FOOTBALL 7
WINNING VALUES
Turner Gill infuses his coaching style with concern for players and staff
By Kathleen Gier koier@kansan.com
A coach can fulfill his job duties with a playbook and a whistle, but Turner Gill puts his own spin on the job. He wants people to describe him in three ways: positive, genuine and a man of integrity.
Family Man
"I try to follow what I say I am going to do." Gill said. "No one is perfect, but those are the true values for me: being there for my family, but also service to others."
Gill's oldest daughter, junior Jordan Gill, came to Kansas when her father was still coaching at the University of Buffalo. The prospect of bringing his family together attracted Gill to the coaching job at Kansas. Gill attributes his focus on family back to his
ball facilities.
"He won't keep you long hours away from your family," Dailey says. "He understands how important family is and for you to be seen as a father and husband."
Nebraska assistant coach Ron Brown coached with Gill for 12 years and they still keep in contact. Gill started his family before Brown, but Gill's younger daughter and Brown's oldest daughter were born around the same time. Brown says he looked to the Gills when figuring out how to raise his own daughters.
The families became friends as Gill and Brown would coach and attend Bible study together. Their wives also became friends. Brown describes Gill as intense and serious, but also as a hearty laugher. Though they have been apart since Gill left Nebraska, their devotion to God, love for the game of
positive and optimistic which goes into what he does on and off the field," Brown says.
"That is my purpose here on Earth and I believe that and I know that," Gill says. "I understand that and I know how I am wired."
With the help of Brown and other influences in his life, Gill decided to be a coach to help make a positive difference in the lives of young athletes. With his experiences Gill recognizes that he has an ability to connect with the young men on his team and give them guidance.
Dailey saw this not only as a player for Gill, but as an assistant coach later in his career with Gill. His Christian values and his authenticity as a person separate him from not just other coaches, but from other people, Dailey says.
Dailey can attest to the success of the Turner Gill style of development. He came
"Anything I do, anything I say, I have to go back to that statement," Gill says. "If it is not answering that vision I know it is not the correct thing to do so that keeps everything in perspective."
pect of the lives of the student athletes and staff"
After 12 years of coaching with Gill, Brown knows what Kansas fans and players should expect from Gill. The coaches will love their players, he says.
"He will treat his players with great value;" Brown says.
From playing under Gill to coaching alongside him, the thing that has stuck out the most to Dailey is the way Gill approaches the student athletes. Rather than lead with an iron fist, Gill is more concerned with the emotional aspect.
"He is very aware that when the guys feel encouraged and empowered they play better than when they fear not doing well." —Joe Dailey
"He is more concerned about the players
own parents and says he is thrilled to have his family back together in one location. After being away from his daughter before coming to work at Kansas, he now values the opportunity to spend time with her.
"I think that is special and it is a dream come true for me," Gill says.
His family values are even apparent to people whom he works with. Joe Dailey played for Gill at Nebraska and Gill hired him as an assistant coach at Buffalo. Gill leads by example and his beliefs were Daley's biggest influence.
One thing that stood out to Dailey was that Gill not only focuses on his own family, but the families of each staff member working with him. When Gill plans the weekly schedule, he designates two nights a week when practice will be done in time for his staff to get home in time for dinner. Families were always a part of the work atmosphere with Gill; his family was a fixture at the foot-
football and mutual respect for each other has kept them close.
"If you don't like Turner, there may be something wrong with you," Brown says.
Man of Service
"I am very passionate about developing young men — obviously their skills on the football field, but also their skills as far as being prepared to be the best husbands they can be, the best fathers they can be and the best people they can be in our society," Gill says.
"God had given him faith which made him
Gill believes that in this he has found his niche where he can be most helpful to his young players. Finding this passion took years and many talks with his family and a small group of mentors. One of these mentors was Brown. Brown says that it became obvious early in Gill's career that he had great potential as a coach.
from a rough situation and says his parents handed him over to Gill to play for him at Nebraska.
"It is not just something written in storybooks, it is actually real," Dailey says.
Dailey left Nebraska shortly after Gill, but the two stayed in touch. When Gill became head coach at Buffalo, he offered Dailey his first job as an assistant coach.
"I have the utmost respect for him and love him a great deal because I see him as a father-figure, pivotal role to my life and how I developed as a man," Dailey says.
Now that Gill has come to Kansas, he brought Dailey with him as the on-campus recruiting director for the team.
Football Coach
Gill takes the team's vision statement for this year seriously:"To provide a positive and motivating environment that encourages excellence, growth and balance in every as-
psyche and their emotions and he is very aware that when the guys feel encouraged and empowered — they play better than when they fear not doing well."
At the beginning of the season, Gill had each player fill out a survey. The survey asked about the players' relationships with their mothers and fathers, what made them mad, angry, and sad, and what motivates them.
"You need to understand a person first to be a teacher," Gill said. "So we take the time to get to know them and not just teaching them the game of football and things of that nature, but there are some other things that I think you need to do so that a person can be more productive on a regular basis."
Gill knows how important the role of a coach is for young men between the ages of 18 and 22 years old.
"We as coaches can have a great impact not only from a football standpoint," Gill says. "That is why I love coaching."
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
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THE WAVE SEPTEMBER 3,2010
In Saturday's season opener against North Dakota State, the Kansas football team played without names on the back of their jerseys for the first time since 1981.
For junior tight end Tim Biere, that may have been a blessing in disguise.
Biere dropped three passes, all on third down, and fumbled his only two receptions as North Dakota State stunned Kansas 6-3 at Memorial Stadium.
Junior receiver Daymond Patterson approached Biere in the locker room after the defeat. Patterson said he knows if the Jayhawks are to rebound from this defeat, their tight end cannot have hangover from one of the worst games for a Jayhawk in the program's history.
"I told him to keep his head up," Patterson said. "We know those are plays he will make more times than he doesn't. To tell you the truth, I'm not even worried about the game Tim had tonight. He is going to
"That wasn't Tim out there," said freshman quarterback Jordan Webb. "He is a great player. He is definitely one of the best tight ends I've ever seen or been around. But we're going to keep going back to him."
Biere's first fumble came on his first reception of the season in the third quarter. The second fumble cost the Jayhawks (0-1) one of their final drives as Biere lost possession near midfield.
finished 13-for-22 with 138 yards and an interception.
just didn't click."
"We never really got our chemistry on offense," Pick said. "Everybody had their moments and everybody had rough points in the game. As a unit, we just didn't click."
While Webb was expected to see some playing time, the move was an outright benching of a player the coaching staff decided was the man two weeks ago.
Webb produced mixed results in his brief time on the field, going 6-for-11 but getting sacked twice.
Gill was uncommitted
The Jayhawks allowed only two field goals to the Bison (1-0), but their offense could only put senior kicker Jacob Branstetter in position for three attempts of their own. Branstetter put the Jayhawks on the board first with a 25-yard field goal but would later miss from distances 53 and 42 yards.
"I need to watch the videotape so I can see a lot more details," Gill said. "You have to hope that you score more than three points, not to take away from North Dakota State."
Gill was uncommitted on naming a starter for next Saturday's home matchup with Georgia Tech.
"You have to hope that you score more than three points, not to take away from North Dakota State."
Angus Quigley and freshman DeShaun Sands struggled, failing numerous times in short yardage situations. In fact, the leading rusher would end up being Patterson, who finished 63 yards rushing on three carries
TURNER GILL Coach
and 66 yards receiving on six catches.
"The coaches try to get you a ball in a lot of different ways, trying to make the offense unpredictable," Patterson said. "I definitely expect to see more carries going forward."
The defense was able to limit the Bison to a 3.1 yard average gain per play and a 2.3 yard average per
rush, but the performance was wasted by the offense's struggles. The six points were the fewest allowed in a Jayhawk loss since they fell 6-3 to Texas Christian University on Sept. 22, 1962.
While the defense made their tackles and prevented the big play, senior linebacker Justin Springer still sees room for improvement.
"We have to get better." Springer said. "We can't give up six points."
— Edited by Roshni Oommen
ner/KANSAN
A
teams shine
Gill: Defense game outperforms offense; special teams play big role in game.
SEE MORE COVERAGE IN THE FOOTBALL REWIND ON PAGES 4-5B
CAMPUS
BY GARTH SEARS
Help for parents and students who can't let go
gsears@kansan.com
Students who are living away from their parents for the first time face a tough transition now — only the second full week of the semester — from family life to that of an independent student.
For some, that means liberty from cautious or even overbearing parents. For others, it means a tough time away from the people who have surrounded them since birth.
man from Luray, said about her parents. "Back home, if I had car problems or needed something, they could come help me. Now, they're three hours away. It's kind of a struggle."
"It's nice, but honestly, I muss them," Olivia DeWitte, a fresh-
Though others exist, the extreme change to college can be one of life's most important.
"Any transition in life will affect your well-being, your relationships, and your performance," said Omri Gillath, assistant professor of psychology. "Especially if you move a long way to college, you will be torn from your social network, away from your family, away
from support and love. You'll have to make new friends, and deal with all the challenges of college."
The transition is not limited to students. Parents can have a difficult time learning to let go and embracing a new relationship with their children.
"You might be able to physically take your student to class, but you can't make them be engaged in the classroom," said Jane Tuttle, associate vice provost for student success. "All along we've learned you can't make a baby walk before they want to. That's a hard lesson for parents to learn."
A
PARENTAL HELP HOTLINE IS AVAILABLE
Are your parents having problems adjusting to your move to Lawrence? They can use these hotlines if they are concerned.
Phone hotline: 785-864-5872
E-mail hotline: parents@ku.edu
Tuttle, who coordinates the parent services program at the University and is a parent of a college student herself, emphasized that every situation - given
the variables of family economics, the distance between parents and children, and other factors — is
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SEE PARENTS ON PAGE 3A
.