Minnesota Golden Gophers Coach Suffers Seizure At Halftime; Jerry Kill's Third Occurence In Two Seasons

By Jeff Stone | November 25 2012 12:27 PM

The Minnesota Golden Gophers were without their head coach during the second half of their game against the Michigan State Spartans Saturday after Jerry Kill had a seizure at halftime. Kill had the seizure as his team was taking the field, leaving the coaching duties to his assistants.

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ESPN reported that this is the third time Kill has suffered a seizure in two seasons at Minnesota. He was given medical attention and released after a few hours. Unlike the previous occurrences, Kill did not need to be hospitalized overnight.

The Golden Gophers would go on to lose to Michigan State by a 26-10 margin, but the scoreboard seemed to be the last thing on the mind of athletic director Norwood Teague, who said the coach was fine by Saturday night.

“I know this will bring up questions about him and moving forward, but we have 100 percent confidence in Jerry,” Teague told ESPN. “He's as healthy as a horse, as they say. It's just an epileptic situation ... that he deals with. He has to continue to monitor all the simple things in life that we all have to monitor, in that you watch your diet, watch your weight, watch your rest, watch your stress.”

Last season Kill was away from the team for a few days after he had a seizure toward the end of Minnesota’s loss to New Mexico State. On. Oct 13, he has hospitalized after an event following the team’s game against Northwestern, according to the Detroit Free Press.

Kill has a long history of seizures and has said he will not step down as coach unless his medical condition forces it. While the situation is not new, he did tell an ESPN outlet in Minnesota he receives extra help during recruiting trips.

“My wife had to travel with me because of the situation I'm in,” Kill said. “That's the deal. She came because of my health situation. We had to get it cleared with the NCAA. ... If I had a seizure, she knows what to do. She'd take care of it, and I'd go right back into recruiting. That's how that works.”