Former Nebraska football quarterback and position coach Turner Gill has landed himself on another college football team. This time around, he's a member of the Arkansas Razorbacks.

Gill was hired to be a part of Arkansas head coach Chad Morris' team earlier this summer though the move largely stayed off most Husker fans radar. He was spotted checking out practice earlier this week, though it's important to note that he isn't technically an assistant coach.

Gill's official title with Arkansas is "Executive Director of Student-Athlete and Staff Development." That's a very long way of saying "staff guru" as the staff at Whole Hog Sports put it.

Gill is there to provide his analysis and expertise to a program that is trying to rebuild for the long term.

Nebraska football a great model

While Morris runs an offense that looks nothing like what the Cornhuskers ran when Gill was first the quarterback and then the quarterback's coach, it makes sense the Razorbacks want him around. Their new guru is someone who certainly understands what it takes to make a program sport long term success. In some regards, he's also someone who understands what it takes to build a team up from scratch.

Turner was one of the hottest names in college football a few years back when he took Buffalo, a perennial doormat in the MAC, to that conference's championship game and the school's first-ever bowl game.

The winding road to Arkansas

Perhaps against his better judgment, Turner Gill took the job at Kansas after one more season with the Bulls. His stint in Lawrence was nothing short of disastrous. He was fired after posting a 5-19 record in two seasons.

From there, he landed at Liberty University and had moderate success with the FCS program.

December of 2018, Gill retired from coaching, citing a desire to be next to his wife while she fought a life-threatening illness. Now he's returned to the college football world, though he still won't be spending the long hours that would be demanded of him were he an official assistant coach.

Some Nebraska football fans will likely feel a bit jealous of Arkansas.

After his retirement last December, there were more than a few Husker fans who were hoping he'd take on some kind of role with the athletic department in Lincoln. Considering he would be working with one of his old proteges in Scott Frost, it seemed like a perfect match.

At least one person in the athletic department was surprised by Gill's decision to take a job with Arkansas. Ron Brown, who worked with Gill for decades at Nebraska told Whole Hog Sports that he was surprised by the move. At the same time, Brown says he understands that the former Nebraska football great likely put a lot of thought into the move, as he does with all decisions.
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