Jerry Kill, associate athletics director at Kansas State who from 2001 to 2007 led Saluki football to a 55-32 record, has officially been hired as the next offensive coordinator at Rutgers.

Kill has signed a three-year contract with a salary of $600,000 and raises of $25,000 per year in each of the two following years, sources told NJ Advance Media.

The New Jersey news organization reports that Kill’s salary will be the highest salary earned by an assistant coach in Rutgers history.

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“Jerry brings years of experience and tremendous leadership to our offense,” Rutgers football coach Chris Ash said in a news release Monday. “He is a veteran Big Ten coach and a proven winner. Our players and coaches will benefit from his wealth of knowledge.”

In October 2015, Kill announced his retirement as Minnesota’s head coach after battling with epilepsy, which he was diagnosed with in 2005 — the same year he was diagnosed with kidney cancer, which is in remission.

“I don’t have any more energy,” Kill said during his emotional retirement announcement, according to The Associated Press. “None.”

At the time, it appeared Kill’s 32-year coaching career was over. He took on his current role as Kansas State’s associate athletics director in May.

But Kill — who was inducted into the Saluki Hall of Fame in 2014 — told the Wichita Eagle that his energy has returned after a low-carb diet has helped him lose 25 pounds.

“I would say I feel about 90 percent better than I did a year ago,” Kill told the newspaper in November. “I would probably still be coaching had I felt this good then.”

When Kill joins the N.J. team, he will be taking over a Scarlet Knight offense that finished dead last in the Football Bowl Subdivision in total offense (283.2 yards per game) and second to last in scoring offense (17.2 points per game).

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The team went 2-10 this season.

Kill, 55, who also coached at Northern Illinois and has an overall coaching record of 152-99, has played a big role in shaping Saluki football and current SIU football coach Nick Hill.

The 2014 Big Ten Coach of the Year recruited Hill from Western Kentucky University, where he was playing basketball, in 2003. Hill redshirted the 2004 season before playing the next three seasons with SIU football — the last two as starting quarterback.

“Coach Kill saw something in him and told him he always had a spot on the team,” Hill’s brother, A.J., told the Daily Egyptian in September.

Kill was a part of the advisory committee that helped Athletic Director Tommy Bell find a permanent head coach after Hill was named SIU’s interim head coach in December 2015. Hill was chosen as the Salukis’ permanent coach later that month.

“He is my number one mentor,” Hill said of Kill at the time. “He’s the guy I look to for advice.”

Staff writers Luke Nozicka and Sean Carley contributed to this report. 

The Daily Egyptian’s news desk can be reached at 618-536-3325 or [email protected].

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