The fall of Turner Gill
Once upon a time, not too long ago, Turner Gill was one of the hottest coaching names in college football. After a 2-10 debut campaign with the University at Buffalo in 2006, Gill managed to help the Bulls improve to 5-7 the following year before the team won its first-ever MAC title in 2008.
When Auburn chose Iowa State coach Gene Chizik over Gill to replace Tommy Tuberville that offseason, the decision seemed so irrational to some that it sparked accusations of racism. Even another 5-7 season for UB in 2009 couldn’t deter the University of Kansas from choosing Gill to replace Mark Mangino the next year.
The story took a sharp downturn there, though, and almost three years after Auburn rejected Gill, few are questioning the decision anymore.
After just two full seasons with the Tigers, Chizik has already coached them to a national championship. Meanwhile, Gill’s Jayhawks sit at 2-6 in 2011 and are 0-5 in Big 12 play after a 43-0 loss to Texas last week. They’re 5-15 overall under Gill, including a depressing 1-12 mark against the rest of the conference. They’ve also had some disastrous moments, including conceding 724 yards and 66 points to Georgia Tech this season and a 6-3 loss to FCS opponent North Dakota State in their 2010 home opener, one of the lowest points in Kansas football history.
With that in mind, perhaps the operative question is not why major programs won’t touch Turner Gill, but how long will he remain the head coach of one at a time of rapidly increasing conference instability?
[php snippet=1]
To be fair, the task Gill was faced with in rebuilding Kansas when he arrived wasn’t much less daunting than the one he faced in building up Buffalo when he first took over there. After starting Mangino’s final season with five straight wins, the Jayhawks lost the remaining seven games of 2009 to finish out of bowl contention. Moreover, six of the starters from the year graduated or left before Gill ever coached a game in Lawrence, including quarterback Todd Reesing.
Even the amount of turnover Gill faced can’t fully explain just how badly Kansas struggled in 2010, though. The team finished the season ranked 114th in the country in total offense, 107th in passing, 91st in rushing, tied for 114th in receiving, tied for 106th in sacks, and tied for 110th in interceptions. They won only three games and their only conference win came after fellow also-ran Colorado blew a 38-10 third-quarter lead.
This year hasn’t been any better. In addition to those blowouts at the hands of Georgia Tech and Texas, the Jayhawks have lost 70-28 to Oklahoma State and 47-17 to Oklahoma. In fact, Tim Riordan, who covers UB football for Bull Run, argues that Kansas’ decision to hire Gill might not have been best for either party.
“As a coach, I really like Gill, [but] Kansas was oh so wrong to hire Gill, and, quite frankly, Gill should not have chased the money to KU,” Riordan said. “Anyone who watched UB in 2009 knew that Gill had some more maturing to do as a head coach. When a head coach can’t put together back-to-back winning seasons, you should not be a coaching target regardless of what conference you’re working in.”
UB’s 2008 season was indeed impressive, an 8-6 campaign culminating in an upset win over previously unbeaten Ball State in the MAC Championship Game and the program’s first modern bowl appearance. But many of the players who were most responsible for the Bulls’ success that season, including QB Drew Willy, RB James Starks and WR Naaman Roosevelt, were actually recruited by Gill’s predecessor, Jim Hofher. That’s why Riordan argues that Gill should have waited until he’d seen one of his teams succeed with his own recruits before taking a bigger job.
“One reason why you don’t throw a true freshman out there is because you can ruin their career if you put them in the big game before they are ready,” Riordan said. “It seems Gill was not ready.”
Whether Gill will receive enough time to get up to speed remains to be seen, but the pressure on him is growing every day. That doesn’t bode well for a man who was so recently a hot coaching prospect. Now, he’s on the hot seat himself.
[php snippet=1]
