Gopher football head coach Jerry Kill got a big win for the program today with Washburn running back Jeff Jones honoring his 2013 verbal commitment and signing with Minnesota.
Jones was rated as the state’s top recruit and 44th in the nation according to Rivals, marking the first time since the scouting service produced recruiting rankings that the university has gotten a top-100 in-state recruit to wear the maroon and gold.
At his afternoon press conference discussing the recruiting class that is ranked 52nd in the nation, Kill revealed a personal victory as well when discussing rumors that he was driving again despite his ongoing battle with epilepsy.
“I don’t want to distract from this whole deal, but it is true,” Kill said with his heavy southern drawl. “I was coming back with my wife from Joe Censor’s last night to get me a cheeseburger, and the thing about not driving for two years is you don’t do it very well. But all the people that said this would effect me and effect this (recruiting) and said I couldn’t do certain things, I can. I’d say it (his condition) may have even helped because I said ‘this is how it is’, not everyone is like that. I’m going to win this war, I’ve got a chip on my shoulder and so do these kids.”
The rumors of Kill’s driving circulated just hours earlier and were met with congratulations and encouragement from around the world of Gopher sports.
Jerry Kill tells @espnbigten that he drove last night. Great news. http://t.co/C23VkMHi8l
— Justin Gaard (@Gaardsy) February 5, 2014
Report: Jerry Kill drove Tuesday, signaling better control of epilepsy #Gophers (via the 1500 ESPN SportsWire) http://t.co/FKKU9K2zvB
— SKOR North – Minnesota Sports (@SKORNorth) February 5, 2014
2014 is his year! RT @GopherHole: #Gophers Jerry Kill to ESPN: "I drove last night — the first time in two years." http://t.co/m2fqhrMeEd
— Nadine Babu (@NadineBabu) February 5, 2014
https://twitter.com/jdmill/status/431183116934201344
Kill continues to work on better controlling his epilepsy after having multiple gameday seizures in less than a month in 2013, events that prompted Kill to take an “indefinite leave of absence.”
The Gophers went on to finish the year with their best record under Kill, accruing eight wins and reaching their first national ranking under the third-year head coach as well, getting to No. 25 in the nation before losing to Wisconsin the ensuing week.
