Turner Gill takes over at Kansas

ASSOCIATED PRESS

LAWRENCE, Kan. — Kansas hopes that Turner Gill can do for the Jayhawks what he did for Nebraska.

As a smooth option quarterback in the early 1980s, Gill was the difference-maker for the Cornhuskers, helping free them from Oklahoma’s long domination and propelling Tom Osborne’s program to the top of the Big Eight.

Later as an assistant coach, he helped develop a Heisman-winning quarterback and was a key member of the staff that led Nebraska to the 1994 national championship.

Kansas made the hiring official on Sunday and will formally introduce Gill as successor to Mark Mangino today.

“I think Kansas has made a fine decision,” said Osborne, the Huskers’ former coach and current athletic director. “He will do a great job.”

Challenging as it will be to replace Gill at Buffalo, athletic director Warde Manuel knew this day would inevitably come.

What makes Manuel’s job easier in finding a qualified successor is the remarkable job Gill did in bringing respectability to what had been one of nation’s most laughable football programs.

The proof was evident on Sunday.

In the 12 hours since word leaked regarding Gill’s departure, Manuel said he’s received more inquiries from what he described as “quality” candidates than he did throughout his previous search in 2005, when he took a shot on Gill, a first-time coach, for a job very few expressed much interest in.

“I just have to feel that I won’t get hung up as much or at all compared to where I was last time. It’s a different job now,” Manuel said during a press conference to discuss Gill’s departure and Buffalo’s plans to launch a national search for his successor. “Turner Gill has left this place much better than when he found it. For that I will forever be grateful.”

The Bulls were transformed in four seasons under Gill. In finishing with a 20-30 record, he led Buffalo to its first Mid-American Conference championship last year, and took the Bulls to their first bowl game, a 38-20 loss to Connecticut in the International Bowl.

That’s a remarkable turnaround for a team that, prior to Gill’s arrival, went 10-69 since joining the MAC in 1999.

“He has brought Buffalo in a four-year period to places that I didn’t expect so quickly,” said Manuel, who wished Gill well at Kansas. “We’ll miss all of that. But we will move on.”

As his first step, Manuel named Bulls offensive coordinator Danny Barrett interim coach, and noted that the former Canadian Football League star quarterback is considered a candidate to take over the job on a full-time basis.

At Stanford, Jim Harbaugh will get his chance to continue leading the Cardinal onto the national scene, a goal he set when he arrived three years ago.

Harbaugh finally made his long-awaited three-year contract extension official Sunday, when the announced a deal that keeps him under contract through 2014. The two sides were close to announcing the extension last year, but put it on hold because of the troubled economy.