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• Video: Kansas coach Turner Gill at Big 12 media days:
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DALLAS — He looks the part. He sounds the part. Leader. General. Coach. You see Turner Gill up on stage as a head coach at Big 12 media days, and you say this is the role he was born to play.
But for those who have followed Gill’s career at Nebraska and beyond, his emergence as University of Kansas football coach has been a surprise, if not a mild shock.
Yes, once upon a time, in a Big Red fairy tale, Gill was the prince to Tom Osborne’s king. The story would logically play out that Osborne would hand the kingdom over to Frank Solich, and then one day the throne would belong to Gill.
The tale was rewritten once Steve Pederson arrived, but that’s another story for another day.
And yes, when Osborne wrestled the kingdom back from Pederson, he turned it over to Bo Pelini instead of Gill. Yet another story for another day.
The point here is that, once upon a time, anyone who followed Gill on a daily basis never would have predicted that he would end up as a head football coach at a big-time, Division I school.
It wasn’t that he lacked talent. Or leadership. Or football smarts. Gill aces the test in all those areas.
It was how he approached coaching. During the 1990s, when Gill was mentoring Tommie Frazier to championships, Gill gave the impression that he was wishy-washy toward the coaching profession.
He didn’t have that drive. He wasn’t the Type-A who now commands a press conference with a booming voice and a stout message.
Did the devout family man want to make the commitment necessary to be on the road recruiting and spend the late nights and early mornings at the office? Did he see himself like Osborne, with a successful legacy as coach but with regrets as a father?
A lot of us who covered Gill back then said no way he would ever be a head coach. Those creatures are different. Driven toward winning, to the point of obsession. That wasn’t Gill.
Somewhere along the road, Gill admits, he changed.
“I really didn’t think about being a head coach when I was an assistant at Nebraska,’’ Gill said. “It wasn’t really my desire, that I had to be a head coach. I just wanted to be coaching and teaching young men. But I think with the feedback from other coaches that I received, guys saying, ‘You will be a good head coach.’ I started taking more notes, under Coach Solich and in Green Bay under Coach (Mike) Sherman. I started to see myself being a head coach.’’
But first he had to work on some things.
“Six, seven years ago, standing up and talking in front of people?’’ Gill said with a laugh. “There’s no way I could do that.’’
There were other reasons to doubt Gill could ever get here.
He left Bill Callahan’s staff after one year in 2004. There was shock and despair in Husker land. It was truly the end of an era. Mostly, there was uncertainty — about NU’s future, but about Gill’s future, too.
He was going to Green Bay to help in the front office and study. But study to become what? Gill in the NFL? Would he toil as a journeyman assistant the rest of his career?
A year later, we found out. He became Buffalo Gill.
“A lot of my colleagues questioned it,’’ Gill said. “But I had never been a coordinator. I knew this was my only chance to be a head coach.’’
The rest is Buffalo history. Gill led the Bulls to a league title in 2008. He made himself a name. Auburn wouldn’t hire him. But Kansas, in need of a makeover, jumped last December.
KU got the makeover. Gill has turned heads with his early mastery of the job. He oozes class into the cameras. He talks with passion about helping young men. He’s put together what looks like a quality staff.
And a lot of people who watch and listen to Gill already say he sounds like a young Tom Osborne. Where have we heard that before?
“He (Osborne) would have the most influence on what I’ve done,’’ Gill said. “He’s the one who kind of asked me, ‘Have you ever thought about coaching,’ as I was playing. I didn’t know. I hadn’t thought about it. I didn’t know if I had the skill or whatever word you want to call it. He said, ‘Why don’t you come out and try to coach spring practice?’ I was in the Canadian Football League at the time. I tried it and kind of liked it.’’
Gill is in the perfect job to see if he can fulfill that destiny. KU is no football factory. It’s a place with medium expectations but great facilities. It’s a place that is very image conscious.
It’s obvious KU types are already enamored of Gill’s father figure image. There’s a poster out with Gill standing up on a pedestal, surrounded by KU players reaching up to him. Over the top? Maybe. But here at Big 12 media days, KU players spoke glowingly of Gill. Offensive lineman Brad Thorson said Gill “treats us like a dad.’’
He’ll have to win eventually. He’ll come to Lincoln this fall. His athletic director announced his retirement before Gill had coached one game. The Big 12 has shrunk. The road doesn’t look easy.
But Gill has already shown more resiliency than some of us ever imagined.
“I focus on the things I can control,’’ Gill said. “I’m passionate about trying to develop young men. That’s my purpose here on this earth. That’s what gratifies me. That’s why I can go home every night with a smile on my face. I know every day I helped at least one person to feel good about himself.’’
If he wins at Kansas, watch out.
Contact the writer:
444-1025, tom.shatel@owh.com
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• Video: The Big Red Today Show from day three at Big 12 media days, with Lee Barfknecht, Rich Kaipust and Jon Nyatawa:
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