University of Minnesota head football coach Jerry Kill said after practice Wednesday that "I'm not going to quit coaching" because he has a seizure disorder.
Kill was asked for the first time by local media about being taken to the hospital as a precaution after a locker-room seizure following Minnesota's 21-13 loss to Northwestern on Saturday.
The second-year Gophers coach had a major seizure on the sideline against New Mexico State last season. But Kill said Wednesday that he no longer wants to talk about his situation because it doesn't affect his job.
"I've been as open as I can be," Kill said. "Everybody knows the situation. I'm an epileptic. I've got seizures. I'm going to have them for the rest of my life. I could have one today. It is what it is."
Kill was released from a hospital Sunday and returned to the team's facilities the next day. He never has missed a game because of his condition, which first manifested itself while he was an assistant coach at Pittsburg State in 1992.
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Kill said he is aware of other Twin Cities public figures who have epilepsy. It's been frustrating for him because there aren't many people who understand what he goes through. Kill said he's had "about 15 or 20" seizures over the past year.
"I live with them," he said. "It's personal."
Wisconsin coach Bret Bielema, whose team plays host to Minnesota on Saturday in Madison, said he contacted Kill's secretary two years ago when Kill had a health issue at Northern Illinois.
"Jerry is an extremely dedicated (coach)," Bielema said Monday during his weekly news conference. "My guess is he's doing whatever his wife tells him to do and half of what the doctor tells him to do.
"We'll see his best effort on Saturday, I know that. I obviously have never been in that situation, that scenario, thankfully, but I have a lot of respect for what he is."
