Turner Gill

[MichiganDad3]

Turner's record was horrible at Kansas, but how would he have done if he was hired instead of Bo? Would the influence of Tom and the additional Husker resources allowed him to be successful?

[Brooks Hatlen]

6 national titles, in a row.

[Landlord]

Jamal is a little young to be handed the reigns at a blue blood program like Nebraska.

[ADS]

Probably about the same, maybe a little worse.

[NUance]

A lot of it depends on who Gill could have gotten to be his defensive coordinator. The Nebraska DC is a good enough job that I think Gill could have pulled in some elite talent. As for offense, I think we'd be fine on that side of the ball too. Regardless of who he got as OC, Turner's finger prints would have been on the offense. (Just like our defensive identity was Bo's these last few years.) I think Gill would have put an athletic QB in place, and run a good balance between run/pass.

 

Gill would have been a better recruiter than Bo. By a long shot. What parent wouldn't want their kid to play for Gill? The guy is a saint. That said, some of the things he did in Kansas were a bit overboard. The 10:00pm curfew against being with women? Oy! That just wasn't a very good move. Still, even the curfew things wasn't doesn't compare to Pelini's profanity tapes.

 

Re the OP's question: I think Gill would have done better than Bo. Gill had three years of HC experience under his belt at the time Pelini was hired. And a ton of experience at various assistant and coordinator positions. Gill would be able to pull in athletes. Texas was his home, which wouldn't hurt. Gill would have been a MUCH better face for the program than Bo.

[chainsaw]

Turner is a great guy but wasn't and still isn't ready for the husker stage. Hiring Frank proved that being an offensive coach isn't the experience needed to coach here. You have to be a CEO and hire good people to work under you, not old buddies.

[Redux]

Good question.

 

I feel like he would have had about the same Big 12 record minus a title game appearance in 2010. Then the move to the Big Ten ends in a disastorous 2011 that ends in a 5-7 record and him being replaced.

[DrunkOffPunch]

Turner is a great guy but wasn't and still isn't ready for the husker stage. Hiring Frank proved that being an offensive coach isn't the experience needed to coach here. You have to be a CEO and hire good people to work under you, not old buddies.

Hiring buddies isn't a problem. Experience and a vision at each level that coincides with the HC's grand scheme and prior knowledge of said scheme is what you want. That's part of the reason we had such an identity crisis under Pelini.

[junior4949]

Even though it was reported the hiring process was down to three and Gill was one of the three, I highly doubt TO even put much consideration into it with regards to Gill. Turner Gill was a great player. He was there as a coach. I've heard over the years from players back in that time period who didn't really have a very high opinion of Turner Gill the coach. They claimed he was the last to show up for practice of the coaches, and he was the first to leave. The common theme most relayed was that he was lazy.

 

I'd venture to guess had he been named the coach, his record wouldn't have been as consistent or as good as Bo's. However, I also don't think some/most of our losses would have been as lopsided under Gill as they were under Bo.

[skersfan]

I think Turner did quite well at Buffalo, just too big of jump, not enough head coaching experience. CEO level experience. That is what killed Bo to. Neither were qualified for the job. My question is how would have Grobe done here? Close friends with Tom, and would have listened to him I think. Still feel that him not getting the job was end of Nebraska football as we have known it. Riley gives us the chance again, but is he young enough to get the job done?

 

Personally I feel Gill would have done a better job, at least had an understanding of what a head coach was, and understood what the Nebraska fan base expected.

[chainsaw]

Taking the job at kansas before he was ready has really slowed turner's climb up the coaching ladder!

[cornographic]

Surrounded by the right asst.s, I think Gill could kick ass pretty well @ NU. He's doing pretty well at Jerry (the Crook) Falwell U, averaging 8 wins or so. I gotta believe that Riles holds a big edge over him in terms of experience, though. I feel confident in Riley & Co.

 

KU should've given Gill more time.

[NUance]

The thing about Gill and KU that you have to remember is, it’s Kansas football. They’ve sucked for over a century. And they will continue to suck in the foreseeable future. Oh sure, KU had one good year under Mangino. One. They went 12-1 in 2007 and won a bowl game. But most of Mangino’s teams lost as many games as they won. And Mangino was spotty as a recruiter. The senior class that Gill took over had been mostly 2* and 3* recruits four years earlier coming out of high school.

Anyway, I’m just saying that Gill didn’t do a *terrible* job of coaching at KU. But they only gave him two years to turn their sh**ty program around. I think if the Jayhawks would’ve stuck with Gill a couple more years he would had them headed in the right direction. Here’s KU’s record the year before Gill, with Gill, and the three years since he got axed:

2009 5-7 Mangino (career record at KU: 50-48)

2010 3-9 Gill

2011 2-10 Gill

2012 1-11

2013 3-9

2014 3-9

[Enhance]

A lot of it depends on who Gill could have gotten to be his defensive coordinator. The Nebraska DC is a good enough job that I think Gill could have pulled in some elite talent. As for offense, I think we'd be fine on that side of the ball too. Regardless of who he got as OC, Turner's finger prints would have been on the offense. (Just like our defensive identity was Bo's these last few years.) I think Gill would have put an athletic QB in place, and run a good balance between run/pass.

 

Gill would have been a better recruiter than Bo. By a long shot. What parent wouldn't want their kid to play for Gill? The guy is a saint. That said, some of the things he did in Kansas were a bit overboard. The 10:00pm curfew against being with women? Oy! That just wasn't a very good move. Still, even the curfew things wasn't doesn't compare to Pelini's profanity tapes.

 

Re the OP's question: I think Gill would have done better than Bo. Gill had three years of HC experience under his belt at the time Pelini was hired. And a ton of experience at various assistant and coordinator positions. Gill would be able to pull in athletes. Texas was his home, which wouldn't hurt. Gill would have been a MUCH better face for the program than Bo.

Would he have been a better recruiter though? I don't think anyone would deny his character, but Bo did have a championship ring, a reputation for being one of the best defensive minds in the country and a decent coaching career. That seems like a pretty good pitch for kids, and we know the players always loved Bo, which I'm sure was a big sell for recruits. I don't know, just playing Devil's advocate really.

 

I can't deny that he would have been a much better face for the program, but, I think Gill's success would've been VERY dependent on his staff. Who he put in place to help him succeed and how talented they were. I think he MAY have done better, but, there's so just so many questions surrounding this hypothetical. He went to a place with less resources, less talent and less support than Nebraska and just completely tanked. He obviously had disadvantages but it's still a bit of a red flag to me.

 

I think the same thing about Turner and Bo now that I did back then - in 2008, they were both a bit too young and inexperienced to be the head coach here, in my opinion. We were banking a lot on Bo's development as a coach and bringing in a good staff to compliment him.

[NUance]

 

A lot of it depends on who Gill could have gotten to be his defensive coordinator. The Nebraska DC is a good enough job that I think Gill could have pulled in some elite talent. As for offense, I think we'd be fine on that side of the ball too. Regardless of who he got as OC, Turner's finger prints would have been on the offense. (Just like our defensive identity was Bo's these last few years.) I think Gill would have put an athletic QB in place, and run a good balance between run/pass.

 

Gill would have been a better recruiter than Bo. By a long shot. What parent wouldn't want their kid to play for Gill? The guy is a saint. That said, some of the things he did in Kansas were a bit overboard. The 10:00pm curfew against being with women? Oy! That just wasn't a very good move. Still, even the curfew things wasn't doesn't compare to Pelini's profanity tapes.

 

Re the OP's question: I think Gill would have done better than Bo. Gill had three years of HC experience under his belt at the time Pelini was hired. And a ton of experience at various assistant and coordinator positions. Gill would be able to pull in athletes. Texas was his home, which wouldn't hurt. Gill would have been a MUCH better face for the program than Bo.

Would he have been a better recruiter though? I don't think anyone would deny his character, but Bo did have a championship ring, a reputation for being one of the best defensive minds in the country and a decent coaching career. That seems like a pretty good pitch for kids, and we know the players always loved Bo, which I'm sure was a big sell for recruits. I don't know, just playing Devil's advocate really.

 

I can't deny that he would have been a much better face for the program, but, I think Gill's success would've been VERY dependent on his staff. Who he put in place to help him succeed and how talented they were. I think he MAY have done better, but, there's so just so many questions surrounding this hypothetical. He went to a place with less resources, less talent and less support than Nebraska and just completely tanked. He obviously had disadvantages but it's still a bit of a red flag to me.

 

I think the same thing about Turner and Bo now that I did back then - in 2008, they were both a bit too young and inexperienced to be the head coach here, in my opinion. We were banking a lot on Bo's development as a coach and bringing in a good staff to compliment him.

 

 

Good points, all. Bo a better recruiter than Turner? Maybe. Maybe not. Now that I think about it, the things I'd say were negatives against Bo may not have made much of a difference to recruits. (The sideline tirades, profanity tapes, etc.) And the things I give Turner credit for may not have mattered to recruits either. (Great character, reasonable demeanor.) So now you have me wondering whether recruiting would have been an edge, or not, for Turner. I guess we'll never know.