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Jerry Kill retired from coaching at Minnesota in 2014 but is coming back to be Rutgers offensive coordinator.

(Ann Heisenfelt | AP)

Only a few months after thinking his football coaching career was over, Jerry Kill will be calling plays at Rutgers.

The 2014 Big Ten Coach of the Year at Minnesota is expected to be hired as Rutgers offensive coordinator, multiple sources told NJ Advance Media. Kill's hire is considered imminent but pending the finalization of details.

Kill, 55, is leaving his post as associate athletics director at Kansas State, where he oversees the operations of the football program and attends every practice. It is unclear as to when Kill will start because Kansas State is playing in the Texas Bowl.

Highly respected within coaching circles, Kill announced his abrupt retirement at Minnesota during a teary-eyed press conference in October 2015 because of the effects of epilepsy, a diagnosis received in 2005.

Also a cancer survivor, he suffered a seizure on the sidelines during a home game in 2011, missed seven games because of his condition in 2013, and suffered seizures before practices leading up to his decision.

"When I walked off the practice field," Kill said at the time, when he was earning $2.5 million annually on a seven-year contract, "I felt like a part of me died."

Kill's hire represents a complete shift for Rutgers coach Chris Ash, who hired 28-year-old Drew Mehringer as his offensive coordinator last December.

Mehringer, who had a $450,000 salary, was popular with recruits but Rutgers finished the season ranked last in the FBS in total offense. The lack of production didn't prevent Mehringer from becoming a co-coordinator at Texas.

Kill gives Ash a successful veteran head coach on the side of the ball opposite his own strengths. He is 152-99, including 52-45 at the FBS level, at Saginaw Valley State, Emporia State, Southern Illinois, Northern Illinois and Minnesota.

Though Kill last was an offensive coordinator at Pittsburg State (Kansas) in 1993, his run-first spread offense was a staple of his teams at Southern Illinois and Northern Illinois. He will be Rutgers' eighth offensive coordinator in the last eight years.

Kill's successors at Northern Illinois -- head coach Dave Doeren and offensive coordinator Matt Canada -- kept parts of the offense after taking over. Doeren and Canada, who both have since moved on, are former colleagues of Ash's at Wisconsin.

While the move is reminiscent of when former Maryland coach Ralph Friedgen came on board as Rutgers offensive coordinator in 2014 under Kyle Flood because of their similar background, Kill is expected to carry a more complete workload.

Still, the job should be less demanding on Kill than being an all-encompassing head coach. Kill told the Wichita Eagle last month that he lost 25 pounds on a low-carb diet prescribed by his doctor and was working 80 hours per week.

"I would say I feel about 90-percent better than I did a year ago," Kill told the newspaper. "I would probably still be coaching had I felt this good then. But I have changed a lot. I went from 2 1/2 hours of sleep for 12 years to six hours of sleep now. That is a huge deal."

Ash needed only eight days to wrap up the search, and Rutgers did not lose any commitments during its time without an offensive coordinator. Kill is the only known candidate who spoke with Ash about the position, as first reported by NJ Advance Media.

Kill was hired at Kansas State in May after negotiations fell through to remain with Minnesota in some capacity. He reportedly was offered a position within the university outside of athletics.

"I know my coaching career's over, and I understand that," Kill told the Minneapolis Star-Tribune at the time. "But I just can't sit around and look at a lake and roll my fingers. That'd be the worst health (decision) I could ever make."

Rutgers does not face again Minnesota until 2019 and Kansas State until 2030.

Ryan Dunleavy may be reached at rdunleavy@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @rydunleavy. Find NJ.com Rutgers Football on Facebook.