Gill the one constant in two years of NU changes

[Blackshirt]

We are so fortunate TG stuck around.......

 

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Gill the one constant in two years of NU changes

 

 

By Vince Kuppig / Daily Nebraskan

August 24, 2004

 

 

There’s just something nice about having a familiar face around.

 

When Bill Callahan took the reins of the Nebraska football program in January, there weren’t many things the former Oakland Raiders coach kept the same.

 

One of them was Assistant Coach Turner Gill.

 

Gill lost his title of assistant head coach and switched from coaching quarterbacks to leading the receivers, but for many of the Cornhusker players it was just a welcome sight to have Gill back on the coaching staff.

 

“It was nice that they didn’t just overhaul everybody and leave us just stranded out here,” NU junior receiver Mark LeFlore said. “For Coach Callahan to be able to keep somebody of Coach Gill’s caliber is just great for the program.”

 

Gill, in his 13th season coaching the Huskers, has more experience coaching at Nebraska than all of the other coaches combined. Only Tight Ends Coach Scott Downing, who is also NU’s recruiting coordinator, joins Gill from last year’s staff.

 

After the 2002 season, NU’s assistants had 152 years of combined coaching experience at Nebraska

 

Gill is the only assistant coach to have played at Nebraska, quarterbacking the Huskers from 1981 to 1983. In 2002, five coaches were Huskers in their playing days.

 

For the many of the players, Gill is the only coach still left from when they signed with the Huskers.

 

“It was good to have a familiar face around – someone we feel comfortable around,” sophomore Joe Dailey said.

 

Dailey, expected to be the starting quarterback when the Huskers open the season Sept. 4 against Western Illinois, said Gill was always there for guidance last season when Dailey was backing up Jammal Lord.

 

Now, the two aren’t involved much on the field. It’s more off the field that Gill and Dailey talk to each other, they said.

 

“Every guy on this staff has different talents,” said Dailey, one of NU’s four captains. “Coach Gill is a very spiritual guy. He’s a guy that helps a lot people. He’s very comfortable to be around. You can ask him anything you want.”

 

NU junior receiver and captain Ross Pilkington said Gill brings a different style than his former position coach, Ron Brown. Brown was an in-your-face type of coach who did a lot of yelling, Pilkington said. LeFlore said Gill is calmer during practice.

 

Both Pilkington and LeFlore said Gill brings a quarterback perspective to his coaching that a typical receivers coach may not be able to offer.

 

“He throws the ball to us with a nice crisp spiral, something we’re not used to – to be able to throw the ball like a quarterback in drills,” LeFlore said. “He tells us the drops that a quarterback is able to give. It’s a different view.”

 

Gill, who was a finalist for NU’s head coaching position after Frank Solich was fired, is not only coaching a new position; he’s also had to a learn a new offensive system – the West Coast offense.

 

Gill said he had to start from scratch and is still learning new things every day as a coach.

 

“It’s a challenge,” he said. “It’s an exciting offense. It’s an offense for me to be able to learn and grow as a coach.”

 

Gill said the hardest part of the change has been saying goodbye to relationships he’s built at Nebraska over the years.

 

In the past two years, Gill has seen 14 coaches leave the program, including five who had been with Gill since he joined the NU coaching staff in 1992.

 

When Gill was offered a job on Callahan’s staff, the former NU quarterback had other coaching options around the country. But Gill chose to stay where he could grow as coach and where he’s spent most of his adult life.

 

He doesn’t have any second thoughts about staying.

 

“I don’t really think a whole lot of about that,” Gill said. “I move on. I made a decision to stay here and now I’m just so focused on what I got to get done for my job as receivers coach.

 

“I’m just moving forward.”

 

http://www.dailynebraskan.com/vnews/displa...4/412ab883548f1

[Redout]

Also one of the nicest guys your ever going to meet. Down to Earth

 

Before I forget my fellow Red Men, less than two weeks till kickoff, holy crap I can't wait.

[fasteddie]

i ran into Gill once and he was kind enuf to stop and chat with me and sign a check for me it was great. "good coach,great person" isnt that the right cliche to use here???