NMSU's Jerry Kill misses practice, press conference ahead of UNM game

New Mexico State head football coach Jerry Kill has not been at practice last week due to a medical issue and it is unclear if he’ll coach Saturday’s game at New Mexico, KTSM-9 News first reported.

According to their report, associate head coach and offensive coordinator Tim Beck will take over the day-to-day operations of the program in Kill’s absence.

Kill’s weekly press conference was also canceled on Tuesday.

“Coach Kill has been feeling under the weather and has been away from the team,” an NMSU spokesperson told the Journal. “There is currently no timetable for his return, but we are hopeful that he will be back soon.”

New Mexico head coach Danny Gonzales was asked at his Tuesday afternoon press conference about Kill. Gonzales said he was unaware of Kill’s status but wished him well upon receiving the news.

“I hope coach Kill’s okay,” Gonzales said. “I hope he’s here on Saturday. I’ll pray for him, because he adds to this game. He’s done a great job down there.

“Like I said (earlier), the family tree of football that I (came) up in with Dennis Franchione and with (Rocky Long) and all those guys, Jerry Kill has been part of that family, so I’ve known him. He’s a great football coach and I hope he’s here on Saturday.”

While coaching at Southern Illinois in the mid-2000s, Kill battled kidney cancer before hitting “rock bottom” due to his epileptic condition in 2014 as the head coach at Minnesota. He has retired from coaching twice: from Minnesota in 2015 and as Rutgers’ offensive coordinator in 2017.

Kill, 62, held various administrative, coaching and analyst roles at Kansas State, Southern Illinois and Virginia Tech before being elevated to TCU’s interim head coach after former head coach Gary Patterson’s dismissal in 2021. He was hired as the head coach at NMSU in 2021 and led the Aggies to their first bowl win since 2017 in his first season.