Excellent piece on Nebraska's former quarterback, now coach at Buffalo, and his response to not being hired at Auburn.

Well worth the watch...

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“I thought Coach Osborne was very genuine. I knew he really cared about me as a person, even more than he did as a football player. Yes, he recognized me initially because of my football talents and all that, but I knew he cared about me deeply as a person. That means a lot to me.” -- Turner Gill

From “Beyond the Final Score” by Tom Osborne, 2009 published by Regal

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"Becoming a Division I football player, becoming a starting quarterback, winning a national championship as a coach, three national titles, and being undefeated for two and a half years. Coach Osborne started and reached his goal—seeing a great coach doing things the right way and treating people the right way and showing people you can be a nice guy and still win” -- Turner Gill



In “Then Osborne Said to Rozier” by Steven Richardson, published by Triumph Books in 2008, former Cornhusker Quarterback and coach, Turner Gill lists above the rewards of being in Nebraska. Current Buffalo Head Coach Gill had his best year in 1983 when he passed for 1,516 yards and fourteen touchdowns.

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“He taught me so much about life and the spiritual part of myself. He was the main reason I chose the University of Nebraska in the first place, and he was the one who helped me grow into the person I am. I knew he would make me a better person, not necessarily a better quarterback or better football player. And I was right. We have so much tradition, loyalty, and integrity at Nebraska, and that’s what this football program has been about for all these years. I thank God for putting Nebraska there for me.” -- Turner Gill

This is Buffalo head coach Turner Gill’s remarks in What It Means To Be A Husker by Jeff Snook in his 2004 publication.

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Heisman Pundit names him the 2nd-most underrated coachbehind Baylor's Art Briles.

The whole list, with their comments. You may want to visit their most overrated list, too...although it's not a very good list of coaches.

1. Art Briles, Baylor–One of the finest offensive minds in the game, he helped revive the Houston program and now appears to have Baylor on the quick turnaround as well.

2. Turner Gill, Buffalo–How many coaches from the overrated list could find a way to win at Buffalo? And why is this guy still in Buffalo?

3. Kyle Wittingham, Utah–He had a tough act to follow in Urban Meyer. But he just went 13-0, too. Either going 13-0 is easy to do at Utah, or the Utes have had some really good coaches lately.

4. Mike Riley, Oregon State–Has done something only one other current coach in the country has done: Beaten Pete Carroll twice (the other is Bill Snyder, who just returned to coaching).

5. Kevin Sumlin, Houston–When Briles left, the Cougars could’ve taken a dive. But Sumlin did an admirable job and led Houston to a bowl. Is anyone noticing?

6. Houston Nutt, Ole Miss–Seems to win wherever he goes, but is never fully appreciated. Sure, he’s using Ed Orgeron’s talent, but he knows what to do with it.

7. Bobby Johnson, Vandy–He got Vandy to a bowl. How many coaches on the overrated list could get Vandy to a bowl?

8. Dick Tomey, San Jose State–Was run out of Arizona for no real good reason then sat out a few years before doing a solid job for the Spartans. He’s still got it.

9. Jim Grobe, Wake Forest–Has won 28 games in three seasons at Wake, not that anyone seems to care.

10. Jim Harbaugh, Stanford–Has turned Stanford into a hard-nose, competitive team. Beat an extremely talented USC team with almost no talent. Now, he’s starting to bring in some talent. Look out.

See also: These Husker boots weren't made for walkin...

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Once a Husker, always a Husker. That's our motto.

So if Turner "Speechless, Man, Speechless" Gill is in the news, hey - we're here to deliver. The cool quarterback who smooth brilliance helped delivered Nebraska into its golden era for the next 15 seasons is in the midst of one heck of a turnaround in Buffalo. Now he's chatting with the Fort Worth newspaper, and we're here to bring it to you.

A key question in the Q&A:

Who were or are the biggest influences on your coaching career?

Turner's answer, if you know the guy a little bit, isn't surprising:

The Lord Jesus Christ and Tom Osborne.


The other questions:

Are you surprised that you’ve made Buffalo so competitive so fast?

No, not really, because we had a plan and a vision. The key to our success in Buffalo has been building relationships through our vision statement: To provide a positive and motivating environment, which encourages excellence, growth and balance in the lives of our staff and student-athletes.

What is your recipe for a successful football team?

My recipe includes B.E.L.I.E.V.E.: Believe in each other and the things not yet seen — Empower people by encouragement — Learn and press on toward the goal — Influence by being a positive role model — Expect great effort all of the time — Visualize success — Enjoy the college football experience.

Are there any lessons from your experience being recruited that you apply to recruiting players to Buffalo?

Be genuine.

What is one of your favorite memories of growing up in Fort Worth?

One was being integrated from Como Elementary to South Hi Mount Elementary during my fourth-grade year [1971-72].

You were drafted in baseball by the Chicago White Sox out of high school. How seriously did you consider the White Sox? And do you ever wonder where you would be today if you had taken the other path of the fork in the road?

The White Sox were $20,000 short of my signing their contract. I don’t wonder what might have been because I know that this was God’s plan for my life in order that I could honor Him.

What does the Fellowship of Christian Athletes mean to you?

The FCA is extremely valuable because it promotes a ministry that reaches out to [teenage] athletes by empowering and encouraging people to be an influence for Christ. In 2008, FCA impacted over 2 million lives for Jesus Christ, and the ministry is literally exploding across America. FCA is volunteer intensive, yet it requires the support of the business community, not only in Fort Worth, but in all other communities.

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"You are never 100 percent perfect in recruiting. You would miss on some scholarship players. By redshirting players, by their junior or senior years, particularly walk-ons would be ready to play and they would be just like (good) scholarship players. This would be particularly true of positions like tight ends, fullbacks, and the offensive line, where there were a lot of walk-ons. It helped Nebraska to never have a bad year." -Turner Gill

Turner Gill was Quarterback for Nebraska in the Osborne era and went on the coach at Nebraska and is Head Coach at Buffalo. He took the Buffalo team from losing years to the championship game.

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