Turner Gill to Coach Kansas Jayhawks

ESPN has reported that the University of Kansas plans to name Buffalo head coach Turner Gill to the vacancy left by Mark Mangino's resignation last week.

According to sources, Gill's daughter, a student at the University of Kansas, recently accepted a position for the Athletics Department and has enjoyed her time at Kansas.

Gill, a former quarterback for the University of Nebraska, has been spurned by some schools in recent years (Nebraska, Auburn) but knows the Big 12 North as well as anyone, and seems to be a quality hire for Kansas Athletic Director Lew Perkins.

Not only has Turner Gill brought Buffalo, a very difficult place to manage by football standards, to national respectability, but he is also a talented recruiter and renowned quarterback mentor.

Kale Pick, Jordan Webb, and Christian Matthews may be more excited than anyone at this hire.

Unfortunately, his resume is not perfect.  The Kansas Jayhawks have struggled on the defensive side of the football in the past two seasons, and defense is a place where Gill has no specific coaching experience to offer.

I am very pleased with the hiring of Gill (the announcement should be released officially by tomorrow) and don't want to shed any negative light on the situation.

However, I feel like defense is a problem Lew Perkins needs to address. 

Clint Bowen alone has been largely unsuccessful as a coordinator, and even the addition of assistant defensive coordinator Bill Miller has had little positive effects for the Jayhawks.

I would personally like to see Bowen demoted to special teams (he was very prominent there), and Louis Matsakis (the current special teams coach) to work only with the scout team (a group among whom he is very popular) from now on. 

Unfortunately, Kansas wouldn't likely hire an extra staff member (especially if Mangino's settlement and Gill's contract are particularly large) in such a fashion. 

Perhaps if I were Perkins, I would try to renegotiate some contracts and/or have the thus-far-ineffective Miller released.

However, I understand that such changes, like most changes I suggest, may be a little ridiculous and are more than unlikely.  I'm also looking awfully far ahead, considering Perkins has not even made a formal statement yet.

What I do know is that Kansas fans can all breathe a little easier now, because no one likes being a team without a coach.

And I think we've bagged a good one.