| Turner Gill | ||
|---|---|---|
 |
||
| Title | Head Coach | |
| College | Buffalo | |
| Sport | Football | |
| Team record | 16–23 | |
| Born | August 13, 1962 | |
| Place of birth | Fort Worth, TX | |
| Career highlights | ||
| Overall | 16–23 | |
| Bowls | 0–1 | |
| Coaching stats | ||
| College Football DataWarehouse | ||
| Championships | ||
| 2008 MAC | ||
| Awards | ||
| 2007 MAC Coach of the Year | ||
| Playing career | ||
| 1980-1983 1984-1985 |
Nebraska (NCAA) Montreal Concordes (CFL) |
|
| Position | Quarterback | |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | ||
| 1989 1990 1991 1992-2003 2004 2005 2006-present |
Nebraska (GA) North Texas Southern Methodist Nebraska (QB) Nebraska (WR) Green Bay Packers (AC) Buffalo |
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Turner Gill (born August 13, 1962, in Fort Worth, Texas) is the head coach of the Buffalo Bulls college football team and is one of seven current African-American head coaches in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision.
Contents |
Playing career
College
Gill graduated from Arlington Heights High School in Fort Worth, Texas. During his senior season, Gill was courted heavily by Nebraska, as well as arch-rival Oklahoma, and Texas. Nebraska won the spirited battle for Gill, in part because they would allow Turner to play baseball as well as football, but also because head coach Tom Osborne had managed to quell any rumours about Nebraska supposedly being reluctant to play an African-American at quarterback.
Gill arrived on campus in 1980 and saw limited action in mop-up duty as a freshman, which at the time was still relatively unusual, as freshmen had only been recently allowed under NCAA rules to participate at the varsity level.
Nebraska started the 1981 season poorly, losing two of its first three games and performing anemically on offense at times in all three. Gill had found himself third on the depth chart prior to the Huskers season opener, behind Mark Mauer and Nate Mason.
Down 3-0 to Auburn at halftime during the fourth game, with the season on the verge of slipping away, Osborne inserted Gill into the game. The Huskers pulled out a 17-3 victory, and Gill was given the starting job the following week. Behind Gill, the Huskers demolished Colorado 59-0, thus setting off an unbeaten run through the Big 8 conference, which Nebraska would win outright for the first time since 1971. However, during the season's penultimate game against Iowa State, Gill suffered what initially appeared to be an innocuous leg injury. Instead, doctors discovered nerve damage which sidelined him for the remainder of the 1981 season. Although the Huskers would beat Oklahoma without him, they were not able to overcome a stingy Clemson defense in the Orange Bowl, where a win may have given the Huskers a possible national championship.
Gill came back strong during 1982 and led the Huskers to a second consecutive outright Big 8 title and a 12-1 record overall, losing only a controversial game at eventual national champion Penn State in September. However, he suffered the first of many concussions in a game against Missouri which would ultimately shorten his playing career.
During his senior season, Turner would call the signals for one of the most prolific offenses in college football history, averaging 52 points and nearly 400 rushing yards per game. Gill finished fourth in the voting for the 1983 Heisman Trophy which was won by teammate Mike Rozier. The Huskers came within a whisker of a national championship, falling just one point short following a failed two-point conversion attempt in the 1984 Orange Bowl.
Overall, Gill finished with a 28-2 record in his three years as a starter, winning three consecutive outright Big Eight championships with a perfect 20-0 mark in conference play. Despite this, he was unable to lead the Huskers to a national title, falling agonizingly short in each of his three seasons.
Pro career
Gill bypassed the NFL and instead signed a lucrative contract with the Canadian Football League's Montreal Concordes. In two seasons with the Concordes, Gill had 727 pass attempts with 411 completions for 4,928 yards and 23 touchdowns to 24 interceptions. He also had 826 rushing yards on 173 carries and seven touchdowns. However, during the last game of the 1985 season, he suffered another bad concussion and was advised by doctors to retire from pro football. He was only 23 years old.
Baseball
Turner decided to return to baseball. A standout shortstop, Gill had been drafted by the Chicago White Sox at age 17 and again by the New York Yankees at age 21. In college, he batted .284 in 48 games for Nebraska during the 1983 season. Gill spent two years in the Cleveland Indians' organization and a third in the Detroit Tigers farm system before deciding to return to football as a coach.
Coaching career
University of Nebraska
In 1989, Gill began his coaching career at the University of Nebraska, his alma mater, serving one year as a graduate assistant coach. After spending a season each at the University of North Texas and Southern Methodist University, Gill returned once again to Nebraska, where he coached quarterbacks from 1992-2003 and wide receivers in 2004. Gill served as position coach for two first team All-Americans, Tommie Frazier and Eric Crouch, with Crouch also earning the Heisman Trophy under Gill's tutelage. The Cornhuskers earned three national championships in Gill's time as an assistant there.
Green Bay Packers
In 2005, Gill was hired by the Green Bay Packers as Director of Player Development to help players become acclimated to playing professional football in Green Bay and to direct players to resources concerning community involvement, continuing education, financial management, and retirement planning. He also served as an assistant wide receivers coach and an offensive assistant coach through December 2005.
University at Buffalo
Gill agreed to a five-year contract to become the 23rd head football coach at the University at Buffalo on December 16, 2005.
2006
Turner Gill won two games in his first season with Buffalo compiling a 2–10 record. Despite its record Buffalo achieved some success. The team set a school record for most points in a season since moving to Division I, with 220. UB also scored the most points of any team in the Mid-American Conference East Division and defeated an opponent (Kent State University) with a winning record for the first time since joining the MAC in 1999. Kent State had a 5-3 record at the time but ended the season 6-6.
2007
Gill's Buffalo team finished 5–7 overall with a 5–3 record in the Mid-American Conference, the first winning conference record the squad had posted since joining the MAC in 1999. This was also the Bulls' first winning record at home since moving to Division I. The team finished third out of six schools in the Mid-American Conference East Division but shared co-division champion honors. Gill was named MAC Coach of the Year for 2007.[1]
Because of the great turnaround that Gill orchestrated in only his second season at Buffalo, he was one of two leading candidates to replace Bill Callahan as head coach of the Nebraska Cornhuskers.[2] However, Bo Pelini was hired as the new Nebraska head coach.
2008
In 2008, Gill's Buffalo team continued its steady improvement, finishing the regular season 7-5 and winning the East division of the MAC. On December 5, Buffalo played #12 Ball State in the MAC Championship Game at Ford Field in Detroit. Ball State was heavily favored as it entered the game with a perfect 12-0 mark, while Buffalo came in off a home loss to Kent State that had ended a five-game winning streak. However, Buffalo scored two touchdowns on fumble returns and won the game 42-24, giving the school its first MAC championship. Following the victory, Buffalo accepted a bid to play in the International Bowl in nearby Toronto. This is the school's first bowl since joining the Division I Football Bowl Subdivision in 1999.[3] This season has also seen Buffalo break its all-time scoring record, having numerous players break school career and single-season records and saw UB earn unprecedented national coverage with five appearances on the ESPN family of networks as the Bulls were 4-0 in those contests. Also, four of Buffalo's five losses this season (Pittsburgh, Missouri, Western Michigan, and Central Michigan) came against teams that have advanced to bowl games, with two of those teams ranked in the AP Top 25. With Gill's continued success at Buffalo, he once again became the focus of speculation about a possible move to a bigger program. [4] Gill interviewed at Syracuse University, where he was passed over for Doug Marrone, the offensive coordinator for the NFL's New Orleans Saints who had no head coaching experience.[5]
Gill also interviewed for the head coaching position at Auburn University, losing out to Iowa State head coach Gene Chizik, who had a 5-19 record. On December 15, former NBA superstar and Auburn player Charles Barkley, who had previously endorsed Gill for the position, criticized Auburn's passing over of Gill in favor of Chizik, saying "race was the No. 1 factor. You can say it's not about race, but you can't compare the two résumés and say [Chizik] deserved the job. Out of all the coaches they interviewed, Chizik probably had the worst résumé."[6]
The following day, Buffalo announced that Gill had agreed to a contract extension and a raise[7]. Gill's contract now runs through 2013 and makes him one of the highest-paid coaches in the MAC.
Head coaching record
| Year | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Bowl | Coaches# | AP° | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Buffalo Bulls (Mid-American Conference) (2006–present) | |||||||||
| 2006 | Buffalo | 2–10 | 1–7 | 6th◊ | — | — | — | ||
| 2007 | Buffalo | 5–7 | 5–3 | 3rd◊ | — | — | — | ||
| 2008 | Buffalo | 8–6 | 5–3 | 1st‡ | L International | — | — | ||
| 2009 | Buffalo | 5-7 | 3-5 | 8th◊ | - | — | — | ||
| Buffalo: | 20–30 | 14–18 | ‡ MAC Conference ◊ MAC East Division | ||||||
| Total: | 20–30 | ||||||||
| National Championship Conference Title Conference Division Title | |||||||||
| #Rankings from final Coaches Poll. °Rankings from final AP Poll. |
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References
- ^ Gill named Coach of Year; eight players honored by MAC
- ^ Speculation abounds that Gill or Pelini in line
- ^ http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/scorecard/cfootballnews.asp?articleID=246052
- ^ http://www.buffalonews.com/sports/story/513997.html
- ^ http://www.buffalonews.com/sports/story/520760.html
- ^ "Lobbying for Gill, alum Barkley says Auburn should have hired black coach". ESPN. December 15, 2008. http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=3770769. Retrieved 2008-12-21.
- ^ "Gill extended through 2013". ESPN. December 16, 2008. http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=3773899. Retrieved 2008-12-16.
External links
| Preceded by Jim Hofher |
University at Buffalo Head Football Coach 2006– |
Succeeded by current |
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