Gill & Osborne

[np_husker]

Turner has the connection

BY BRIAN CHRISTOPHERSON and STEVEN M. SIPPLE / Lincoln Journal Star

Friday, Nov 30, 2007 - 01:12:16 am CST

 

It seems a story worth retelling now, that day Tom Osborne went to Texas in a blur, trying to make sure Barry Switzer didn’t take away his prized quarterback recruit.

 

Many years later, Osborne would walk off into coaching retirement as nothing less than a saint to most Nebraskans.

 

But he was not yet a legend that day he flew south to try to claim the prize, Turner Gill. Oklahoma was kicking Osborne’s tail routinely then. No message boards in those days, but still criticism, still expectations surrounding Nebraska football that went through the clouds.

 

Osborne needed this dazzler that was turning heads in Fort Worth. Maybe Gill would be the answer.

 

You can imagine the joy of the Husker head coach when his defensive coordinator, Lance Van Zandt, called to tell him the quarterback was saying yes to Nebraska and no to Boomer Sooner.

 

To keep the Oklahoma coaches away from Gill, Van Zandt and the quarterback hid out at Gill’s friend’s house.

 

Good thing, too, because Switzer, the OU football coach, and Enos Semore, the Sooners’ baseball coach, came to Texas hoping to change Gill’s mind.

 

Gill was a fine baseball player, too — a 1980 second-round draft pick of the Chicago White Sox, in fact.

 

OU coaches stayed at Gill’s house all afternoon and night, patiently awaiting the quarterback’s return.

 

“We picked up Coach Osborne and didn’t tell him that the Oklahoma coaches were waiting at my house,” said Gill, relaying the story several years ago. “We drove him back so he could visit my parents. We had him at the door, and he saw the coaches there. He looked at me and said, ‘What’s going on?’

 

“I said, ‘Everything’s fine, Coach.’ But you can all imagine Coach Osborne’s little stare.”

 

Gill came to Nebraska and fortunes turned. Suddenly, it was the Sooners looking painfully at scoreboards in November.

 

He was 28-2 as Nebraska’s starting quarterback, forming a serious bond with Osborne along the way.

 

“Coach Osborne, to be honest with you, was like a father to all of us,” said Mike Rozier, the Husker Heisman Trophy winner who played with Gill. “We all respected him. We wanted to play hard for him. He was a good leader, you know what I mean?

 

“But with those two? It was like father and son. I could say the same thing about me and Coach Osborne. But they were more (that way). Coach Osborne was in charge of the team, and Turner was second in command, because he was the quarterback. And we all knew that. They were very close. Forever close.”

 

That is an interesting thing to think about today, with uncertainty about which coach Osborne, now the interim athletic director, will choose to lead the Huskers.

 

Gill, now 45 and the second-year head coach at University at Buffalo, is considered among the favorites for the job. There are other candidates, of course: Bo Pelini, defensive coordinator at LSU, and possibly Jim Grobe, head coach at Wake Forest.

 

And while those candidates all have their selling points, none but Gill can boast a close relationship with Osborne.

 

Remember, Osborne was one of the groomsmen in Gill’s wedding. The two still talk about once a week.

 

Pelini, on the other hand, had not formally met Osborne until interviewing with him Sunday in Baton Rouge, La.

 

It surprised no one that Gill is on Osborne’s short list, getting his chance to interview for the Husker job Monday morning.

 

Taking over one of the worst programs in college football at Buffalo, Gill this year guided the team to a 5-7 record. That’s a record worthy of punch and cake in those parts, not to mention Mid-American Conference coach of the year honors, which Gill received earlier this week.

 

“When I took over the job, when Turner took over the job, there’s nobody that believed we would be able to do what we’ve done in a two-year period. Nobody,” said Buffalo athletic director Warde Manuel.

 

On Thursday, Gill didn’t want to answer questions asked by a Buffalo News reporter about the Nebraska job.

 

His team was honored at halftime of a Buffalo basketball game. Gill thanked the school president and a team picture was taken at mid-court. About 2,000 people were in attendance. The students chanted: “Turner, Stay! Turner, Stay!”

 

Of course, Gill is just as beloved around here, and not just because of his playing days, but also his time as a Husker assistant. He worked six years as the quarterbacks coach for Osborne and five more for Frank Solich.

 

Dan Young, former Husker assistant coach, remembers that occasionally Gill would run quarterbacks meetings by himself. But often, Osborne would join Gill in those meetings to make sure both were on the same page.

 

All the coaches knew you had better be on the ball if Osborne was in the room.

 

“When you’re around Tom, you’re always a little in awe,” Young said. “If Tom came into our offensive line meetings, you made sure you were doing things exactly right.”

 

Given where we’re at today, Osborne must’ve left with a favorable impression of Gill’s coaching abilities. Perhaps it didn’t hurt that during his time as Osborne’s assistant, Gill coached the likes of Tommie Frazier, Brook Berringer and Scott Frost. Three national championships were won, then Osborne retired.

 

“Turner’s strength was he played the position,” Young said. “He knew exactly what made plays go and what didn’t make them go. We ran the same offense he ran (as a player), so he knew the reads, progressions, pass routes. He could demonstrate what had to be done. He was good at that, because had done it.”

 

Gill called the plays at Buffalo this season. His offense was tough to predict. One series, the Bulls would come out with four wide receivers. The next they’d run out of the I-formation. The next they’d be running the West Coast offense.

 

“He’s gotten these kids to believe in themselves and believe in what they can do,” Manuel said. “And he is, I believe, a great coach and serves as a teacher.”

 

Gill’s success has delighted Husker fans and former teammates.

 

Watching from a distance, Rozier said he’d love to see Gill have the chance to bring Nebraska back among the elite.

 

“I think it would be fantastic,” Rozier said. “Not just because he’s black and I’m black. I mean, it will be the first time there will be a black head coach at the University of Nebraska.

 

“The main thing is, Turner’s a good coach. He’s a good players’ coach. You’ve got to have the right coach around the players so they play well. Everybody likes Turner. He knows the people in Nebraska. He knows the schemes. He knows everything about the university.”

 

And so everyone waits for Osborne to decide. Maybe Turner Gill might be the answer.

[Husker Deb]

WOOHOO! We can dream......

[billdozer15]

My vote was for Pelini or Kelly, but now after reading this I am all in for Gill. Osborne for dictator, Gill for Head Coach.

[hskrmama]

That's a nice article. I think Gill would be a good choice.

[junior4949]

Well if we're gonna compare everything to OU, I will say that thankfully we just fired our John Blake. However, we're kind of going in reverse now when comparing ourselves to OU. If Gill is hired, it will be like hiring Gary Gibbs. Gary Gibbs wasn't a bad coach by any means. His winning percentage was .652 winning 44, losing 23, and tieing 2. Some people from Oklahoma thought he should be given more time. Some wanted him gone, and that's what happened. If Gill is hired, I think his record and performance will mirror Gibbs. He won't ever get us over the hump because we won't wait long enough for him to do so just like we'll never know whether or not Gibbs could get OU over the hump.

[Huskers4ever]

Gibbs sounds like Solich to me.

[junior4949]

Gill sounds like Solich and Gibbs to me.

[huskerbatt52]

Solich looks like a leprechaun to me.

[T_O_Bull]

 

My wife and I were sitting in the south end zone the day Turner Gill replaced Nate 'I forget his last name.' Gill rallied the team and was the starter from then on. Turner's time as Nebraska Head Coach has come.

I predict he will again rally the team and bring Husker Football back to its rightful place on the national stage.

 

GBR

 

...T_O_B

 

[junior4949]

I remember when Tommie came in after a few games his freshman year and was the starter from then on. He rallied the team for 2 NC's. No way in Hell do I want him ever coming here as the HC.

[agibson95]

I remember when Tommie came in after a few games his freshman year and was the starter from then on. He rallied the team for 2 NC's. No way in Hell do I want him ever coming here as the HC.

 

Remember when Matt Turman came in off the bench....

 

Man, where is Matt Turman? He should be our new head coach.

 

Edit... Matt Turman is a very successfull High School Coach at Scutt and actually coached some of the current players. I think we have our next coach.

[T_O_Bull]

 

You are just too much like Cally. You just don't get it.

 

...T_O_B

 

[DeathCultArmaggedon]

I remember when Tommie came in after a few games his freshman year and was the starter from then on. He rallied the team for 2 NC's. No way in Hell do I want him ever coming here as the HC.

 

I remember when Joe Ganz came in and rallied us...

[huskerbatt52]

I remember Jamal Lord.

[junior4949]

I remember Mickey Joseph and Mike Grant. I hear Steve Taylor is good at selling real estate, maybe he'd take the HC job.