Still sour Tuesday after last week's 58-0 beatdown by Michigan, Gophers football coach Jerry Kill questioned the mental toughness, talent and discipline on and off the field of the players he inherited in his first season.

"That's not (former Minnesota coach Tim) Brewster's fault," Kill said. "I'm not blaming anybody. I'm just saying the facts are the facts."

When told that, Brewster disputed those facts.

"All I know is this: I believe in the players that I recruited at the University of Minnesota," Brewster, now a Fox college football and NFL analyst, said Tuesday. "I believe in them. It's a great group of young men that are committed to making the University of Minnesota the best it can be on the football field."

But Kill isn't sure how committed some of his players are after the Gophers' 1-4 start and worst Big Ten loss in program history last week. He made lineup changes against Michigan to find players who wouldn't quit and would do what they're told - and he'll continue to do so in Saturday's game at Purdue (2-2).

"When things get bad, you either look it in the eye and work hard and don't blame things, or you do what a lot of people do in life," Kill said. "When adversity hits, a lot of people turn to things they shouldn't do. I did tell our players this: 'If you do that, you won't be here.' I'm not going to put up with some of the things that go on. I'm just not going to do it.





"(Our) concentration level and focus level is not very good," Kill said. "Sometimes (it's) not very good in the classroom either.

Gophers coach Jerry Kill said some of his players did not have a &quot;fight-back mentality,&quot; because they had been through so much adversity under
Gophers coach Jerry Kill said some of his players did not have a "fight-back mentality," because they had been through so much adversity under his predecessor Tim Brewster. (Pioneer Press: Chris Polydoroff)
But has it gotten better? Yes, it has."

Linebacker Keanon Cooper said some players are late to class because their alarms just don't go off on time. But whatever their reasons for letting their teammates down, Cooper hopes they're learning.

"I think it's getting across in some people's head," he said. "That's what we have to continue to do. We just have to continue to try to do right. As long as you're trying, you're more likely to make progress."

Cooper said he didn't see teammates taking plays off against Michigan. But Kill did.

Those players, Kill said, did not have a "fight-back mentality," because they had been through so much adversity under Brewster.

"I talked to our kids," Kill said. "I can tell you right now a couple of them, as soon as the University of Michigan went boom, boom, boom and scored, I think our kids went 'Oh, no, here we go.' That's our MO. So you've got to fight out of that MO."


"You can see who is going to fight through the adversity and who is not," Jones said. "You can see the players who are not used to fighting through stuff like that, and (they) just go ahead and put their heads down."

Defensive tackle Brandon Kirksey, cornerback Kyle Henderson and safety Chase Haviland were examples of players who give everything they've got, Kill said. Kirksey and Henderson are starters. But Haviland is a walk-on who isn't very athletic and undersized at 5 feet 9.

Kill doesn't care, as long as he can trust him.

"At least I know he's going to get in the right place," Kill said. "I know he's going to give me 100 percent."


"We're sure to find them because we're dealing with a lot of adversity right now," he said. "I don't want to play next to a guy that doesn't feel the same way as I do."