Friends Face Off When U Goes To TCU
FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — Minnesota coach Jerry Kill and TCU coach Gary Patterson are good friends who have never been on the same staff together.
They are now somewhat reluctantly playing each other when the Golden Gophers (2-0) visit TCU (1-0) on Saturday.
When Kill left Pittsburg State in Kansas after the 1987 season, it was Patterson who filled the vacancy on coach Dennis Franchione's staff.
Kill says he and Patterson shared ideas, and the fellow Kansas natives got to be friends. Kill was in Patterson's wedding a decade ago.
Patterson says it's tough playing against friends, but that both have jobs to do this week.
TCU plays at Minnesota for a season opener next year.
The Gophers and TCU have met only one other time, that was 40 years ago at Memorial Stadium. The Gophers won 9-7. The Gophers used three quarterbacks that day in Tony Dungy (coached the Colts to a Super Bowl XLI title), Marc Trestman (current Chicago Bears head coach) and Steve Olsen. (gophersports.com)
Mitch Leidner is expected to start at QB tomorrow for Minnesota. Kickoff is set for 3:00 pm and can be heard locally on KROC AM's sister station, 1520 The Ticket (KOLM) with the pre-game at 2 o'clock.
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