DALLAS — When Turner Gill was hired by Kansas last December, NU coach Bo Pelini was complimentary, yet brief, when asked about Gill’s hire. Gill returned the favor when asked about Pelini on Wednesday.
“I knew that Bo was a good football coach,’’ said Gill, who was on the NU staff with Pelini in 2003. “He gets his players to play hard and play well together. It’s not a surprise for me to see what he’s doing at the University of Nebraska. He’s done a great job.’’
Asked if he wanted to schedule Nebraska as a nonconference game after the Huskers join the Big Ten, Gill laughed and said, “I don’t know. I hadn’t even thought about that stuff.’’
Later, Gill did expound on the emotions of coming to Lincoln on Nov. 13 and watching Nebraska leave for the Big Ten one year after Gill’s arrival at KU.
“I spent a lot of time (thinking about it),’’ Gill said. “Obviously my wife is from Nebraska. People talk about those types of things. I think it’s going to be really, probably the day before the game as I go on the football field, will be the only time that you may have a little reflection I was here and played here and so on and so forth.
“But once the game and the day happens, it’s going to be so focused on what is trying to get accomplished to win the football game. It’s not going to be about me. It’s going to be about two teams playing on that particular time and playing the best game they can play from that standpoint.
“As far as down the road, not playing Nebraska, you know, it is what it is from that standpoint. Again, I’m a person that always moved forward and not look too much in the past. They have to do what they have to do. The University of Kansas has to do what they have to do. And we respect the University of Nebraska.’’
Contact the writer:
444-1025, tom.shatel@owh.com
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