KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) - Buffalo's Turner Gill has agreed to become Kansas' new coach, a person close to the situation told The Associated Press on Saturday night.
The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the school hadn't announced the move.
Gill, who was 20-30 in four years with the Bulls, becomes Kansas' first black head football coach. He takes over for Mark Mangino, who resigned Dec. 3 after a two-week investigation into his treatment of players.
Yahoo! Sports was the first to report Gill's hiring.
Gill's best season at Buffalo was 2008 when the Bulls won the MAC championship and went to their first bowl in half a century.
A native of Fort Worth, Texas, Gill is best known in the Midwest as a great option quarterback at Nebraska from 1980-83, a time when the Cornhuskers annually pounded a down-and-out Jayhawks program. During Gill's four years, Nebraska beat Kansas 54-0, 31-15, 52-0 and 67-13.
But without question, the program is much stronger than it was then. Since Mangino took over in 2002, more than $30 million has been spent upgrading facilities, including an entirely new football complex with new weight rooms, training rooms and locker rooms. Plus, new practice fields have been added adjacent to Memorial Stadium and a project is planned to build luxury suites atop the east side of the stadium.
Mangino, who was making about $2.2 million when he resigned, was the consensus national coach of the year in 2007 after taking the Jayhawks to a 12-1 record and victory in the Orange Bowl. The greatest season in school history was followed by an eight-win season in 2008 and a second consecutive bowl victory, another first for the Jayhawks.
But after starting this year 5-0, Mangino's Jayhawks went into an 0-7 tailspin. With two games left, athletic director Lew Perkins ordered an internal investigation into his treatment of players.
Many former players came forward and told of cruel and insensitive things Mangino had said to them during games or practice, but others supported him and said he was only instilling discipline and structure. A settlement was reached with Mangino before he resigned under pressure but the school has refused to make it public.
Gill, 47, is one of 11 black head coaches in the Football Bowl Subdivision.