WiskyTangoFoxtrot
Forum User
Joined: 06 Sep 2009
Posts: 41
Post subject: Turner Gill maybe
Posted: 18 Oct 2009 07:58 am
Turner Gill is an up and coming younger energetic coach. He coaches @ Buffalo.
he is a former QB at Nebraska, yeah this maybe a huge step for him but it looks Zook is in way over his head. I for one want a man who can Coach football not just recruit athletes.
Let's start a list of coaches we can turn in to the AD's office for review 
BRETTS16
Forum User
Joined: 27 Jul 2009
Posts: 14
Post subject: Re: Turner Gill maybe
Posted: 18 Oct 2009 15:10 pm
Brian Kelly from Cincinnati? Anything is better than what we have now.
mustangman
Forum User
Joined: 24 Sep 2009
Posts: 33
Location: Chesterfield, MO
Post subject: Re: Turner Gill maybe
Posted: 18 Oct 2009 18:48 pm
BRETTS16 wrote
Brian Kelly from Cincinnati? Anything is better than what we have now.
I doubt Kelly will go to any school except for an elite program at this point. I follow the Bearcats pretty well, and they're doing a ton to keep him there, they're renovation the stadium and upgrading facilities left and right to keep him happy. Would love to see him, don't think it'll happen.
No matter what though, I want a coach on the rise who's earned something, not a hack that we signed off the scrapheap from an elite program that he didn't build. Zook is an example, so is Ron Turner. Gil would be a nice choice, so would whoever coaches Houston, Tulsa, or TCU, I don't know their names offhand.
ChicagoMark
Forum User
Joined: 07 Oct 2005
Posts: 370
Location: Formerly Chicago
Post subject: Re: Turner Gill maybe
Posted: 18 Oct 2009 23:17 pm
mustangman wrote
BRETTS16 wrote
Brian Kelly from Cincinnati? Anything is better than what we have now.
I doubt Kelly will go to any school except for an elite program at this point. I follow the Bearcats pretty well, and they're doing a ton to keep him there, they're renovation the stadium and upgrading facilities left and right to keep him happy. Would love to see him, don't think it'll happen.
No matter what though, I want a coach on the rise who's earned something, not a hack that we signed off the scrapheap from an elite program that he didn't build. Zook is an example, so is Ron Turner. Gil would be a nice choice, so would whoever coaches Houston, Tulsa, or TCU, I don't know their names offhand.
I'm not sold on Gill, he's 3-4 this season and not been impressive. Time will tell with him. I am a big fan of Sumlin from Houston. I'd hate to abandon our Florida recruiting, but Sumlin has a long pedigree of being successful at good places and has been very good so far as HC for Houston.
_________________
Save the Chief
FpmUrge
Forum User
Joined: 15 Oct 2007
Posts: 1453
Post subject: Re: Turner Gill maybe
Posted: 19 Oct 2009 10:17 am
IF there would be an opening soon, I doubt guys like Petersen, Kelly or even a Pat Hill would be interested. But you never know until you offer lots of money.
There are plenty of up and comers in the college ranks. I would hope Guenther would not go the NFL coordinator route.
In no particular order:
Butch Jones, Cent Mich
Kevin Sumlin, Houston
Troy Calhoun, Air Force
Tim Beckman, Toledo
Todd Graham, Tulsa
Jerry Kill, NIU
Kyle Whittingham, Utah
Gus Malzahn, oc at Auburn
Turner Gill, Buffalo
Bronco Mendenhall, BYU
Larry Fedora, Southern Miss
Callaway
Forum User
Joined: 07 Sep 2008
Posts: 771
Post subject: Re: Turner Gill maybe
Posted: 21 Oct 2009 08:22 am
Lots of great promising young coaching names mentioned...
Trouble is Illinois will never part with the large cash it will take to get one of the true up and comers or God forbid a national name. Until they do they will have to settle for the left overs, almost was, and never will be's someone over there seems to still cling to the notion that coaching the Illini and in the Big Ten should be an honor in itself. The suit will start getting kind of tight for Guenther if Zook schleps his through the rest of this season with just one win. The players are beginning to turn on one another Seniors and Juniors calling out the youngsters bad sign of lost team control by Zook.
ILL-INI
Forum User
Joined: 29 Sep 2009
Posts: 13
Post subject: Re: Turner Gill maybe
Posted: 21 Oct 2009 18:35 pm
They need to get a defensive coordinator from a powerhouse team like USC, LSU, Florida, or Alabama.
Our secondary sucks!
WiskyTangoFoxtrot
Forum User
Joined: 06 Sep 2009
Posts: 41
Post subject: Re: Turner Gill maybe
Posted: 21 Oct 2009 19:15 pm
ILL-INI wrote
They need to get a defensive coordinator from a powerhouse team like USC, LSU, Florida, or Alabama.
Our secondary sucks!
thanks for the insightful post.
The big ten is hardly a big deal, but if we could get a coach, with a totally different style/phylosophy, we could compete year in and year out. To bring a Boise St type of play in to the conference would bring the excitment back to Memorial stadium. I am not talking about competing for a National Championship, your crazy if you think Illinois can do that year in and year out, i am talking about being competitive with any team you play and going to bowl games more often.
I don't know what coach can offer this , but i hope they find one who can.
SteveLC
Forum User
Joined: 08 Sep 2009
Posts: 315
Post subject: Re: Turner Gill maybe
Posted: 22 Oct 2009 15:59 pm
I'd recommend something other than a flash-in-the-pan. This rules out Kevin Sumlin of Houston. Too few seasons, too inconsistent of success, but he is deep in the heart of a rich recruiting ground. Trouble is, he's got LSU and the LA-directionals on one side (which have as low or lower academics as UHoo), and he's got Big 12 teams everywhere else, which have higher academic standards but not enough to make UHoo "unique" for its target athletes. If Sumlin had 5-8 years of solid success - beating everyone he's supposed to, throwing in more upset victories than defeats, then I'd definitely look to him.
I suspect, however, he, like many flashes, will get snatched up by a needy school, put into unfamiliar recruiting territory and can't charm enough top recruits.
I think this is a Zook Syndrome, and a Dan Hawkins Syndrome. Or Callahan.
Patterson at TCU was minorly considered the power behind TCU's rise under Dennis Franchione, and Patterson seems to have proved that in the 6+ seasons he's helmed TCU. He knows how to run bake-sales and car-washes for a team that draws 31k to home games.
I'm not sure Turner Gill escapes my flash-in-pan criticism either. He's taken a school into scholarship football and won some upsets. But a steady diet of success over years? Hardly.
I think the Flash-In-Pan Syndrome is usually viewed a quick failure because they do move into different regions and can't recruit the same high-schools like they used to. Their summer camps are no longer attended by as many OR the same students who had been. This means they have to hope to cherry-pick a few great ones until their 'minor leagues' are built up to stream in sufficient numbers of good 'uns. That's always more than a 3-4-5 year time frame. Probably closer to 10, and when a school gives a coach THAT much time, it can be a huge pit.
ChicagoMark
Forum User
Joined: 07 Oct 2005
Posts: 370
Location: Formerly Chicago
Post subject: Re: Turner Gill maybe
Posted: 22 Oct 2009 17:44 pm
Sumlin might only have 2 years HC experience, but he's been coaching college football since 1988 from Washington State to Purdue, he's been around. Always in a BCS conference and 8 years in Big10 country. He was at Oklahoma for 5 years, including the last 2 as OC for one of the most prolific offenses ever. His teams flat-out score points. His 2 year low at Houston is 23 points and they have scored over 40 points 12 times in just 18 games.
Wouldn't that be fun with the WRs we have coming back next season?
_________________
Save the Chief
ILL-INI
Forum User
Joined: 29 Sep 2009
Posts: 13
Post subject: Re: Turner Gill maybe
Posted: 22 Oct 2009 19:14 pm
Brian Kelly should not even be in this. Why would he come to illinois? He has a 6-0 football team. Why would he come to illinois when he has a chance to go far down the road with a potentially great franchise. I mean they are 5th in the BCS standings. What are you thinking?
muckfichigan
Forum User
Joined: 29 Apr 2003
Posts: 132
Post subject: Re: Turner Gill maybe
Posted: 23 Oct 2009 10:26 am
http://www.illinihq.com/news/football/2009/10/23/if_change_is_necessary_let_ad_make_it/
Given the uncertainty in the university leadership, the timing of Guenther's contract, and the almost prohibitive buyout of Zook and assistant coaches at this time, it may be in the university and program's best interest to look at a different option to shore up the program while still addressing a potential change at head coach next year. The offense has a new O-line coach and OC, which in retrospect probably should have lowered expectations somewhat. The defense on the other hand, has never lived up to expectations, sans the Okruch interlude, and is in dire need of a new direction and leadership. Larry Johnson certainly would have helped, but regardless, the two headed DC needs to end. I would scour the country for any DC that has potential as a head coaching candidate, pay him what it takes, and bring he and his staff in for next year. With Martez and Miami Thomas coming back, and decent talent to work with, this would be an automatic upgrade. Next year, if Zook digs another hole, your buyout is less, and you already have a HC candidate on staff. Zook has raised the talent level, and if you can him at the end of this year, expect de-commits to follow. Why not keep them in the fold, maintain some of the recruiting momentum, and make a change if needed, next year when the AD position is in play as well.
