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Dr. Saturday - NCAAF

Dr. Saturday

Tue Dec 16, 2008 5:59 pm EST

Turner Gill is enthusiastic about his return to Buffalo

By Matt Hinton

Turner Gill is extremely excited to be returning as head coach of the Buffalo Bulls in 2009. No, no: That's "Bulls," not "Bills." It's okay. Turner gets that all the time. No, he's not sick of it. He's just psyched to be here.

Here, in Buffalo, where the tradition fills him with pride and confidence in his team's ability to sustain the success of the school's first winning season in more than a decade. Where meat keeps in the open air and you have to get up and jog around the bedroom three times a night in December to keep your heart rate from slowing to a complete stop. He loves it here.

Buffalo! Where the birds sing, the lakes freeze and the population declines to 19th Century levels as what little industry remains continues to flee to the cheap, non-union labor of warmer locales. Why would anyone ever consider leaving?

What, the SEC? You didn't think there was anything to that, did you? Turner? In the SEC? That's not really his crowd, you know. Who needs the pressure? The money, the fame, the power, the access to the staggering resources and the most fertile recruiting grounds in the country? Did you really think he'd fall for that old line?

No, you couldn't pay Turner enough to work at a "more prestigious" program. He doesn't even want to hear any offers to go somewhere else. Ask Jay Jacobs if he even bothered to offer. Ask Mike Hamilton if he bothered to offer, or drive down to Syracuse and ask Daryl Gross. They didn't even bother to offer, because they know, like everybody knows: Don't even come calling Turner Gill with offers to leave the MAC. He's right where he wants to be: In Buffalo. Where everything else may be leaving, but Turner Gill never will. God help him, he never will.

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7 Comments

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  1. Shane C
    1. Posted by Shane C Thu Sep 03, 2009 4:11 pm EDT

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    I'm not leaving
  2. haelig
    2. Posted by haelig Thu Sep 03, 2009 4:16 pm EDT

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    Forget about the rules for equal opportunity hirings, pat Hollywood movies about athletes achieving against all odds, or even the recent Presidential election: This past week showed that good ole' boy network is very much alive, and this country has a LONG way to go.
  3. just4funsies
    3. Posted by just4funsies Thu Sep 03, 2009 4:44 pm EDT

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    Of course he's enthusiastic about staying in Buffalo, since nobody offered him a suitable chance to get outta there. That is a shame, too, because Auburn would have been much better off with Gill than they are with The Chiz.
  4. Anthony W
    4. Posted by Anthony W Thu Sep 03, 2009 10:17 pm EDT

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    I agree that the race issue still exist at these southern schools when it comes to hiring a prominate african american coach. We (blacks) can come to your school, deal with all the bs, win you titles, genirate millions of dollars for your program, but just don't date my daughter, or try to become a head coach later in life. It is clear that "good ole boy" politics/alumni still run these collegiate institutions. It is a shame, that we have come so far in america to still have to deal with such nonsense. I guess having a black president don't mean anything either. I played football at a school during a time that racism was evident but when we stepped on the field, well 3 championships in four years. Color didn't matter we were team mates first and foremost. I think a man or women should be measured by their resume, character, morals, and accomplishments, not by the color of their skin or who they are married to. No one is asking you to have a sleep over or share the same bed. It's about putting your school it a posistion to compete with the other powerhouses in your division and it it is by the hand of a african american coach so be it. If he is the best man for the job. Stop with the bs, step out of the 50's and into the new millenium. Times have changed, no more white sheets homey. We are very capable, compident and confident of running programs with big names. Chose better in the near future and realize we can be better than others. It's ok.
  5. devares m
    5. Posted by devares m Thu Sep 03, 2009 3:42 pm EDT

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    I agree. Turner Gill is a better coach than Gene Chizik. 5-19 vs. MAC Conference Championship? You do the math on that. And Anthony W. is right to an extent. Colleges in the south are considering race in the factor of hiring a head coach. Sure I give Mississippi State credit for hiring Sylvester Croom, but they didn't give him the talent to win, so what do you expect from him? But I guess you have to please the president, the athletic director, and those redneck alumnis. Auburn will learn when their football team goes 0-12.
  6. Zachary K
    6. Posted by Zachary K Thu Sep 03, 2009 8:00 pm EDT

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    Eh. I'm not sure where the certainty that Mr. Gill was the best option comes from. Making the Bulls something resembling competitive is commendable, but that said: His team went 5-3 in conference play. In the MAC. In the MAC *East*. I think it's fair for college football decision-makers in general to wait one more year on Mr. Gill; it doesn't seem terribly racist to want to see if he can keep improving the team after Drew Willy's departure, and now that any element of surprise is long gone. I realize the ridiculousness of saying this given Auburn's eventual hire, but it seems fair for programs of that stature to demand a great coach. I can't look at Mr. Gill's resume thus far (remember: all his achievements have come against a MAC *EAST* backdrop) and say he's been unequivocally great.
    That said, I'm still flabbergasted that Syracuse didn't pick him. Hopeless upstate NY team in need of massive rebuilding? What, was it too obvious?
  7. Scott H
    7. Posted by Scott H Thu Sep 03, 2009 4:17 pm EDT

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    devares,
    How is it that Auburn and Syracuse both interviewed Gill, but only Auburn is raked over the coals for not choosing him? He already has recruiting relationships established in the New York area so he should've been a no-brainer for Syracuse, right? Do they get a pass for hiring an NFL assistant? Those always work out, don't they? If Iowa State doesn't interview Gill, does that make them racist too? How about Tennessee or Clemson? They didn't even consider him. It's ironic that the message being sent is, "If you interview a black candidate for head coach, then you damn well better hire him." That apparently goes double in the South. It may be news to you that Gill was overwhelmingly the fan favorite during Auburn's coaching search, but don't let that get in the way of calling them all "redneck alumnis" (sic)
    I'm also curious about how Mississippi State was supposed to "give" Croom the talent to win. This isn't the NFL. There's not a front office and General Manager dealing with free agents and draft prospects. One of the foremost jobs of a college head coach is to RECRUIT. If Croom couldn't bring good enough offensive talent to complement the bang-up defense he put together, then that's on him, not the university. It's a real shame too, because he's a class act and really cleaned up the mess Sherrill left behind.

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