Former Nebraska football coach Turner Gill and his staff will lead Liberty U into the FBS division.
While Nebraska football fans are desperately hoping that a former quarterback will return to Lincoln, they can be heartened to know another former QB is keeping his existing head coaching job. Turner Gill and the rest of his staff were given a vote of confidence by Liberty University’s Athletic Director on Thursday evening.
The move means Gill and his entire staff will return in 2018. Next year is a big one for Liberty, which will be making the move into the FBS ranks. The school will be doing so despite the fact that they don’t have a conference to go to.
There was some question as to whether or not Gill and company would return after a third straight 6-5 season. When he first arrived at Liberty, it appeared he had a more impressive trajectory.
While the team has struggled and missed the playoffs, Gill’s boss believes he’s the man to lead the program in the near future. “Coach Gill and I met to review the program at the end of the season,” Flames’ Athletic Director Ian McCaw said in a phone interview with NewsAdvance. “He’s someone who is a very Godly man, cares about his coaches, his staff, his student-athletes and represents Liberty in a first-class manner.
By bringing back Turner Gill, Liberty is also guaranteeing the jobs of a surprising number of former Nebraska football coaches and players that are on his staff. It’s a staff that has largely stayed in tack since Gill arrived at Liberty and several assistants joined him before that.
Liberty U has five ex-Nebraska football members on staff
Nebraska football fans likely remember five former Huskers that are keeping their jobs alongside Turner Gill. Most people probably realized that Ron Brown was still serving as the team’s associate head coach and running backs coach.
What even the most dedicated Husker fans might not have realized is that Joe Daily, Scott Downing, and Aaron Stamm are all on staff alongside Gill and Brown. Dailey is currently the team’s offensive coordinator and quarterback’s coach.
Downing is has taken over the same job he held at Nebraska. Downing is the tight ends and special teams coach for the flames. He also coaches the fullbacks.
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Stamm was a graduate assistant when Gill was last a member of the Husker coaching staff. For Liberty, he’s an assistant offensive line coach. Brown and Gill make five former Cornhuskers.
While it appears that most of the ex-Huskers are likely on their last stop in their careers, people like Dailey and Stamm might just be starting to get some notice in the college football coaching ranks. Helping to lead Liberty into the future of the program by joining the FBS is likely to help their resumes.
One of the biggest reasons Liberty decided to keep Gill and the rest of the ex-Nebraska football coaches on staff is because they are making leaps and bounds when it comes to recruiting. McCaw has said the incoming recruiting class, a full 25 is the best class in the history of the school.
Bringing the Nebraska football approach to recruiting to Liberty U
Liberty is 41-29 under Turner Gill and while that isn’t quite a pretty as the kinds of records he saw when he was an assistant for the Nebraska football team, it’s among the best in the history of the school. That appears to be one of the reasons the school is having quite the recruiting class.
“Gill and his staff are in the process of putting together the best and most important recruiting class in the history of the program as we transition to FBS and 85 scholarships,” McCaw told the paper. He added that the early signing period is going to be one that will change the face of the program.
Liberty is looking to add as many as 25 freshmen through the early signing period. That is going to be quite the influx of talent. The school is able to bring in such a big class because they are moving up a level in the college football ranks.
While the coaching staff is staying in tact, there was a bit of an overhaul when it came to who would handle what. It appears that despite another 6-5 finish, the team believes it has found the right combination of job descriptions.
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Liberty will have to hope the reshuffling combined with a great recruiting class is the magic bullet when it comes to making a smooth transition to FBS. Maybe someday they’ll even take on the Nebraska football team.