Jerry Kill Retires: Latest Comments, Reaction

The University of Minnesota's football program suffered a significant hit Wednesday morning, as head coach Jerry Kill retired, effective immediately.

According to Minnesota Football on Twitter, the 54-year-old Kill retired due to health concerns and will be replaced by assistant head coach and defensive coordinator Tracy Claeys on an interim basis.

"First of all, want to thank the state of Minnesota, the people here are tremendous and have been very good to my wife, my family," Kill told reporters following the announcement.

The exact nature of Kill's health problems are unclear at this point, but he has battled epilepsy and has a well-documented history of seizures. Per Marcus R. Fuller of the Pioneer Press, Kill has suffered five game-day seizures over the course of his career as a coach, including one that caused him to take 10 days off and miss a game in 2013.

He coached from the press box for a large portion of the 2013 campaign, with Claeys acting as the head coach on the sidelines, but Kill returned to field level in 2014 and 2015.

"You all know about my struggles," Kill said. "I did my best to change, but some of those struggles have returned."

Kill added that his doctor told him it was in his "best interest to move on" with his life.

"Last night when I walked off the practice field, I feel like a part of me died," Kill told reporters.

Dave Revsine of the Big Ten Network weighed in on Kill's sudden departure:

The Golden Gophers are 29-29 since Kill made the leap from Northern Illinois in 2011, and they have gone 8-5 in each of the past two seasons. Minnesota is currently 4-3 and has a huge Big Ten clash coming up against Michigan on Saturday, but Kill won't be the man in charge for that game.

Wolverines head coach Jim Harbaugh was bracing for a tough matchup due to his level of respect for Kill's coaching ability, according to Nick Baumgardner of MLive.com:

The Golden Gophers aren't likely to be lost Saturday since Claeys has stepped in for Kill before, but they'll still have to overcome the shock of losing their head coach in the middle of the season.

Although Steve Spurrier recently stepped down as head coach of South Carolina, it is fairly rare for a collegiate head coach to resign or retire in the middle of the season.

"People are going to ask, 'What are you going to do now,'" Kill said. "I don't know. I've never done anything else."

Health is of the utmost importance, though, and Kill deserves a great deal of credit for leaving something he loves in deference to his long-term future.

Follow @MikeChiari on Twitter.