Afterward, the doctors who examined Kill found kidney cancer, Stage 4. A doctor asked Kill to come into the office. But he had recruits to see, so he declined. He learned about the cancer over the phone and went back to work.

That was the first time anyone suggested Kill might have epilepsy, a neurological disorder characterized by recurrent seizures. His first seizure occurred five years earlier, in his bedroom. The aftermath felt like a car crash, with Kill groggy, his muscles sore. He told ESPN over the summer that he had endured perhaps 20 seizures in the last two years; he was not exactly sure.

Kill accepted the Minnesota job before the 2011 season. He brought up epilepsy at the beginning of the interview process and offered to clear up any concerns. At a team meeting, he laid out his health history, including the possibility of in-game convulsions, which he dismissed as remote. Yet he had a seizure in the home opener. He had another in the 2012 regular-season finale. And another early this season.

Each time, Kill’s assistants and the team doctors surrounded him as the seizure unfolded. They made sure there was room around him and no sharp objects nearby. Sometimes, Kill went to the hospital afterward to have blood drawn, and after that he rested until he returned to work. Since there is no way to know for certain when the seizures might occur, there are no extra precautions taken.

During the first one at Minnesota, Mike Rallis, a linebacker on the 2011 team, said the stadium went silent. “It was eerie,” Rallis said, although Kill’s assistants reassured the players afterward, and Kill returned the next week and told the Gophers he felt fine. He even turned that seizure into a coaching lesson. Ignore all distractions, he told them, and push forward.

That showed what epilepsy symbolized to Kill: a distraction.

“I’m not going to lie and say that when Coach has a seizure, I go, ‘Ho-hum,’ ” said Matt Limegrover, a longtime assistant. “You’re always concerned. It’s always hard to watch. But we’ve come to expect him back in his chair the next morning.”

In recent years, Kill has taken steps to manage his epilepsy, guided by his wife of 30 years, Rebecca, who declined to comment, and Dr. Ilo Leppik, a university professor who began to work with Kill last off-season. Kill, who has two daughters, changed his diet, slept more, tried to work less, experimented with different medications and continued to take long walks. He told friends over the summer that he had never felt better.