Buffalo () - It was announced today by Auburn University officials that Buffalo head coach Turner Gill has accepted the coaching position left open by the unexpected resignation of Tommy Tuberville. Gill, who is busy preparing for Buffalo's first ever bowl appearance on January 3 in Toronto, was offered the job by phone. "I made it clear that I accept the job and am very excited to become part of the Auburn family," said Gill. "We understand how important this bowl is to Buffalo and that Gill may not be available for the lights and cameras for a while," said Auburn Athletic Director Jay Jacobs. "That is why he sent his wife to the press conference today to answer questions about her husband and their lovely fair complected daughters."

Auburn officials do not expect Gill to make a public appearance at Auburn until well after the International Bowl. "Even then we don't expect to see him on campus much at all," said Jacobs. "His first priority will be recruiting, which will keep him out of the public eye probably until the season starts. His lovely wife will fill in for him at dinners and fundraisers, at least until he gets a few wins under his belt."

Gill is expected to continue the successful 'coaching from the press box' style that he developed at Buffalo. During his tenure there, Gill would monitor the game and call in plays from behind a smoked glass window in one of UB Stadium's 12 luxury suites. "This kept opposing coaches from seeing Gill's face or reading his body language and guessing the plays," said Jacobs. "We will outfit one of the Jordan-Hare suites to keep him out of sight as much as possible."

Another part of the deal is that Gill will get the new indoor practice facility long promised to Tuberville. "We've known we needed to upgrade our 40 yard indoor field for some time," said Jacobs. "But hiring Gill just brought new urgency to that since we need for him to be able to run both the offense and defense inside at all times." Jacobs says that spring practices will be completely closed this year to give Gill the focus he needs to make any changes necessary without the fans and media second guessing everything he does. "I think the less that fans see of Gill the better off we'll be," said Jacobs.