Turner Gill, who resurrected the Buffalo program in his four seasons as coach, will be introduced Monday as Kansas' new coach.
Gill, 47, is bringing Chuck Long and Carl Torbush with him, according to the Kansas City Star. Long, the former San Diego State coach, will serve as offensive coordinator under Gill. Torbush, currently the defensive coordinator at Mississippi State, will have the same position at Kansas.
The hiring of Gill drew this response from Star columnist Jason Whitlock, a former player at Ball State:
"As a black member of the media, I know what I'm expected to do today — shout that Gill's hiring as Kansas' new football coach is a bold step for college football mankind, a terrific hire by [athletic director] Lew Perkins and the culmination of Martin Luther King's dream.
"The problem is, unlike most of Gill's prominent supporters in the media, I've actually watched his Buffalo Bulls play numerous times. Never once have I been impressed. Not even on the night when Gill's Bulls ended my then-12th-ranked Ball State Cardinals' Cinderella season with a shocking 42-24 victory in the 2008 MAC championship game.
"That victory — the product of Ball State's five-turnover, sleepwalk performance and questionable officiating — turned Gill into Charles Barkley's favorite candidate to replace Tommy Tuberville at Auburn and the darling of the black press.
Whitlock added: "Look, I'm not a still-bitter fan. I'm an informed one. Most of the people championing Gill as college football's Tony Dungy just haven't seen his teams play. I have. It's not pretty.
"In 2008, he won the MAC East with a 5-3 record in a year when the MAC's four best teams all played in the West. It was the equivalent of winning the Big 12 North in 2009, the difference being Nebraska won the North with a Bo Pelini-crafted defense."
Gill had a 20-30 record at Buffalo. He took over a program in 2005 that was 10-69 since becoming a member of Division I-A in 1999.
Gill was the first coach interviewed by Perkins after Mark Mangino's resignation. Gill's daughter, Jordan, recently began working for the Kansas athletic department.
Several coaches tried to use the Kansas opening as leverage to get a better deal from their current employer. Houston Nutt talked with Perkins, then quickly proclaimed his love for Oxford after word leaked of the conversation. Minnesota's Tim Brewster somehow got his name in the mix, even though there was no interest on Kansas' end.
Jim Harbaugh was reportedly targeted by Perkins, but it was announced Saturday that the Stanford coach had signed a new contract.
Whitlock is sooo dumb. So he's seen Buffalo play what, once, twice. Suddenly he is an expert on Turner Gill. Awesome. When he says he's not a bitter Ball State fan, that is exactly what he is. He's a crappy columnist always has been always will be. The program Gill inherited was a joke, a flatout joke. He made everyone believe they could win, the players, the students, the city of Buffalo. Its sad day for the Bulls program but they are in a much better place now than before Turner Gill.
Posted by: Whitlock's a Biotch | December 13, 2009 at 12:16 PM
Whitlock is black ,man. This gives him free reign to say what he wants. Maybe he should get off HIS black ass in front of his computer and go coach some football. I'm sure he'd be impressive.
Posted by: B | December 14, 2009 at 06:42 AM