Minnesota head coach Jerry Kill has done good work with the football program, and the university is taking notice. Multiple reports say Minnesota is extending Kill’s contract by one year, which would keep him in charge of the program through the end of the 2018 season. Brett McMurphy of ESPN.com was first to report the contract extension via Twitter.
In addition to an extra year on the contract’s length, Kill will also receive a pay raise. Kill will be paid $2.1 million by Minnesota. According to USA Today’s 2013 coaching salary database, Kill was paid $1.2 million in 2013 before bonuses. He was the lowest paid coach in the Big Ten in 2013. The new salary will make Kill the ninth highest paid coach in the 14-team Big Ten in 2014 based off of the 2013 contract numbers and any previously reported pay raises, such as Michigan State’s new contract with Mark Dantonio.
Minnesota has increased their win total each year under Kill. In his third year as the head coach of the Gophers, Minnesota went from winning three games the year before his arrival to an eight-win team in 2013 to earn a bow trip. Last season marked the second straight bowl trip under Kill and hopes are high to make a third straight postseason game.
Kill has battled seizures while coaching but as scary as they have been there has never been a serious threat to his health and ability to lead the program. Last season he did step back in his role as head coach to take things a little easier and observe the program from the press box, but Kill has stood firm in saying he is capable of staying in charge of the program. By extending a contract by a year it appears the school’s leadership agrees.