Gill is the right man for Auburn

By Robert Rousseau  |   Monday, December 08, 2008  |  Comments( 2 )

Auburn Tigers
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Undoubtedly, very few expected the 2008 college football season to go as poorly as it did for Auburn, which finished 5-7 and parted ways with longtime head coach Tommy Tuberville as a result. Prior to the season, Tigers fans were excited about the possibilities of Tony Franklin’s spread offense; they were eager about the experience returning on the offensive line; and most were sure that guys like Antonio Coleman were going to have the defense playing well.

Of course, things didn't go according to plan for the Tigers. Franklin was fired as the offense sputtered, and the team was simply poor in general.

But now that Tuberville's gone, Auburn is learning a valuable lesson: Not a lot of available coaches, if any, are on his level.

Word is that Auburn contacted Ole Miss skipper Houston Nutt, who then inked a contract extension with the Rebels. Texas Tech's Mike Leach’s name had also come up in the press as a possible replacement, but the Red Raiders immediately offered him an extension.

Troubling for Auburn, which is finding out that replacing Auburn won't be easy. Further, getting a big-name coach to join the fray will probably only serve to get him a raise with his current school, as has been the case thus far.

Nevertheless, Auburn trudges on. And the Tigers have received permission to speak with University at Buffalo head coach Turner Gill, who has worked magic in three seasons with the Bulls.

Gill is not currently the headman for a big time school, so a contract revision won’t keep him at Buffalo, where he's posted a 15-22 record in three seasons. That doesn’t sound great on its own merit, but the club was a 4-30 laughingstock during the three years before Gill.

Gill's greatest success has come this season; after all, he's guided the Bulls to an 8-5 record, their first-ever MAC championship with a 42-24 upset over formerly 12th-ranked Ball State and the program's first bowl invite since 1958 (UB will face Connecticut in the International Bowl).

Further, Gill is the kind of guy who will be able to help a quarterback like Kodi Burns. Why? Because Gill was an outstanding dual-threat quarterback at Nebraska in the 1980s, leading the team to a 28-2 record during his time with the Huskers. Moreover, he coached Huskers quarterbacks from 1992-2003, which allowed him to work with dual-threat types in a run-first system. Beyond that, however, it should be noted that Auburn’s offenses have tended to do well with athletic quarterbacks in the past, which is exactly the kind of guys Gill will be able to draw in and work with.

Quarterback, of course, has been a sore spot at Auburn since Jason Campbell left.

Finally, Gill is known as a man of excellent character, which is something that Tuberville also brought to the table at Auburn.

Fact is, Gill is a star in the making who will eventually end up coaching at a big-time school. That makes him perfect for Auburn, which desperately needs a star right now.
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About Robert Rousseau

Robert Rousseau is a sports writer that has been published in a variety of print and online venues. He’s been writing for RealFootball365.com for almost three years now. When Rousseau isn’t writing about college football he tends to be penning mixed martial arts pieces for MMAFighting.com or...
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