The Zeitgeist List · coaching

Turner Gill

Turner Gill held Liberty at Regional Program IV for 1 season.

Peak, then fade

31–55

2006–2018 · 3 stints

Career arc

His real stature score, season by season, across every program he’s coached — so a stretch that stays in one tier the whole way can still climb or sink on the line, not just flatten out. Node color marks the tier reached. Which program a stretch belongs to is carried by the shaded lane behind it.

Reached National Program in his 5th career season — faster than 14% of the 675 FBS coaches who have ever reached National Program (rank #547 of 675 by seasons-to-arrival).

Buffalo, 4 seasons

+5.5

Regional Program VI → Regional Program V.

Kansas, 2 seasons

−5.5

National Program III → Regional Program I.

Style position and drift

Where each stint’s offense sat between run-first and pass-first, and how far it moved from one season to the next. The band is that stint’s real season-to-season range, not a fixed-width box.

Pass rate — share of offensive plays that were pass attemptsfirst covered seasonmost recent covered seasonfull season-to-season range (3+ covered seasons)

The big-game ledger

How he does in the games that matter most — rivalry record, performance broken out by real opponent tier, one-score games, and his toughest historical matchup.

4–5 against his rivals. Winless in 3 tries against Gary Pinkel.

Rivalry record

4–5

44.4% · 4 rivals

One-score games

14–16

46.7% · margin ≤8

vs. Blue Blood or better

0–2

0.0%

Rivalry ledger

Akron3–175%

Kansas State0–20%

Missouri0–20%

Old Dominion1–0100%

The toughest matchup

vs. Gary Pinkel0–3

3 meetings, 2008–2011

’08 L’10 L’11 L

0% win rate across a real, 3-meeting series — short of the bar this site uses before badging a series “Nemesis.” Shown here as the toughest matchup on record, not an algorithmic crown.

Performance by opponent class

Blue Blood

0–2 0.0%

Power Program

1–11 8.3%

National Program

2–12 14.3%

Regional Program

23–28 45.1%

Coaching career

2018–2018

Libertycaretaker

Regional Program IV

Turner Gill held Liberty at Regional Program IV for 1 season.

4th-best Liberty tenure of 4 by the numbers.

Recruiter or developer?

Performs about as expected for his recruiting talent, on both sides of the ball.

Offense vs. talent

+8.6 pts

#68 of 208 · a typical amount

Defense vs. talent

+6.0 pts

#78 of 208 · a typical amount

Recruiting talent is team-wide (no offense/defense split exists in the source data) -- both sides are scored against the same talent input, only the outcome is side-specific.

Succeeded by Hugh Freeze (2019–2022).

Where the roster comes from, by position

Grows Interior line from high school

100%

#198 of 224 stints

6–6

2010–2011

Kansascaretaker

National Program II → National Program III

Turner Gill slid Kansas from National Program II to National Program III in 2 seasons.

8th-best Kansas tenure of 21 by the numbers.

Followed Mark Mangino (2002–2009) · succeeded by Charlie Weis (2012–2014).

Where the roster comes from, by position

Grows Edge from high school

100%

#191 of 208 stints

Grows Running back from high school

100%

#196 of 208 stints

3 NFL Draft picks: Darrell Stuckey (2010), Kerry Meier (2010), Dezmon Briscoe (2010)

5–19

2006–2009

Buffalocaretaker

Regional Program VI → Regional Program V

Turner Gill moved Buffalo from Regional Program VI to Regional Program V in 4 seasons.

9th-best Buffalo tenure of 11 by the numbers.

Followed Jim Hofher (2001–2005) · succeeded by Jeff Quinn (2010–2014).

Where the roster comes from, by position

Grows Tight end from high school

100%

#164 of 188 stints

Grows D-line from high school

100%

#214 of 239 stints

3 NFL Draft picks: Trevor Scott (2008), Jamey Richard (2008), James Starks (2010)

20–30