Gophers football: How the odd, awkward matchup of Jerry Kill vs. P.J. Fleck came to be

Andy Greder, Pioneer Press
·4 min read
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If not for Jerry Kill, the Gophers football team’s season opener against New Mexico State on Thursday night would probably be as boring as the 2018 opener between the two teams.

Four years ago, on that late August day, Antoine Winfield Jr. broke six tackles and frolicked 76 yards for a punt-return touchdown. It was the lone memorable moment in Minnesota’s runaway 48-10 victory.

This year’s opener, on the field, is nowhere near last year’s opener against mighty Ohio State on national TV. Come Thursday, Minnesota is a whopping 36.5-point favorite against New Mexico State, a small, independent program that went 2-10 last season and lost 23-12 to a rebuilding Nevada its Week Zero opener on Saturday.

Off the field, however, this year’s first game has one overarching storyline: Kill repeatedly talking smack about Gophers coach P.J. Fleck over the years. Then earlier this month, the former U coach wondered if he would even shake the current coach’s hand before the game. Fleck responded last week saying he has always shook the opposing coach’s hand and will look to do so again.

Grab you popcorn, those pre- and postgame interactions at Huntington Bank Stadium might hold drama, even if it’s don’t-blink brief.

But how did this game come about?

Former Gophers Athletics Director Norwood Teague is to thank for this matchup — although neither he nor anyone could have foreseen the twists and turns to set up this awkward moment more than a decade later. The disgraced AD entered into the contract in 2009 with then-New Mexico State AD McKinley Boston, who held the same role at Minnesota from 1991-95.

The deal, according to a data records request from the U athletics department, was amended in 2012 when Kill was in his second season at Minnesota and again in 2015 when he was in his final year at the U.

The two-games series originally was set for Aug. 30, 2018 and Sept. 3, 2020, with NMSU to receive $800,000 after the first game, which went off without a hitch, and then a $250,000 payday after the second.

In 2017, P.J. Fleck’s first season at the U, newer Gophers AD Mark Coyle and NMSU AD Mario Moccia moved the date of the second game in the series from 2020 to Thursday. Kill was hired by New Mexico State last November.

This nonconference game has moved around as much as Kill has changed jobs.

After stepping down at Minnesota due to health issues related to epileptic seizures in late October 2015, Kill became associate AD at Kansas State in 2016, offensive coordinator at Rutgers in 2017, interim and then full-time AD at Southern Illinois in 2018-19, assistant to the head coach at Virginia Tech in 2019 and assistant to the head coach and then interim head coach at Texas Christian in 2020-21.

Moccia and Kill overlapped at Southern Illinois in the 2000s and Moccia hired Kill to resurrect a Aggies program that produced a 25-74 record in nine years under Doug Martin.

Kill has his hands full this year. Starting quarterback Diego Pavia threw for 75 yards and three interceptions and also lost a fumble before backup Gavin Frakes took over against Nevada. Frances was better, throwing for 143 yards, one touchdown and a pick.

New Mexico State’s defense allowed Nevada’s running backs to amass more than 200 yards on the ground and two touchdowns. The Wolf Pack were never really forced to pass.

All this could be a recipe for a long, lopsided game against Minnesota on Thursday night.

BRIEFLY

Two other pre-existing contracts with Power Five conference schools won’t do Kill’s team any favors later this season. The Aggies play at Wisconsin on Sept. 17 and at Missouri on Nov. 19. … Kill’s first home game at Minnesota came against New Mexico State in 2011. The 28-21 loss was overshadowed by Kill’s seizure on the sideline with 20 seconds left; he left the stadium in an ambulance. … New Mexico State’s current roster has one Minnesotan, former Hill-Murray athlete Rashad McKinley of St. Paul. The true freshman defensive back did not play against Nevada. Hill-Murray’s coach is Rob Reeves, who was the tight ends coach at Minnesota under Kill.

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