Carter Coughlin's father shook him awake early on Wednesday morning with a confusing message for the sleepy teenager: Jerry Kill, the coach Coughlin had committed to seven months earlier, was on TV announcing his retirement.
As Eden Prairie High School's star linebacker stumbled upstairs, Kill leaned on a familiar lectern, uttering unfamiliar words. With the Gophers football program on the cusp of a major facilities groundbreaking and a mammoth recruiting stretch with 10 prospects in town this weekend, the emotional coach was stepping down to deal with health complications.
"It was tough," Coughlin said. "Tough."
But after the initial shock wore off, Coughlin felt another emotion: confidence.
"Seeing how much he cared about football and how much he cared about the Gopher football program was pretty inspiring," he said. "After watching that I was as reassured as ever that I made the right decision to commit to Minnesota. That's a man that truly gave everything he had to his players … He's been a fighter. With his health situation, he could have quit coaching 10 years ago, but he stuck with it for this long and built an incredible program at Minnesota."
Eighteen players have committed to Kill for 2016, and Coughlin's sentiment was mostly echoed throughout the ranks on a chaotic Wednesday. The prospects, close enough that they already share an ongoing group text and contacted each other throughout the day, remained stunned and saddened. "Everyone is in shock," said Sean Foster, a senior offensive tackle from Mundelein, Ill., outside of Chicago. "Yesterday, he was our head coach and today he is retired."
Despite the change, all but one of the Gophers' commits held firm on their pledges.
Defensive coordinator Tracy Claeys will take over as interim head coach, and Claeys and offensive coordinator Matt Limegrover planned to call each of the recruits Wednesday evening.
