Former Gophers football coach Jerry Kill became the full-time athletic director for Southern Illinois, losing the acting title he had held since April 2018.
The Southern Illinois University Board of Trustees gave him the title of AD and special assistant to the chancellor on Thursday. He will make $215,000 a year.
Kill, 57, was Salukis football coach from 2001 to '07 before moving on to Northern Illinois and the Gophers, with whom he went 29-29 in four-plus seasons before retiring for health reasons in October 2015. He then went on to serve as an associate athletic director for Kansas State in 2016 before returning to coaching football as an offensive coordinator for Rutgers in 2017, but following more health issues that year, he retired from coaching again.
"I spent some great years here in the coaching profession, and if it wasn't for Southern Illinois University taking a chance on me, I wouldn't have had the same opportunities in my career," Kill said in a statement. "I didn't know for sure what I wanted to do when I returned to SIU a year ago, but I've talked it over with my wife, Rebecca, and I think I can help this university move forward and try to get us back where we need to be."
Since returning to Southern Illinois as acting AD, Kill has already hired four head coaches, for women's soccer (Grant Williams), track and field (Rosalind Joseph), volleyball (Ed Allen) and women's golf (Danielle Kaufman). He also reorganized the department's administrative structure and has set up a fundraising plan.
