Gophers football coach Jerry Kill finally signs contract, for 7 years
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Nearly 11 months after he agreed to become the Gophers' football coach, Jerry Kill finally has a contract.
The "U" announced on Tuesday that Kill has signed his seven-year deal, which runs through February 2018. A copy of the contract obtained by 1500ESPN.com says it's worth $1.2 million a year, plus incentives.
"Rebecca and I, along with our family and staff, are very thankful to the university and certainly to our administration, including director of athletics Joel Maturi and president Eric Kaler," Kill said in a statement released by the university. "I'm glad it's now settled and we can move on from here. We are excited about the future of our program."
It was originally believed Kill would sign a five-year deal. But he had made clear during the team's 1-6 start he needed more time to turn around the program.
Kill was introduced as coach on Dec. 6, and had been working under the terms of a Memorandum of Agreement, the university said.
"This contract represents a significant commitment to Coach Kill and our belief in his vision for Gopher football," Maturi said in a statement. "He has proved over the past 10 months what a great fit he is at the University of Minnesota and I have been very impressed with him as both a coach and a person. We are lucky to have him and I am thrilled that we now have an agreement in place that has secured Coach Kill as our head football coach well into the future."
