Kansas hires Turner Gill

LAWRENCE, Kan., Dec. 13 (UPI) -- Turner Gill has been named football coach at the University of Kansas, Athletic Director Lew Perkins said Sunday.

Gill has been coach at Buffalo the past four seasons, compiling a record of 20-30. The Buffalo team had just five wins in the four years before Gill took over.

"Turner Gill is a winner," Perkins said. "His accomplishments at Buffalo speak for themselves. But more than that, everyone I talked to about him ... had the highest praise for Turner as a coach and as a person."

The 47-year-old Gill was named Mid-American Conference Coach of the Year in 2007 and 2008.

Gill, who previously was an assistant coach at SMU and Nebraska, where he was a quarterback in the early 1980s, replaces Mark Mangino at Kansas.

Kansas was 5-7 this season.

Buffalo, which immediately began a search to find a successor to Gill, named Danny Barrett interim head football coach.