Report: New Mexico State coach Jerry Kill resigning

Field Level Media|published: Sat 23rd December, 19:22 2023

NMSU head coach Jerry Kill exits the field before the Isleta New Mexico Bowl on Saturday, Dec. 16, 2023, at the University Stadium in Albuquerque. credits: Meg Potter/Sun-News / USA TODAY NETWORK

After reviving the New Mexico State football program over the past two seasons, head coach Jerry Kill is resigning, per an ESPN report Saturday.

New Mexico State is reportedly replacing Kill with the team's wide receivers coach, Tony Sanchez, who was 20-40 as UNLV's head coach from 2015-19. Sanchez, 49, played wide receiver at New Mexico State from 1994-95.

Kill, 62, led the Aggies to a 17-11 record and back-to-back bowl appearances in his two seasons as head coach. With a 10-5 record this season, the Aggies enjoyed their first double-digit-win season in 63 years.

A head coach for much of the time since 1994, Kill has a 175-115 record that includes stops at Minnesota, Northern Illinois and Southern Illinois. He has been an assistant coach at TCU, Rutgers and Virginia Tech and served as interim head coach at TCU in 2021.

Kill resigned at Minnesota seven games into the 2015 season due to his battle with epilepsy, a neurological disorder. He had four reported seizures during games for the Golden Gophers between 2011-15, including a scary incident during a contest in 2011 in which he collapsed on the sideline and went into spasms on the turf with his legs violently kicking.

Kill also had a major seizure during a 2005 game while he was Southern Illinois' coach.

Since losing to Fresno State in the New Mexico Bowl on Dec. 16, the Aggies have lost defensive backs coach Cliff Odom and offensive coordinator Tim Beck, who departed for Mississippi State and Vanderbilt, respectively.

—Field Level Media

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