Bullish attitude

[Eric the Red]

I don't care if it is the University of Buffalo. It's Turner Gill and he's more Nebraska than I'll ever be. All Coach GIll stories will always stay in the "Husker Football" Forum.

 

Bullish attitude

[Eric the Red]

Yeah that's right I'm fired up

[DaveH]

Settle down, Beavis.

[rawhide]

I think ETR gave his keyboard a blue hernia. Gill is truly the type of person and player that epitomizes what is good about college football. A role model that any man should try to emulate.

 

 

GBR

[DJR313]

Turner was a great player for the U, a good coach and has tons of class. Sounds like he has a rough nonconference schedule this year though(Auburn, BC and Wisconsin). Good luck to coach Gill.

[HSKRNOKC]

Who can forget how Gill played for us? Go get um Turner.

[Red Snow Sword: Husker Sentinel]

He's worthy of respect.

[Foppa]

Good luck Gill...you're gonna need it

 

His attitude alone should get him an extra win a season. Hope it works out for him. If nothing else, it'll take some time.

[dbetz23]

He will have a lot to work to do. I wish him and his staff well. Attitude is everything. I think is he can get the mindset changed down there, he may makes some noise.

[Spartness]

He apparently lost three of his assistants. Two were hired by bigger schools, and the other one is less clearer. More details at Huskerpedia. I hope he gets three decent replacements without too much trouble.

[Eric the Red]

Gill Adds Toby Williams To Coaching Staff

 

Former NFL standout will coach defensive line

 

 

BUFFALO, NY - University at Buffalo head coach Turner Gill has added a familiar name to the Bulls' coaching staff with the hiring of Toby Williams.

Williams is the brother of Buffalo defensive coordinator Jimmy Williams, and both played with Gill at Nebraska. Like his brother, Toby starred for the Cornhuskers and went to have a highly successful career in the National Football League, playing with the New England Patriots from 1983-88 and finishing his career with one season in Green Bay with the Packers.

 

“Toby is an outstanding teacher of defensive line play gained from being an outstanding collegiate and professional player,” said Gill. “I am very happy to have him on the staff.”

 

Williams was an overachiever throughout his football career, walking on at Nebraska before earning All Big Eight honors and spending six seasons with the Patriots after being chosen in the 10th round. He would play 80 games with the Patriots, registering 15 career sacks as a defensive tackle and nose guard.

 

He began his coaching career as an assistant coach at Millis High School in Massachusetts in 1995, serving as an assistant coach before moving into the head coaching position. He would later move on to collegiate coaching at Bridgewater State (2000-01) and Dean College (2001-02), coaching defensive line at both schools.

 

He returned to the high school ranks in 2002, spending two years at Bishop Feehan outside Boston, his team winning Division titles both seasons while coaching the offensive and defensive lines. He has spent the past two seasons at Saint Raphael Academy as offensive and defensive line coach.

 

With Toby Williams joining the staff, Gill has reshuffled some duties. Brian Mohnsen will now coach the Bulls' linebackers, while Matt House will handle the defensive backfield. Aaron Stamn, who will continue to coach the Bulls' tight ends, will also serve as special teams coordinator.

 

The Bulls open their first season under coach Gill on Thursday, Aug. 31 vs. Temple at UB Stadium.

[Eric the Red]

Gill plans to build winning program at Buffalo

 

By WENDELL BARNHOUSE

Star-Telegram Staff Writer

 

PAUL HOKANSON PHOTO

Turner Gill on his Buffalo challenge: "We're not going to turn this around overnight. We have raised the level of expectations."

More photosTurner Gill was still in grade school when he learned about resolve and perseverance.

 

Gill's father, also named Turner, was hospitalized after a one-story fall at the bank where he worked. The prognosis was grim: paralysis.

 

The determined words of his father, spoken from that hospital bed more than three decades ago, still ring true.

 

I will walk again.

 

"I told him not to worry about me, not to worry about what the doctors said," the elder Gill said this week. "Don't ever give up. That's what I've always told him: You just got to keep goin'.'"

 

The younger Gill, a high school star at Arlington Heights who went on to a storied career as Nebraska's quarterback, has gone on to his first head coaching job. It's an assignment that will require the tenacity and determination passed on from his father, who did recover to walk again.

 

The 43-year-old Fort Worth native takes over at the University of Buffalo. The Bulls have been a Division I-A program since 1999. In those seven seasons, the school's record is 10-69. In Gill's 16 seasons as a player and assistant coach at Nebraska, the Huskers lost 33 games.

 

"I'm going to dislike [losing] tremendously," said Gill, a graduate assistant at SMU in 1991 when the Mustangs went 1-10. "I'm a competitor, I don't like to lose at anything I do. I'll never be OK with it; I'll never enjoy losing."

 

Buffalo, a member of the Mid-American Conference since moving up to I-A, is at the bottom of college football's food chain.

 

Sporting News ranks Buffalo 119th -- dead last in Division I-A. CBS Sportsline and Lindy's have Buffalo at 118th. Athlon is sweet on the Bulls; it has them ranked 117th.

 

"They had lost hope," Gill said of his players' attitudes. "When you lose hope, it's over. We're going to be realistic. We're not going to turn this around overnight. We have raised the level of expectations."

 

Fifth-year senior tight end Chad Upshaw, whose father Willie played 10 years of major league baseball, is beginning to see actions back up the athletic administration's words.

 

"In the past, there was a lot of talk , a lot of promises," he said. "But nothing ever got done. We were sharing equipment, had old equipment, that sort of thing. Now, when Coach Gill says something, the next day, it's done. When you see something getting accomplished, you start to believe it."

 

New athletic director Warde Manuel, who hired Gill, played defensive end at Michigan. He is busy fundraising to help improve the football facilities. According to 2004-05 figures, Buffalo's athletic budget was $16.2 million; Nebraska's was $55.8 million.

 

A recent donation led to groundbreaking on a new 6,000-square-foot training facility. The current 3,000-foot facility is so small that the entire team can't work out at the same time.

 

Gill and his staff began erasing the team's losing attitude during spring practice.

 

"Players want direction, they will follow coaches," he said. "You need to get into their hearts."

 

Tough-love discipline is included. Being late for class is the same as missing a class. The individual's punishment? The entire team participates in 5 a.m. conditioning.

 

Each player was issued a manual that tells them how to be a Buffalo Bull. The boiled-down message: Follow the rules and do the right thing.

 

Gill also came up with an acronym slogan based on the word "believe."

 

B: Believe in each other and the things not yet seen.

 

E: Empower people by encouragement.

 

L: Learn and press on toward the goals.

 

I: Influence by being a positive role model.

 

E: Expect effort all the time, on and off the field.

 

V: Visualize success.

 

E: Enjoy the college football experience.

 

When first presented with the new motto, some of the players wondered where all the rah-rah was coming from.

 

"Yeah, at first I thought it was a bit cheesy," senior linebacker Ramon Guzman said. "There had been a lot of talk before, a lot of promises made about improvements, new equipment. We're starting to see stuff now, though. When Coach Gill says something, he follows through. He's sincere, and he wants to get things done."

 

The seven-letter acronym will be used each day of the week, starting on the Day After and ending on Game Day. To "enjoy the college football experience," mixing in a few wins would make the Bulls' experience more gratifying.

 

Gill's initial recruiting class last February was ranked as the fourth-best in the MAC. He credits his assistants' ability to build relationships with adding the kind of talent that could affect the win-loss column.

 

Gill admitted that before being contacted about the coaching job, he had never heard of the University of Buffalo or its football program. That was never a problem with the Cornhuskers.

 

After the 2003 season, Nebraska dismissed head coach Frank Solich, Tom Osborne's hand-picked successor. Instead of staying inside the Huskers family, new athletic director Steve Pederson hired Bill Callahan. Gill spent one season on Callahan's staff before leaving.

 

"It was time for me to move on from Nebraska," said Gill, who spent last season as player development director and offensive assistant with the Green Bay Packers. "I was in a situation where I was comfortable. I was at one place for a long time. I hoped they would consider me after Coach Solich, [but] I wasn't the right person at that time."

 

Fundraising, construction, recruiting classes, slogans... all that is hope for a new era in Buffalo football. The Gill Era starts Aug. 31 when the Bulls face Temple, another team scuffling in I-A's basement. The unrealistic nonconference schedule includes games at Auburn, Boston College and Wisconsin.

 

"I understand the past, what has occurred and what hasn't occurred here in terms of wins and losses," Gill said. "I know as a coach, you're defined by wins and losses. I look on this as an opportunity. I'm excited about the challenge of trying to change things."

 

ONLINE: ubathletics.buffalo.edu

 

NO BULLS

 

The Buffalo football program has struggled since moving up to Division I-A in 1999:

 

1 0-69 Record in seven seasons in Division I-A

 

3 of Buffalo's 10 victories since 1999 are against nonconference opponents

 

7 wins in seven seasons in the Mid-American Conference (7-49 in conference games)

 

IN THE KNOW

 

Coaching changes for 2006

 

School New coach

 

Boise State Chris Petersen

 

Buffalo Turner Gill

 

Colorado Dan Hawkins

 

Kansas State Ron Prince

 

Idaho Dennis Erickson

 

Middle Tennessee Rick Stockstill

 

Northwestern Pat Fitzgerald

 

Rice Todd Graham

 

San Diego State Chuck Long

 

Temple Al Golden

 

Wisconsin Bret Bielema

[ttheKid1*18]

Hopefully he can turn the program around and start getting more wins over the next few years. There is a huge talent base where he coaches, so hopefully he can land some of the New Yorkers.

[gamecocks]

Their game at Ohio could be a game that draws some interest from Nebraska fans.

[huskernumerouno]

Good luck Turner, You will do fine and the wins will come.