Turner Gill Head Coach Fourth Season Email: ub-football@buffalo.edu Phone: 716-645-3177 Office: 104 Stadium

Entering his fourth season, head coach Turner Gill has lifted the Buffalo football program from a one-win program to Mid-American Conference Champions. On December 5, 2008 the Bulls defeated 12th-ranked and undefeated Ball State to win the MAC Championship for the first time in school history.

Under Gill’s leadership, the Bulls had an 8-6 record in 2008. The eight wins were the most in the Bulls’ Division I-A era and one shy of the school record for wins in a season. Gills’ UB teams have now won 13 games over the past two seasons – one more than the first eight seasons as a Division I-A program.

Gill led the Bulls to their first ever bowl game when they played Connecticut in the 2009 International Bowl.

The 2008 season featured one of the most explosive offenses in school history. Gill, who handled the play calling, commanded an offense that scored a school-record 424 points. Quarterback Drew Willy threw for a school-record 3,304 yards and 25 touchdowns, running back James Starks ran for a school-record 1,333 yards and 16 touchdowns and wideout Naaman Roosevelt established school records of 104 receptions, 1,402 yards and 13 touchdowns.

Coach Gill Celebrates MAC Title

Gill was named the MAC Coach of the Year by The Sporting News and was named a finalist for the Paul Bear Bryant College Football Coach of the Year Award.

For his many efforts in bringing national respect to the Bulls’ football program, Gill received a contract extension through 2013 in December of 2008.

“On the day I came here to be the head coach I told my team that one day we would be successful here at the University at Buffalo,” said Gill. “Now, more than ever, I have never been more proud to be the head coach of this program at this great academic institution. This program has proven it can win now and it is built to continue to win in the future. I am grateful to President John Simpson and Athletic Director Warde Manuel for their continued support and faith in me as a football coach and leader of young men.

“I additionally want to thank our coaching staff and support staff for all they have done that has allowed us to have success in our football program,” said Gill.

Manuel was pleased to sign Gill to the extension. “I am extremely proud of the accomplishments of Turner, his coaching staff and his team,” said Manuel. “They have brought unprecedented attention to the University at Buffalo and have been great ambassadors for the school. I am thrilled that Turner will remain as our head coach, and with President John Simpson, am elated to reward him and his staff for their efforts.”

During the 2007 season, Gill earned Mid-American Conference Coach of the Year honors after leading the Bulls to five wins. UB finished with a 5-3 conference record, including a 4-2 mark in the MAC East Division to claim a share of the regular season title.

In addition, under Gill’s tutelage Buffalo had eight players selected to the All-MAC after having just seven in their first eight years of conference play. The Bulls had eight MAC Players of the Week had two players on national semifinal “watch lists” – Ben Woods (Ray Guy Award – top punter) and Trevor Scott (Ted Hendricks Award – top defensive end), while senior center Jamey Richard was invited to play in the Hula Bowl and earned an invitation to the NFL Combine.

Three of UB’s eight All-MAC players came from Gill’s first two recruiting classes, including safety Davonte Shannon, a true freshman, who became UB’s first All-MAC first-team selection. Buffalo enjoyed its first winning record at home since moving up to Division I-A and its two MAC road wins was also its best effort since joining the conference.

Quarterback Drew Willy completed 258 passes and had the highest pass efficiency rating in school history and running back James Starks became the Bulls’ first 1,000-yard rusher in the I-A era with 1,103 yards.

The Texas native made an immediate impact in his first year as he led the Bulls to a number of firsts. In 2006, Buffalo scored the most points in a season (220) since moving to Division I-A. UB also scored the most points (201) of any team in the MAC East Division and defeated the first team – Kent State – with a winning record since joining Mid-American Conference in 1999.

Gill has reached the pinnacle of college football as both a player and a coach, he was part of three national championships as a coach at the University of Nebraska and a Heisman Trophy finalist as a player. He become the 23rd head football coach at the University at Buffalo on December 16, 2005.

Gill, 47, who spent the 2005 season serving as Player Development Director and Offensive Assistant with the Green Bay Packers, was lauded as one of the nation’s top recruiters while an assistant coach at Nebraska from 1992-2004. The Cornhuskers won national titles in 1994, 1995 and 1997 during that span.

Gill, who was selected following a national search, brings with him tremendous success as both a player and coach. Consider how few head coaches in America can claim to have:

• As a player, to have never lost a conference game as a starter; to have led his team to the national championship game and to have been a finalist for the Heisman Trophy (won by his teammate).

• As a coach, to be on the sidelines for three national championships and to have coached an individual who won the Heisman Trophy.

UB President John B. Simpson said that Gill’s hiring “is great news for UB, marking not just an important step forward in our continuing work to build a strong, competitive athletic program, but also a key outcome of our university-wide commitment to institutional excellence.”

During his tenure at Nebraska, Gill served as an assistant coach for College Football Hall of Famer Tom Osborne, current Ohio University head coach Frank Solich and Bill Callahan. He tutored the Huskers’ quarterbacks from 1992-2002, was named assistant head football coach in 2003, and served as wide receivers coach in 2004.

During the height of Nebraska football in the 1990s, with Gill serving as quarterbacks coach, the Cornhuskers had unprecedented success at both the quarterback position and as a team. Gill - rated one of the top ten recruiters in the nation in 2000 and 2001 by ESPN.com - played a vital role in Nebraska’s three national titles, and mentored a string of record-breaking quarterbacks, from Tommie Frazier to Jamaal Lord to 2001 Heisman Trophy winner Eric Crouch.

Crouch, Frazier and Lord rank as the top three total career offense leaders in Nebraska history (while Gill, himself, ranks eighth). Crouch won the Heisman Trophy, Walter Camp Award (top player in the nation) and the Davey O’Brien Award (nation’s top quarterback) as well as being a first-team All-American in 2001 under Gill’s tutelage.

Frazier was also a first-team All-American, Johnny Unitas Award winner and Heisman Trophy finalist in 1995, and led Nebraska to back-to-back national championships (1994-95). Both Fraizer and Crouch were tabbed as Big 12 Offensive Players of the Year. Gill also mentored a pair of Big 12 Conference Offensive Newcomers of the Year in Frazier and Scott Frost (1996). Frost would lead Nebraska to another national title in 1997.

In 2002, he was nominated and among the finalists for the Frank Broyles Award, given annually to the top assistant coach in the nation. He was regarded by several sources as one of the top recruiters in the nation.

"Turner is an outstanding human being," said former Nebraska head coach Tom Osborne, a member of the College Football Hall of Famer and one of the winningest coaches in college football history. “He has great character. He’s a great family man, an excellent recruiter, he relates well to his players and he really works well with people. He’ll always represent the program well. He is very knowledege as far as football goes. I have nothing but the greatest admiration for him.”

Before accepting the job at Buffalo, Gill served as the direct liaison to players and their families as the Player Development Director. He also served as an offensive assistant, with a focus on wide receivers. He began his coaching career at Southern Methodist University as receivers coach in 1991.

Gill’s outstanding coaching career mirrors a memorable playing career that culminated with him being named a finalist for the Heisman Trophy in 1983 (finishing fourth behind teammate Mike Rozier) and earning a berth on the All-Decade Big Eight team (1980-89) as the starting quarterback.

Gill, a native of Fort Worth, TX, was the starting quarterback at Nebraska from 1981-83 and led the team to a No. 2 and No. 3 national ranking. Overall, Nebraska teams had a 28-2 overall record with Gill as the starting quarterback and a 20-0 record in Big Eight conference play. He is the 12th winningest QB in NCAA Div. I history.

He spent two seasons as quarterback of the Montreal Concordes of the Canadian Football League, leading his team to playoff berths in 1984 and 1985.

One of the most respected student-athletes in Nebraska athletics history, Gill earned the Tom Novak Award for Outstanding Leaadership and Character as well as the Herbert Marshall Award for leadership. He has been inducted into the Nebraska Football Hall of Fame, the Orange Bowl Hall of Fame, was a three-time All Big Eight selection, and was the MVP of the Orange Bowl and Kickoff Classic. A multi-talented athlete, Gill also spent three seasons in the minor league systems of the Detroit Tigers and Cleveland Indians.

He received his bachelor’s degree in Behavior Analysis from the University of North Texas in 1990.

He is a member of the American Football Coaches Association and was named to the AFCA Board of Trustees in January 2009. As a member of AFCA he has served on the Ethics Committee since 2007. He is also active in the Fellowship of Christian Athletes.

Gill has also served as a Spokesperson for the United Way and as honorary chairman for Cystic Fibrosis, the American Heart Association and the American Diabetes Association. 

He and his wife Gayle have two daughters, Jordan (18) and Margaux (14).