So far, so good with Gophers' Kill

It's obviously way too early to make any solid judgement on Minnesota football coach Jerry Kill.

But if you want to go by impressions so far of the guy who's been on the job the last few months, Kill looks like the right choice for Minnesota. Not only does he have a track record that is full of winning at other schools, but he's got a personality that seems universally liked.

The thing that comes first to mind about Kill is that he is everything that his predecessor, Tim Brewster, was not. Brewster was full of big talk and promises, and never came close to meeting them. He absolutely wore out anyone who was paying attention to him with his bluster and sugar coating.

Kill has taken the opposite approach, admitting that a team that played its spring game on Saturday has a long, long way to go to be competitive in the Big Ten. Not only were Gophers fans starving for that kind of honest talk, but it so much better suits our Midwestern sensibilities. Kill has promised nothing beyond hard work, from his players and himself.

And judging from the apparently military-style practices he conducted this spring, he's delivering on that hard work.

So far, so good. Now the question becomes will we see a true difference in the team this coming fall. It won't be until then that we'll decide if Kill is truly our guy.

— Pat Ruff