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Liberty names Gill new head football coach


Lynchburg, VA (Sports Network) - Liberty University named Turner Gill as the new head football coach on Wednesday.

Gill had been the head coach at Kansas the past two seasons and guided the team to a mark of just 5-19, including 1-16 in Big 12 play.

Prior to that, he coached four seasons at Buffalo and finished 20-30 there, with a 14-18 mark in Mid-American Conference action.

"In our search for a new head football coach, almost every advisor recommended Turner Gill," said Liberty chancellor and president Jerry Falwell, Jr. "Every indication is that he is a perfect fit for Liberty University. His experience is at the level where we would like to take our football program. His Christian faith is strong and sincere and what any new recruit would expect to see in a Liberty University head football coach."

Gill takes the spot of Danny Rocco, who left Liberty earlier in December to take the coaching position at Richmond. Liberty went 47-20 with a 26-5 mark in Big South action under Rocco's guidance.

http://64.246.64.33/merge/tsnform.aspx? ... id=4457536" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

We're really jazzed to make such a quality hire so quickly. The news conference at 1pm ET will be streamed live and include some other news as well.

FlameFans.com has been all over this search and the school believes it got its first choice.

Absolutely Stoked. What a great hire and a great future for Liberty Football. I will be going over at 1 but if you want to watch the conference it will be here: http://www.bigsouthsports.com/liveEvent ... EM_ID=4800

Gill should be a great coach for Liberty. Best wishes to Turner

If I'm a Liberty fan I'm ecstatic, but from an outsiders view, wow did Gill experience a freefall, from one of the hottest FBS coaches to a low-FCS program.

So how long until Liberty announces their move to FBS?

I smell the Sun Belt right around the corner.

bluehenbillk wrote:If I'm a Liberty fan I'm ecstatic, but from an outsiders view, wow did Gill experience a freefall, from one of the hottest FBS coaches to a low-FCS program.

I would be excited if I were a Liberty fan too, but other than the name and one great season at Buffalo ("great" being defined as 8-6), I don't see the big attraction.

Is he known as a great recruiter? By the time the team was all of "his" guys, Buffalo was 5-7, 2-10, and 3-8 (obviously they probably had some defections after his departure).

I don't want to come off as a negative nancy, because I probably really would be excited about this if I were a Liberty fan (or if JMU were in a similar position). Maybe I don't know enough about him other than his name.

This is an honest question: Can somebody tell me the attributes that make him a great hire? Because I don't see it from the above.

danefan wrote:So how long until Liberty announces their move to FBS?

I smell the Sun Belt right around the corner.

We formally announced a Feasability Study today

rueful wrote:

danefan wrote:So how long until Liberty announces their move to FBS?

I smell the Sun Belt right around the corner.

We formally announced a Feasability Study today

Didn't take long:

http://www.liberty.edu/news/index.cfm?P ... &MID=44319" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Still a long way to go of course....but its in motion.

Long way to go? I'm curious how many other schools are better positioned to make the transition from a perspective of total sports carried, facilities, Title IX, etc. We already meet the attendance standards. It is a very short list and from some of the feedback we have received from FBS circles, the list may not exist at all. Yeah, I am well aware of our shortcomings on the football field. But that is just a part of the equation. If an FBS league were to invite us tomorrow, our adjustments would be almost negligible beyond adding the scholarships. And resources are not the problem for us that state-funded schools are facing with budget crises aplenty.

Sly Fox wrote:Long way to go? I'm curious how many other schools are better positioned to make the transition from a perspective of total sports carried, facilities, Title IX, etc. We already meet the attendance standards. It is a very short list and from some of the feedback we have received from FBS circles, the list may not exist at all. Yeah, I am well aware of our shortcomings on the football field. But that is just a part of the equation. If an FBS league were to invite us tomorrow, our adjustments would be almost negligible beyond adding the scholarships. And resources are not the problem for us that state-funded schools are facing with budget crises aplenty.

I agree that Liberty is well positioned.

But, feasibility studies don't happen overnight.

This is in all honesty the best job Turner Gill will have had so far.

Congrats on the excellent hire.

danefan wrote:I agree that Liberty is well positioned.

But, feasibility studies don't happen overnight.

You are correct that they do not happen overnight and take a considerable amount of time, however, the feasibility study is already in process. It is scheduled to be complete by February/March 2012. This is not new information from the perspective of those that follow Liberty athletics closely, however, it is the first that it was announced from the administration.

Bill Carr’s firm, Carr Sports Associates, has helped a lot of schools make the transition from the Football Championship Subdivision to the Football Bowl Subdivision. CSA’s list of clients includes Texas State, Texas-San Antonio and South Alabama, all of whom are in the process of upgrading, and current Sun Belt schools Troy, Florida Atlantic and Florida International, all of whom started as I-AA football programs.

Liberty initially brought Carr’s firm in last October to do an assessment of the program. When it was done, Carr told Falwell that Liberty was more well positioned to make the move than any other FCS school in the country.

http://www2.newsadvance.com/sports/2011 ... r-1547879/

So you guys are excited to land a coach with a 25-49 career record?

89Hen wrote:So you guys are excited to land a coach with a 25-49 career record?

Who, pray tell, wins big at Kansas? He won at Buffalo, which is a much worse job than Liberty, IMO.

rkwittem wrote:

89Hen wrote:So you guys are excited to land a coach with a 25-49 career record?

Who, pray tell, wins big at Kansas? He won at Buffalo, which is a much worse job than Liberty, IMO.

He had a winning record one year out of 4 at Buffalo. And one out of six as a head coach. I'm sure he's a good Christian though.

rkwittem wrote:

89Hen wrote:So you guys are excited to land a coach with a 25-49 career record?

Who, pray tell, wins big at Kansas? He won at Buffalo, which is a much worse job than Liberty, IMO.

Mangino did

rkwittem wrote:Who, pray tell, wins big at Kansas? He won at Buffalo, which is a much worse job than Liberty, IMO.

EPJr wrote:Prior to that, he coached four seasons at Buffalo and finished 20-30 there

Who wins big at Kansas? A rather ironic question. Maybe it was the guy who led them to a BCS bowl win only 4 years ago...

89Hen wrote:So you guys are excited to land a coach with a 25-49 career record?

See my previous post....that no one's responded to.

89Hen wrote:So you guys are excited to land a coach with a 25-49 career record?

His two year tenure at Kansas was atrocious, but he made Buffalo actually relevant for a year or two...which is a miracle in and of it's own right. Problem was that one 8 win season at a MAC school was enough to turn him into some sort of phenom coach overnight.

I don't know if I'd exactly say it's a brilliant hiring because he isn't exactly coming off a great stint at Kansas...but he's still coming from Kansas. He has a recognizable name, if nothing else, and that'll help recruiting somewhat. How much of Buffalo's turn-around was him and how much of it was Drew Willy remains to be seen...Buffalo feel right back off once Willy graduated, even with Gill around for another season...

Coach Bohl and The BISON just knocked them off their game and they could never recover. Its a classic situation.

My guess is they wont be calling NDSU and Coach Bohls BISON for a game anytime soon.

I would agree with that point, JBB. But it didn't stop us from scheduling Montana.

bluehenbillk wrote:If I'm a Liberty fan I'm ecstatic, but from an outsiders view, wow did Gill experience a freefall, from one of the hottest FBS coaches to a low-FCS program.

Hogwash. Liberty may not be a "power program," but they're most definitely NOT Pioneer.