Turner Gill
Turner Gill went 72–84 as a head coach, 2006–2018, at Buffalo, Kansas and Liberty. Share
Six seasons our game records don’t credit to him come from the coach’s Wikipedia article: 2012–17 at Liberty (on file under another coach). They’re marked in the table.
- Record
- 72–84 career
- Seasons
- 13
- Schools
- 3
- Final AP top 10
- 0 seasons
- Born
- Aug 13, 1962
- Alma mater
- North Texas 1990
- Best season
- 2008 8–6
Season by season
| Season | School | Record | Conference finish | Bowl | AP final | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | Buffalo | 2–10 | 6th (East) | |||
| 2007 | Buffalo | 5–7 | T–1st (East) | |||
| 2008 | Buffalo | 8–6 | 1st (East) | International Bowl L | ||
| 2009 | Buffalo | 5–7 | 5th (East) | |||
| 2010 | Kansas | 3–9 | 6th (North) | |||
| 2011 | Kansas | 2–10 | 10th | |||
| 2012 | Liberty * | 6–5 | T–1st | |||
| 2013 | Liberty * | 8–4 | T–1st | |||
| 2014 | Liberty * | 9–5 | T–1st | NCAA Division I Second Round L | ||
| 2015 | Liberty * | 6–5 | T–3rd | |||
| 2016 | Liberty * | 6–5 | T–1st | |||
| 2017 | Liberty * | 6–5 | 4th | |||
| 2018 | Liberty | 6–6 |
Each season links to the team’s season page; bowls and playoff games link to the game. Conference finishes from the Wikipedia article’s record table. * A season our game records don’t credit to him; its record is the article’s.
How his teams did
| Kind of game | Games | Record | Won |
|---|---|---|---|
| Against ranked teams | 14 | 2–12 | 14% |
| Against top-10 teams | 5 | 0–5 | 0% |
| Against rivals | 15 | 6–9 | 40% |
| Conference games | 49 | 15–34 | 31% |
| Bowls and playoffs | 1 | 0–1 | 0% |
| Decided by 8 points or fewer | 32 | 15–17 | 47% |
| At home | 41 | 21–20 | 51% |
| On the road | 41 | 9–32 | 22% |
| At neutral sites | 4 | 1–3 | 25% |
| As our Elo’s favorite | 21 | 16–5 | 76% |
| As our Elo’s underdog | 65 | 15–50 | 23% |
His own 86 games on file, 2006–2018, as played (vacated wins counted, ties as half a win). Ranks are the AP poll going into the game; rivals are the ones either program’s Wikipedia article names; favorite and underdog by our own Elo rating, which reads only scores.
Against other head coaches
| Coach | Record | Their schools | Games | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Doug Martin 2006–2018 | 4–2 | Kent State, New Mexico State | 6 | |
| Al Golden 2006–2009 | 3–1 | Temple | 4 | |
| J.D. Brookhart 2006–2009 | 3–1 | Akron | 4 | |
| Frank Solich 2006–2009 | 2–2 | Ohio | 4 | |
| Brady Hoke 2006–2008 | 1–2 | Ball State | 3 | |
| Gregg Brandon 2006–2008 | 1–2 | Bowling Green | 3 | |
| Shane Montgomery 2006–2008 | 1–2 | Miami (OH) | 3 | |
| Gary Pinkel 2008–2011 | 0–3 | Missouri | 3 |
Turner Gill’s record against the head coaches he met three or more times, from the games on file, as played.
Most-faced opponents
| Opponent | Games | Record |
|---|---|---|
| Templeseries | 4 | 3–1 |
| Akronseries | 4 | 3–1 |
| Kent Stateseries | 4 | 3–1 |
| Miami (OH)series | 4 | 2–2 |
| Ohioseries | 4 | 2–2 |
| Bowling Greenseries | 4 | 1–3 |
| New Mexico Stateseries | 3 | 2–1 |
| Ball Stateseries | 3 | 1–2 |
National title staffs
Every title staff- Won a national title on Nebraska’s 1994 staff (assistant coach, quarterbacks) · the staff · source
- Won a national title on Nebraska’s 1995 staff (assistant coach, quarterbacks) · the staff · source
- Won a national title on Nebraska’s 1997 staff (assistant coach, quarterbacks) · the staff · source
The champions’ staffs from 1990 on, as the schools listed them that season: Staff lists: Drew Hoover’s how-many-rings (MIT), from the schools’ media guides and staff pages. Roles as the source words them.
Also a player: Turner Gill’s playing career.
Career
| Years | Team | Job | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1989 | Nebraska | Graduate assistant | |
| 1990 | North Texas | Graduate assistant | |
| 1991 | SMU | Wide receivers coach | |
| 1992–2002 | Nebraska | Quarterbacks coach | |
| 2003 | Nebraska | Assistant head coach | |
| 2004 | Nebraska | Wide receivers coach | |
| 2006–09 | Buffalo | Head coach | |
| 2010–11 | Kansas | Head coach | |
| 2012–18 | Liberty | Head coach |
Every job as the infobox of his Wikipedia article lists it (CC BY-SA), assistant jobs included.
Coaching tree
Worked under
- Tom OsborneNebraska
- Tom RossleySMU
- Frank SolichNebraska
- Bo PeliniNebraska
- Bill CallahanNebraska
Assistants who became head coaches
- Jarod DodsonAlfred State
- Carl TorbushNorth Carolina, Louisiana Tech, East Tennessee State
- Chuck LongSan Diego State
- Tom KaufmanMarietta
- Vic ShealyAzusa Pacific, Houston Christian
- David BeatyKansas
- Dennis WagnerWayne State (NE), Western Carolina, Briar Cliff
- Scott DowningSterling, Northern Colorado
Worked under (5)
| Head coach | Team | Years | His job | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tom Osborne | Nebraska | 1989–97 | 1989: graduate assistant; 1992–97: quarterbacks coach | |
| Tom Rossley | SMU | 1991 | Wide receivers coach | |
| Frank Solich | Nebraska | 1998–2003 | 1998–2002: quarterbacks coach; 2003: assistant head coach | |
| Bo Pelini | Nebraska | 2003 | Assistant head coach | |
| Bill Callahan | Nebraska | 2004 | Wide receivers coach |
Coached under him, later head coaches (8)
| Coach | With him | Head coach at | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jarod Dodson | Buffalo, 2009: co-special teams and cornerbacks coach | Alfred State | |
| Carl Torbush | Kansas, 2010–11: defensive coordinator; Liberty, 2012: linebackers coach | North Carolina, Louisiana Tech, East Tennessee State | |
| Chuck Long | Kansas, 2010–11: offensive coordinator | San Diego State | |
| Tom Kaufman | Kansas, 2010: defensive quality control coach | Marietta | |
| Vic Shealy | Kansas, 2010: cornerbacks coach; 2011: defensive coordinator and cornerbacks coach | Azusa Pacific, Houston Christian | |
| David Beaty | Kansas, 2011: co-offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach | Kansas | |
| Dennis Wagner | Liberty, 2012–16: associate head coach and offensive line coach | Wayne State (NE), Western Carolina, Briar Cliff | |
| Scott Downing | Liberty, 2016–18: special teams and running backs coach | Sterling, Northern Colorado |
Other assistants under him (6)
| Coach | With him | |
|---|---|---|
| Gerald Carr | Buffalo, 2006: offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach; 2007: offensive coordinator | |
| Matt House | Buffalo, 2006–07: defensive backs coach and recruiting coordinator | |
| Joe Dailey | Buffalo, 2008: graduate assistant; 2009: tight ends coach; Kansas, 2010: recruiting coordinator; Liberty, 2012–13: quarterbacks coach; 2014–18: offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | |
| Vantz Singletary | Buffalo, 2008: defensive line coach; Kansas, 2011: linebackers coach; Liberty, 2012–18: co-defensive coordinator, defensive line coach and pro liaison | |
| Fred Reed | Buffalo, 2009: defensive coordinator | |
| Robert Wimberly | Liberty, 2018: co-defensive coordinator |
From coaches’ Wikipedia infoboxes (CC BY-SA) and each season’s article for its coordinators: an assistant’s seasons at a school count under its head coach in our records; jobs in the NFL and elsewhere, under the head coach whose own article lists the job that year. Names without a page here link to their Wikipedia articles.
Pay
| Year | School | Job | Contract pay | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Kansas | head coachbonuses up to $419,158 | $2,101,200 USA Today via Leeds | |
| 2010 | Kansas | head coachbonuses up to $419,158 | $2,101,200 USA Today via Leeds |
The same USA Today database for 2006–16, from Michael Leeds’ replication data on Harvard Dataverse (CC0): the season’s contract pay.
Pay of public employees in their public job only: head coaches, and assistants in the seasons our records name them a coordinator, at public universities.
How he coached
Gill’s teams went for it on 22% of fourth downs and on 34% of those where the model said go for it, passed on 50% of plays and took 24.7 seconds a play, 2006–2018.
| Season | School | Went for it on fourth | When the model said go | Pass rate | Seconds a play | EPA a play | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 12 g | Buffalo | 15 of 101 15% | 23% | 53% | 28.3 | −0.15 | |
| 2007 5 g | Buffalo | 10 of 44 23% | 36% | 58% | 23.6 | −0.03 | |
| 2008 14 g | Buffalo | 24 of 105 23% | 41% | 52% | 26.0 | +0.03 | |
| 2009 10 g | Buffalo | 15 of 68 22% | 35% | 52% | 27.5 | −0.09 | |
| 2010 12 g | Kansas | 23 of 102 23% | 33% | 47% | 22.5 | −0.13 | |
| 2011 12 g | Kansas | 28 of 103 27% | 40% | 39% | 22.4 | −0.04 | |
| 2018 12 g | Liberty | 21 of 103 20% | 28% | 50% | 22.6 | +0.01 | |
| All 77 g | 136 of 626 22% | 34% | 50% | 24.7 | −0.06 |
His seasons as a head coach from 2004 on, from ESPN’s play by play: fourth downs where he went for it out of every fourth-down decision; how often he went when SportsDataverse’s fourth-down model said going for it was the better call; the share of his offense’s plays that were passes; seconds of game clock per offensive play (lower is faster); and expected points added per offensive play (EPA, a measure of how much each play moved the offense toward points). The season in progress counts its games so far. SportsDataverse’s coach tendencies, from ESPN’s play by play; the EPA and the fourth-down model are SportsDataverse’s.