Published: August 26, 2007 01:51 am      

COLLEGE FOOTBALL: The Coordination of Turner Gill

AMHERST — Turner Gill has been preparing for this since he first donned a coaching cap, if not before that, as the quarterback of a Tom Osborne-led offense.

The Buffalo Bulls second-year head coach will work his first game as an offensive coordinator Thursday when UB opens its season at Rutgers. Gill, who was a dual-threat quarterback in his day at Nebraska, is now a dual-threat coach in the mold of Osborne, his mentor.

UB scored 220 points — its most since moving to Division I-A in 1999 — while going 2-10 last season. They’re 201 points in eight Mid-American Conference games were the most of any team in the East division. Yet, Gill opted not to renew offensive coordinator Gerald Carr’s contract in January, and, on national signing day two weeks later, Gill announced that he would add coordinating and play-calling responsibilities to his workload this season.

Gill, who never coordinated an offense in 15 years as an assistant before coming to Buffalo, said this week he considered being the coordinator when he took over as UB head coach, citing the success he watched Osborne have serving both capacities at Nebraska.

“But in my first year as head coach I didn’t think it would be wise for me or advantageous for our football program to do both,” Gill said. “Because there were just so many things that I needed to get acclimated to, I assigned someone to those (coordinating) duties for the first year.

“Now after the first year, there was always a possibility at any given time for that. I knew at the time (Carr was not retained) that I was going to be the head coach and offensive coordinator because I didn’t want to bring somebody in from the outside.

“... I thought I was the best person to do this at this particular time.”

Gill said UB will run the same multiple formation offense as last season and returning players won’t have to learn new terminology. The system will be similar to a West Coast offense, but will also utilize shotgun formations.

In order to free himself to concentrate on offensive gameplans this fall, Gill brought in Danny Barrett, a former head coach in the Canadian Football League, to be his assistant head coach. Barrett also took over the quarterback coaching duties vacated when Carr was let go.

“He’s going to take control of some of the administrative things I did last year,” Gill said earlier this month. “I trust him because, actually, he’s had a little more experience with it than I have.”

More weapons for Willy

The Bulls return eight offensive starters from last season, most importantly junior quarterback Drew Willy, who had 16 starts under his belt before a thumb injury forced him to sit out the final four games of 2006.

Willy was the only non-senior voted captain for the upcoming season, to Gill’s delight for sure. Gill has taken every opportunity to praise Willy’s “body language” and “intangibles,” but, while Willy has produced the two most accurate passing seasons in the program’s I-A era and was picked off only six times in 231 attempts last year, observers still doubt his ability to be a top-flight quarterback in the MAC.

Teammates say Willy reported to training camp this season with greater maturity and arm strength. Willy said he’s more comfortable in the offense this season, feeling like he knows exactly where to go with the ball. He’s also flanked by a fleet of potential game-breakers.

St. Joe’s graduate Naaman Roosevelt was a revelation at wide receiver as a true freshman, catching 31 passes for 429 yards and two touchdowns. Working at quarterback during spring practices didn’t appear to stall his momentum. In fact, it could end up making Roosevelt a better receiver.

“Me and Naaman were just talking about that,” Willy said recently. “I think the spring really helped him. He can see the whole picture now. He knows what a quarterback is looking for.”

Earnest Jackson, a physical deep threat, entered camp as the No. 2 receiver after a strong spring. He’s being pushed hard by Brett Hamlin, who has "good feet in the open field and great hands," Willy said, and was Willy's favorite target during their respective true freshman seasons. Hamlin redshirted as a sophomore last season after breaking his foot in Week 2.

Terrance Breuax had 32 receptions last season, leading the team with 444 yards and three receiving touchdowns. He’s spent most of training camp on the sidelines with a knee injury, opening the door for Marcus Rivers, a 6-foot-4 freshman from Lackawanna, to impress the coaching staff. Terrell Jackson, a high school quarterback in Texas, also looks ready to contribute as a true freshman. “We feel very good about our receiving corps and I think [Willy] feels good about them too,” Gill said.

UB could also be better off in the running game despite losing Steven King and Jared Patterson to graduation and Chris McDuffie to career-ending injury. Niagara Falls native James Starks gained 937 total yards (704 rushing) last season and became the sixth UB player, and first freshman, to earn second-team All-MAC honors.

Starks, another former quarterback, added weight and confidence in the mental aspects of his position during the offseason, but said he is less secure about his starting position than he was at the end of 2006. “We’ve got new running backs coming in and you’ll see that they’re great running backs,” Starks said. “With them behind me this year, I’m probably less comfortable than I was last year because they have more talent than some of the guys we had last year.”

Chief among them is Mario Henry, a former defensive back who was recognized by the UB coaching staff for his work on the scout team last season while he was academically ineligible. Henry has looked as impressive as Starks in training camp scrimmages. Brandon Thermilus, the powerful son of former Houston Oiler running back Alonzo Highsmith, returns after redshirting his freshman year due to a knee injury. Gill is also fond of fullback Chris Scharon.

An ongoing learning process

Having worked on offensive staffs since he got into coaching in 1991, Gill has a firm grasp on what goes in to a successful offense. What Gill doesn’t have experience with are the day-to-day operations of a coordinator, particularly one who, despite Barrett’s presence, still has the responsibilities of a head coach.

Thus, Gill met with several people, particularly Osborne, with whom Gill maintains a close relationship, to discuss time management and organizational strategies, as well as general offensive philosophies. Gill said he spoke with men he used to work for, including Frank Solich, the current Ohio head coach who succeed Osborne at Nebraska, and Houston Texans offensive coordinator Mike Sherman, who was the head coach of the Green Bay Packers when Gill worked there in 2005. Gill also visited with Buffalo Bills offensive coordinator Steve Fairchild.

“A lot of it was just philosophical stuff as far as how you organize your practice week and game plan and how you go in and prepare to call a game,” Fairchild told BuffaloBills.com in April. “But there were x’s and o’s and we looked at tape and drew on the board. It was just fun talking football with the guy and getting a chance to meet him.”

Gill is taking the Bruce Lee approach to coordinating an offense: gather as much information as he can, then apply only what is useful.

“I’ve talked to different people and put in what best suits me,” Gill said. “It’s always an ongoing process, according to people that I’ve talked to. Even the guys who’ve done it (for) five years, ten years, 20 years.”

E-mail reporter Jonah Bronstein at bronsteinj@gnnewspaper.com.