NASHVILLE — The serape hangs on a hook behind the door in Jerry Kill’s office. It’s a memento but also a statement of sorts, about who Kill was and is and forever shall be.
Kill got off a bus outside Ford Field in Detroit on a frigid day after Christmas in 2022 wearing that gray-and-white serape, looking like a desert desperado arriving in town for a gun fight. His first New Mexico State team was playing in the Motor City Bowl, just its second bowl appearance in 62 years. The Aggies beat Bowling Green, 24–19, to finish 7–6, a massive accomplishment for what was justifiably labeled America’s worst FBS program for the previous half century. Kill got a massive tattoo of NMSU’s criss-crossed pistols logo on his right arm to commemorate the bowl win.
