UB's Quinn: 'I'm a Buffalo guy'
New coach says recruiting starts here
Published: December 21, 2009, 10:50 pm
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It won't be determined for years if Jeff Quinn was the right head coach for the University at Buffalo's football program, but he appears to be the perfect choice at this time. And he's saying all the right things.
Asked about where his recruiting base will be, Quinn responded, "I'm a Buffalo guy. There's where we start. Period. End of story."
UB hopes to build upon its recent success by naming Quinn as the university's 24th head football coach, replacing Turner Gill, who left for Kansas.
It would be premature to say that Quinn, the interim coach at the University of Cincinnati, will keep the Bulls in the Mid-American Conference title picture, but the hiring couldn't have worked out much better.
UB doesn't have the resources or conference affiliation to keep Gill long term but with places like Central Michigan and UNLV looking for coaches, the Bulls managed to land a first- tier coordinator in Quinn, who agreed to a five-year deal. He said he's juggling four jobs: interim head coach at Cincinnati, the Bearcats' offensive coordinator and offensive line coach and, finally, the head coach at UB.
Last Wednesday, Quinn told his friend and mentor Brian Kelly that he would join him at Notre Dame as offensive coordinator. Then Kelly asked him, "What about Buffalo?"
"Well," Quinn said. "I'm talking to Buffalo."
On Sunday night, Quinn accepted UB Athletic Director Warde Manuel's offer to lead the Bulls.
There were other quality candidates such as UB offensive coordinator Danny Barrett, Wake Forest offensive coordinator Steed Lobotzke and Notre Dame defensive coordinator Corwin Brown. Manuel said he reviewed between 150-200 candidates and interviewed six, but no one had a resume as impressive as Quinn's.
"In Jeff I think we found someone who I believe will have us back in Detroit for the championship and hoisting the trophy above his head, in bowl games and exciting the fans," Manuel said. "I don't see this going anywhere but in a very, very positive way."
The 47-year-old Quinn comes with impeccable credentials, having been offensive coordinator when Grand Valley State won a national title and when Central Michigan won a MAC championship. Plus, he will coach an undefeated Cincinnati team in the Sugar Bowl on Jan. 1, a three-hour infomercial on the national stage for not only the Bearcats, but for UB as well. If he wins early at UB, he could take the same path as Gill, which made the job so attractive to begin with.
Critics wonder why Quinn hasn't been named a head coach before. He says he never focused on being one.
"I had great opportunities, and [was] able to stay in one place and raise my family at Grand Valley for 15 seasons, but it was time to go and coach at the Division I level," he said. "I wanted to be a coordinator at the Division I level, and Central Michigan and Brian Kelly provided me that best opportunity. Then the opportunity came to be a coordinator at the BCS level. With all these opportunities, I was more consumed by that than worrying about if I'm going to be the next head coach somewhere."
Critics will also note that in all this time, Quinn hasn't called his own plays. That will change in the Sugar Bowl and at UB. But Quinn decided long ago that if he ever got the opportunity to become a head coach, he was going to call plays.
"This is a perfect time for me to get out there and allow my philosophies and things I've been able to craft up with our offense, and now I'm going to be able to take advantage to make my own calls," Quinn said.
Quinn's opening statement lasted less than eight minutes. No predictions, just reasonable objectives.
"I'm an all-in mentality guy," he said.
Straight, direct, intense but to the point. That's his style on the field and off. Quinn has the reputation as one of the best offensive minds in the game. His offensive line at Cincinnati allowed only 11 sacks this season, tied for 10th in the country. He helped develop drop-back quarterback Tony Pike, but when Pike was injured, Quinn was able to adjust his offense to the more mobile Zach Collaros.
But the bottom line is that no matter how pretty his offenses look, Quinn learned the game from coaches like Jim McNally, now retired after 28 years as an offensive line coach in colleges and the NFL. His teams will roll up their sleeves and run the football.
Quinn met with some of the players briefly before the news conference and had them energized, not talking about the glory of the last few seasons but giving them hope for the future.
"I'm excited," senior cornerback Domonic Cook said. "Very excited."
Senior left guard Peter Bittner said: "He's going to really concentrate on the O-line a lot to make sure we know what we're doing. He's going to get us right and get us moving the ball up and down the field."
After the Sugar Bowl, Quinn will be the Bulls' head coach full time.
"This," Quinn said, "is a perfect fit."
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