Jerry Kill has a home on Lake of Egypt, outside Carbondale, Ill., with a screened-in porch overlooking the water. After resigning from the Gophers for health reasons last October, he spent many days gazing at that lake, contemplating his future.
The former football coach made no secret he wanted to stay at the University of Minnesota in an athletics department role.
Tuesday, Kill landed a job he wanted, just not at his first choice of schools. Kansas State hired him as an associate athletic director and chief administrator for football.
"I know my coaching career's over, and I understand that," Kill said. "But I just can't sit around and look at a lake and roll my fingers. That'd be the worst health [decision] I could ever make."
Kill, 54, said he's made good strides managing his epilepsy, after complications from seizures forced him to resign last fall. He and his wife, Rebecca, have been walking six to 10 miles per day.
"When you're in coaching, you never get a chance to, so to speak, get fixed," Kill said. "I just kept going, so that's my fault.
"But I've had the opportunity to do some things differently. This is the best I've felt in 12 years. I'm actually sleeping good, and I've dropped about 14-15 pounds. I'm on a special diet for seizure patients."
Last fall, Kill said he needed some time to decide what to do next. He and Rebecca moved from Minneapolis in January, returning to the lake home they purchased when he was coaching at Southern Illinois.