Dec 16, 2008 - 6:36 PM
0 shoutsBUFFALO, New York (Ticker) -- Turner Gill, now considered one of the country's hot coaching prospects, will remain at Buffalo after all.
Gill, who coached the Bulls to their first bowl bid in 50 years this season, received a contract extension and a pay raise Tuesday to stay in western New York.
Buffalo did not disclose exact terms of the agreement. But the school did state that the deal runs through the 2013 season, includes annual rollover options and will make Gill one of the highest-paid coaches in the Mid-American Conference.
"I am extremely proud of the accomplishments of Turner, his coaching staff and his team," Buffalo athletic director Warde Manuel said. "They have brought unprecedented attention to the University of Buffalo and have been great ambassadors for the school."
In just his third season at Buffalo, Gill has guided the Bulls to an 8-5 record, including a 42-24 victory over previously unbeaten Ball State in the Mid-American Conference championship game.
Buffalo will face Connecticut in the International Bowl in Toronto - a short trip from the school's campus - on January 3.
A former star quarterback at Nebraska, Gill reportedly had been linked to the jobs at Syracuse and Auburn.
On Monday, former Auburn basketball standout Charles Barkley said Gill, just one of the four African-American head coaches in the Football Bowl Subdivision, should have been named as Tommy Tuberville's replacement.
However, Gill now seems committed to continue building the Buffalo program.
"On the day that I came here to be the head coach, I told my team that one day we would be successful here at the University of Buffalo," Gill said. "Now, more than ever, I have never been more proud to be the head coach of this program and this great academic institution."
When Gill arrived at Buffalo in 2006, the program was considered one of the worst in the FBS, winning just 10 games in the previous seven years. He only went 2-10 in his first season but improved to 5-7 last year.
Four of Buffalo's five losses this season came to bowl teams, and two of the defeats were to schools ranked in the top 25.
"This program has proven it can win now and it is built to continue to win in the future," Gill added.
Buffalo's bowl invitation comes 50 years after the school turned a trip to the Tangerine Bowl due to segregation policies in the school district in which the game was to be played.
