NAAMAN ROOSEVELT: “Understanding where I’m supposed to be is a big thing.”
Roosevelt leads the charge
Gill made St. Joe’s star first priority at UB
On Dec. 16, 2005, Turner Gill was named the head football coach at the University at Buffalo. The next day, Gill rented a car and visited the home of St. Joe’s quarterback Naaman Roosevelt.
“That’s the first person I saw, the first person to give me a commitment,” Gill said, “and the rest is history.”
Where would the Bulls be without Roosevelt? With his help, Gill was able to quickly build his passing game and help breathe life into a once ineffective unit. The 6-foot, 187-pound junior from Buffalo ranks among the Mid-American Conference’s top five in receptions per game (6.0), receiving yards (117) and all-purpose yardage (153.3).
He was thrust into the national spot-
light this week for catching Drew Willy’s 35-yard Hail Mary in UB’s come-from- behind victory last Saturday over Temple. For the season, Roosevelt leads the Bulls in receiving with 18 catches for 351 yards and will match up against Missouri’s secondary when the Bulls (2-1) take on the No. 5 Tigers (3-0) at 2 p. m. Saturday at Missouri (Radio 1230 AM).
“You can see why I chose him as the first place to go when I got hired here,” Gill said.
A highly touted quarterback coming out of high school, Roosevelt was recruited by Syracuse, Boston College and New Hampshire but only as a cornerback, where he had five interceptions as a senior in 2005. Roosevelt wanted to attend a school where he would be given an opportunity to play quarterback, and Gill was the only one offering.
“I let him know, ‘Here’s my first stop, I could go 100 places but I choose here and I hope that tells you something,’ ” Gill said.
Roosevelt’s numbers at quarterback were staggering. His 3,452 all-purpose yards and 35 touchdown passes helped him win Buffalo News Player of the Year honors as well as the prestigious Connolly Cup. Gill heard so much about Roosevelt when he was hired that he doesn’t remember watching film on him. Gill even heard about Roosevelt’s father, Chris, a legendary figure from the city’s East Side who was a two-sport athlete at Grover Cleveland High.
So Gill made Roosevelt and Riverside’s Mike Williams — who eventually signed with Syracuse— his top priorities.
“As soon as he got here he called me and said, ‘I’m going to come to the house and see you and come talk to you,’ ” Roosevelt said. “It was crazy. I told my parents, ‘Coach Gill is coming to the house,’ and they were surprised, too. I just saw him on ESPN Classic and now he’s coming to the house.”
It didn’t take Gill long to realize he had to get Roosevelt on the field. Drew Willy grasped the offense quicker than anticipated, eliminating the need at quarterback, so Roosevelt was converted to wide receiver.
“Naaman was an outstanding quarterback,” Gill said. “We decided to give him an opportunity to play receiver; he’s an outstanding receiver. He could be an outstanding quarterback, too, but we thought it would be best for our program for him to be a receiver for us.”
Roosevelt feels he received a fair opportunity to play quarterback at UB, but his days behind center are over. He’s a wide receiver now, and his tireless work ethic has enabled Roosevelt to become a playmaker.
“I’m good with it now,” Roosevelt said of the position switch. “It’s a lot of fun playing wide receiver, especially in this offense.”
Roosevelt’s growth is amazing considering he’s played the position for only a short time. He is blessed with great footwork and 4.53 speed in the 40-yard dash, but he has spent a lot of time working on reading defenses and improving his ability to come out of breaks on his routes. He credits receivers coach Juan Taylor for helping with his development.
“As a quarterback, you know the spot where you’re going to throw it and you know the wide receiver is going to be in that spot,” Roosevelt said. “Understanding where I’m supposed to be is a big thing.”
Gill said Roosevelt has made the most strides in his route running.
“He’s a lot better coming out of his break,” he said. “That’s always the hardest thing to do. His hands were probably average when he first got here but the more you catch the ball, the better you get so I wasn’t worried about it.”
The rest, as Gill said, is history.
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