Photo Credit: Virginia Tech Athletics
Virginia Tech and Justin Fuente announced the hiring of Jerry Kill as a special assistant to the head coach on Monday.
"Jerry Kill will serve as a tremendous resource for our football program,” Fuente said. "He can dissect the game from virtually every angle and will be able to provide his unique perspective on everything."
Fuente noted in his press conference that Kill's role will be with planning, management of game plan, practice and evaluations.
Kill, who leaves a director of athletics position at Southern Illinois to head to Blacksburg, was the head football coach at Minnesota from 2011 through 2015. In his time in Minneapolis, Kill led the Golden Gophers to three bowl games and was named Big Ten's Coach of the Year in 2014.
“While it was a difficult decision to leave so many wonderful friends and colleagues at Southern Illinois, I am thrilled for the opportunity to join Coach Fuente and his staff at Virginia Tech,” Kill said. "He has assembled a fabulous coaching staff and roster of talented players at Virginia Tech. I can’t wait to help the Hokies in any way I can.”
Kill was the head coach at Southern Illinois from 2001-07, leading the Salukis to five straight NCAA playoff appearances and earning him two awards - the Eddie Robinson National Coach of the Year Award in 2004 and the Liberty Mutual Coach of the Year Award in 2007.
After his time at Southern Illinois, Kill was the head coach at Northern Illinois from 2008-10, during which he guided the team to a 10-3 record.
Born in Cheney, Kansas, Kill graduated from Southwestern College in Winfield, Kansas, in 1983 after playing linebacker for four seasons. He is 58 years old and began his coaching career at Pittsburg State in 1985 as their defensive coordinator though his non-head coaching positions since his first job have been on the offensive side of the ball.
Kill stepped away from coaching in 2016 to serve as an associate athletics director for administration at Kansas State. He returned to Rutgers in 2017 as their offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach before departing in 2018 to return to Southern Illinois as their athletic director.
