AMHERST, N.Y. (AP) -Buffalo coach Turner Gill sidestepped questions Thursday night regarding his status as one of the leading candidates for the head job at Nebraska.
“Can’t comment on that,” said Gill, the former Nebraska star and assistant coach who along with LSU defensive coordinator Bo Pelini is considered a front-runner for the position.
Bill Callahan was fired by interim athletic director Tom Osborne after the Huskers’ 65-51 loss to Colorado last Saturday, and Gill was immediately mentioned as a strong candidate to replace him.
Gill and the Bulls were honored during halftime of a men’s basketball game against Tulane, after tying for their first Mid-American Conference division title. Fans in the student section chanted, “Turner stay, Turner stay.”
“I appreciate the support,” Gill said. “It’s great to have the excitement here at the University at Buffalo. That’s what we came here for, to build a program.”
Buffalo’s second-year coach was named conference coach of the year on Tuesday, elevating a program that had won just 10 games in seven years. After going 2-10 last season, he finished 5-7 overall and 5-3 in the MAC.
Gill’s offense scored 291 points, the most for Buffalo as a Division I program. Quarterback Drew Willy completed a school-record 258 passes and had the highest quarterback rating in school history, and James Starks became its first 1,000-yard rusher since moving to the Football Bowl Subdivision.
Gill characterized his tenure at Buffalo as “good, but incomplete. We still haven’t finished,” he said. “We want to get to a bowl game. We want to get to the MAC championship game. We were right there. It’s great to have a taste of the title. We want to have it all.”
Osborne has said that the next Cornhuskers coach must have an understanding of the program’s unique culture and history, and that would certainly include someone with Gill’s credentials. He went 28-2 as a starter during the early 1980s, and was an assistant under Osborne, Frank Solich and Callahan.
He mentored Nebraska’s quarterbacks from 1992-2002, was named assistant head coach in 2003 and coached wide receivers in 2004.
Osborne has already interviewed both Gill and Pelini, and reportedly spoke informally with Wake Forest coach Jim Grobe. In a radio interview Wednesday, Osborne said he hoped to have a new coach in place by next week.
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