Turner Gill hired at Liberty University

December 14, 2011|By Grant Meech | KWCH 12 Eyewitness Sports

(LYNCHBURG, Virginia) — Former KU head football coach Turner Gill has been hired by Liberty University to become their new football coach.

Gill was fired from KU two and a half weeks ago after disastrous run as the head coach with the Jayhawks, compiling a 5-19 record in two seasons, winning only one Big 12 game.

His contract was bought out by KU and athletic boosters. He had three years remaining on a contract that guaranteed him $10 million in salary.

KU has since hired former Notre Dame head coach Charlie Weis to lead the Jayhawks.

Liberty is an FCS (Division 1-AA) private school in Lynchburg, Virginia.

From the official release by Liberty University: Liberty University Chancellor and President Jerry Falwell, Jr., and Director of Athletics Jeff Barber have announced that former Nebraska standout quarterback and Buffalo and Kansas head coach Turner Gill has been named the eighth head coach in the history of the Flames football program.

Gill comes to Liberty after serving two years as head coach of the Kansas Jayhawks. During his time in Lawrence, Kan., Gill coached 10 players who earned All-Big 12 honors, including 2011 All-Big 12 second-team all-conference offensive lineman Jeremiah Hatch and nine players who garnered All-Big 12 honorable-mention accolades.

Gill's two-year coaching stint at Kansas was spotlighted by a victory over No. 15 Georgia Tech, 28-25, his first Jayhawks win in 2010, and a 52-45 victory over Colorado, where he rallied Kansas for a fourth-quarter comeback after being down 45-17.

Gill received his first head coaching position in 2006, when he took over a struggling Buffalo Bulls program. After posting a 2-10 record during his inaugural season, Gill guided the Bulls to a 5-7 record in 2007, the program’s best mark in more than a decade, when they had finished 8-3 in 1996 while competing at the FCS level (then called I-AA football).

Quote from Liberty University Director of Athletics Jeff Barber:
"Liberty is tremendously blessed to welcome Turner Gill as our new head football coach. As we conducted this search during the past nine days, his name was recommended to us over and over from coaches and athletics directors from around the country as the right man to lead our football program. Turner embraces all that Liberty is and stands for and it will be a privilege to work alongside him as we continue to move our football program forward."

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