ORLANDO, Fla. -- When Jerry Kill was the head coach at Southern Illinois, he and his coaches made the four-hour trip from Carbondale, Ill., up to Columbia, Mo., to watch the Missouri Tigers practice.
It's not uncommon of coaches at smaller schools who want to see how bigger programs run their day-to-day operations. It was during that trip to Columbia that Kill first met Tigers head coach Gary Pinkel. Kill and Pinkel both began coaching at those respective schools in 2001, but their careers have been quite different since.
Pinkel has remained at Missouri for 14 years and has led the Tigers to back-to-back SEC East titles. Kill eventually moved on from rebuilding Southern Illinois to coach at Northern Illinois for three seasons before climbing the coaching ranks once again to take the job at Minnesota.
Now in his fourth season with the Gophers, Kill has led his team to a Jan. 1 bowl game, Minnesota's first New Year's Day bowl game in 52 years. On the other sideline will be a familiar face, one Kill has learned plenty from over the last decade or so.
"I think we both have a respect for each other's programs and what they've done," Kill said Wednesday at a press conference leading up to Thursday's Buffalo Wild Wings Citrus Bowl. "You knew that he had that thing headed in the right direction because of the organization and the discipline in the program. We spent the whole day there, and a couple years later we went back and shared some ideas and things of that nature.
"We're a unique profession where you get to know people. You better, too, because you may get fired and might need a job. In this profession, you're not too critical of anybody."
The mutual admiration between Kill and Pinkel seems genuine. It will be the first time Kill's Gophers have faced Pinkel's Tigers, and they do so with very similar approaches. Pinkel has had many of the same coaches during his 14-year tenure at Mizzou, including defensive coordinator Dave Steckel and associate head coach/quarterbacks coach Andy Hill. Additionally, Pinkel's cornerbacks coach, running backs coach and defensive line coach are all in their 14th year on Pinkel's staff at Missouri.
Kill's staff is much the same, with offensive coordinator Matt Limegrover and defensive coordinator Tracy Claeys both having been on Kill's staff for more than a decade each, as have many other assistants. That continuity is rare in this day and age of college football when coordinators and coaches often flee to take new jobs. But Pinkel and Kill have managed to keep their staffs relatively intact, a big reason each coach has been so successful.
"Jerry and I talked about that last night, as a matter of fact. I've known some of his coaches for years also," Pinkel said Wednesday. "He's got such a great staff, and I've been very fortunate that I've been able to keep coaches for years and years. I think it's twofold. I think there's a sense of security. They go to conventions and see all these people out of jobs, to be honest with you. ...
"I think also, I try to get my guys home to see their families every night. They're not working until 11:30 every night, so you can still be a great football coach and without getting home at midnight every night."
Both Kill and Pinkel enter Thursday's bowl game as the top coaches in their respective conferences. Kill was voted the Big Ten Coach of the Year after guiding Minnesota to an 8-4 record that included wins over Michigan, Iowa and Nebraska. Pinkel, meanwhile, was the 2014 SEC Coach of the Year after the Tigers finished 10-3 overall and played in the SEC championship game for the second straight year.
Where Kill and Pinkel differ is the recent past of their respective programs. The Tigers have now had five 10-win seasons since 2007 under Pinkel. The Gophers, meanwhile, have had just one 10-win season in the last 100 years (2003 under Glen Mason). Kill inherited a program that was struggling following four seasons of head coach Tim Brewster. After a three-win season in his first year at Minnesota in 2011, Kill has revived the Gophers and has put together back-to-back eight-win campaigns.
Kill witnessed many years ago how Pinkel runs his program. Now the Gophers head coach is hoping his own program can achieve that same level of success.
If you ask Pinkel, Kill is on the right track.
Gophers coach Jerry Kill (left) with Tigers coach Gary Pinkel.
"I think he's like all coaches. He's always trying to get better. He's always trying to make himself a better coach and a better program," Pinkel said of Kill. "Obviously, he's got a great background. He knows what he wants to do. He does what he does. ... It's of no surprise to me that he's as successful as he's been."
Pinkel and the Tigers have been in big bowl games in the past, including a 41-31 win over Oklahoma State in the Cotton Bowl last year. Kill has already coached Minnesota in the Meineke Car Care Bowl and the Texas Bowl, but the Gophers came up on the losing end in both of those late-December bowl games.
If Kill hopes to bring his program close to the level of Pinkel's, he knows a win Thursday against one of his mentors will go a long way in doing just that.
"For our state and for our university, I think we say we're building the program brick by brick. That would be a huge brick," Kill said of winning Thursday. "It would really be a huge brick for us to keep continuing the momentum that we have in the program right now. It would be very, very big for all of us."
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