The saga of Mark Mangino, the former University of Kansas head football coach who came under fire for allegedly poking a senior linebacker Artist Wright in the chest and being verbally abusive to his players, has come to an end today.
Turner Gill, who coached the Bulls at the University at Buffalo from 2006-09, has been hired as the new Jayhawk head coach.
KUSports.com first reported the possibility yesterday after Rivals.com published a story that had Gill, 47, being offered the Jayhawk football job.
KUSports.com said “Gill has multiple ties to both the Big 12 and KU. He is a former quarterback at Nebraska, and two years ago was a finalist for the Huskers’ head coaching job that eventually went to Bo Pelini. Gill’s daughter, Jordan, is a sophomore at KU and recently began a job in the school’s athletic department.”
KU Athletic Director Lew Perkins said in a statement today that he was excited to have Gill on the team.
“Turner Gill is a winner,” Perkins said in the release reported by KUSports.com. “His accomplishments at Buffalo speak for themselves. But more than that, everyone I talked to about him, starting with (former Nebraska coach) Tom Osborne, had the highest praise for Turner as a coach and as a person.”