Former Football Coach Accepts New Role at Liberty University

After leading Liberty to a 6-6 record during the team’s inaugural FBS season in 2018, Turner Gill retired from coaching, expressing a desire to spend more time with his family. He returned to Liberty Mountain one year later, this time in a brand-new role.

On Aug. 4, Liberty announced Gill’s homecoming as the university’s new Executive Vice President of Diversity Development and Inclusion, a position he chose for himself and has stepped into with gusto.

“Inclusion is something that I feel very strongly about,” Gill said in an email interview. “When I was a coach, one of the thrills is seeing young men from all over the country (and actually the world as we recruited internationally), all races, all socioeconomic groups, all political parties, with all different hobbies, likes and dislikes, come together to work together for a common goal. It was pretty amazing.”

Developing students and embracing diversity is at the heart of Gill’s mission at Liberty, first as coach and now as an executive.

“The (LU football players) will tell you that they have a second father figure in one or more of the coaches,” Gill said. “Many times, it is a black coach with a white student-athlete or a white coach with a black student-athlete. When the staff coaches with love as the goal, race has no place.”

Prior to his days at LU, Gill was a gifted two-sport athlete. He was drafted in the second round of the MLB draft out of high school, but instead chose to play football for the University of Nebraska. He was the starting quarterback for the university from 1981 to 83 and led his team to a 28-2 career record, finishing fourth in the Heisman voting in 1983. 

The Fort Worth, Texas, native went on to play in the Canadian Football League for several seasons, in addition to playing three years of Minor League Baseball for the Cleveland franchise.

After his playing days, Gill transitioned into coaching. He became an assistant coach at his alma mater in 1992, coaching for 13 seasons before taking a position in player development with the Green Bay Packers. 

Gill was then offered a head coaching spot in 2006 for the University at Buffalo, leading the Bulls to their first MAC conference championship in 2008, before moving on to coach at Kansas from 2010-11. 

Gill rose to the top of Liberty’s candidate list in 2011 and proved to be a perfect fit for the up-and-coming Flames football program.

“I had previously been at public universities and there was only so much you could do with the players without crossing the line of what they allowed spiritually,” Gill said. “I liked the idea of being able to build something without having to think about whether I was allowed to talk about Christ. I loved Liberty’s vision of training Champions for Christ.”

Gill took on a team, and a program, that was ready to grow immensely – and was up for the challenge.

“When I was being recruited for the position of head football coach, they were looking for someone who liked to build,” Gill said. “That is my passion. I knew what it was going to take to build from an FCS team to an FBS team, and how you have to prepare in recruiting to make sure your team is ready when it hits the FBS.”

Gill met and exceeded the school’s expectations, leading Liberty to four Big South championships (2012-14 & 2016) in his first six seasons.

In 2017, Liberty officially announced its transition to FBS competition. Led by Gill, the team opened competition that season with the school’s first Power 5 win in program history – a 48-45 victory over Big 12 opponent Baylor. Gill ultimately accumulated a 47-25 record over seven seasons before departing LU in 2018. 

Coaching a team primarily recruited by Gill and his staff, new Flames Head Coach Hugh Freeze guided the Flames to the program’s first bowl appearance and victory in 2019, a testament to Gill’s leadership.

“Almost all of the players who won the bowl game last year were recruited to Liberty as an FCS school,” Gill said. “They showed they were able to compete, and I am more than proud of them.”

Gill retired from coaching in 2018 to spend more time with his wife, Gayle, who was diagnosed with a heart condition two years prior, but his love for football could not keep him away from the game for long.

After receiving several offers from across the county, Gill accepted a job as the Executive Director for Staff and Student Development at the University of Arkansas, working directly with athletes in the football program.

Gill stayed in contact with Liberty throughout the year, making an appearance during the Flames final game of the season in 2019 – a 49-28 victory that granted LU bowl eligibility for the first time in program history.

Liberty offered Gill the opportunity to return to the school in a position of his choice, initially suggesting a role in development. 

“I thought, ‘golf and meeting with Liberty alumni?…sign me up!’” Gill said. “But God had other plans!”

Despite his interest in connecting with Liberty alumni in that way, Gill said he felt a draw towards diversity development.

“When the racial tension started happening across the country (this summer), my wife Gayle and I talked about it as we both just kept feeling the pull (to Liberty),” Gill said. “We knew that God was calling us here for a new ministry.”

Gill has spent his career developing students and fostering an environment of growth, and he sees this new position as an opportunity to continue in that mission. 

“We are going to take over the recruitment, engagement and retention part of Office of Equity and Inclusion, and we are thrilled,” Gill said. “As an executive vice president, it means that I will report directly to the (university) president so I will have a voice at the top for all students.”

Team unity and equality were key elements of Gill’s football teams, and he now hopes to implement those same goals at a university-wide level. 

From Gill’s perspective, Liberty University – and society at large – may have a lot to learn from his former athletes. 

“It’s still is great when I see wedding party and group pictures at events, where there are football players of all different races, geographic regions, and people you never pictured as friends at the beginning of the recruiting class coming in,” Gill said. “To see that they saw their similarities rather than their differences was a testament to these coaches and student athletes. Our society could learn a lot from these men.”

Christian Weaner is the Asst. Sports Editor. Follow him on Twitter at @christianweaner.