Jerry Kill’s coaching career started as a Southwestern player
Kill played at Southwestern from 1979 to 1982 and went on to coach Minnesota, Northern Illinois and New Mexico State.
By Garrett Pruitt
Jerry Kill learned his football on the Southwestern College field. He played for the Moundbuilders from 1979 to 1982.
He has been a head coach at Saginaw Valley State, Emporia State, Southern Illinois, Northern Illinois, Minnesota and New Mexico State, and was interim head coach at TCU for four games in 2021. His teams have played in 13 bowl games. He won the 2022 Quick Lane Bowl with New Mexico State.
Kill retired from coaching in 2015 for health reasons, then came back in 2020 as a special assistant at TCU.
One of his Emporia State captains, Brad Griffin, later became Southwestern’s head coach. That is the kind of line people around the program like to trace.