[A1pigskin]

The guy is slowly killing himself.

[tjbison]

The guy is slowly killing himself.

exactly over football, I know he probably loves it but its not worth it. you can tell his stress is high, look at him and 3-4 seizures since taking over the Gophers??

wow

[HandoEX]

I have definitely read about people that have died during a seizure. Maybe Kill doesn't have worry about that, I'm by no means an expert.



If he resigned at the end of the season I doubt it would have any negative effect on morale. If he resigns tomorrow it probably affects morale very little.


Anyone know how many game day seizures he had at NIU?

Yes, there have been plenty of people that have died from having seizures. I'm not discrediting that at all. My point is that the combination of coaching the Gopher football team and having epilepsy is not threatening Jerry Kill's life. It's mind boggling to me that people think a school like the University of Minnesota is not going to fully understand how epilepsy affects their head coach.

I believe he had zero during Northern Illinois games but had two during games when he was at Southern Illinois. People act like this is something new. Jerry Kill had his first in-game seizure in 2001 while coaching the Salukis. It must have really affected his team's morale there. He only became the school's all time best head coach.