Former Liberty head football coach Turner Gill and Liberty alumnus Kelvin Edwards will return to Liberty as members of the executive team, the school has announced.
Gill will serve as Executive Vice President of Diversity, Development & Inclusion while Edwards will be Executive Vice President of Management Efficiencies & Diversity.
Gill was Liberty’s head football coach for 7 seasons before retiring in December 2018 following his wife Gayle’s medical issues. He recently served as the Executive Director of Student-Athlete and Staff Development at the University of Arkansas. Gayle, Gill’s wife, will be joining Turner as a new employee and ministry partner at Liberty, assisting with the university’s vision for diversity and inclusion.
Gill had a 47-35 record at Liberty in his 7 seasons from 2012-2018. He guided the Flames to the program’s only appearance in the FCS playoffs in 2014 and then helped elevate the program to the FBS level. Gill was also Liberty’s head coach in the Flames’ 48-45 win over Baylor on Sept. 2, 2017, the program’s first win over a Power Five opponent.
“President Jerry Falwell and I talked back in November about returning for a role in Development,” Gill said in the release. “We had been working out details, but I called him in June to see if we could change that to Diversity & Inclusion. I am thrilled to be returning and to serve in my new role. I have long shared a vision with President Falwell about increasing the minority population at Liberty and building a program where we build leaders among all racial groups. We want the future leaders in our country and internationally to be trained at a top-notch Christian university so that people are exposed to the Gospel, are educated with Christian values, and are living out their purpose according to God’s will.”
Edwards played wide receiver for the Flames in the 1980s and then went on to a successful career in the NFL. He was selected in the fourth round of the 1986 NFL Draft by the New Orleans Saints and went on to play with the Dallas Cowboys. He was inducted into Liberty Athletics Hall of Fame in 2009 and his No. 83 jersey was retired last October.
“I warmly refer to Liberty’s founder, the late Dr. Jerry Falwell, Sr., as my ‘father’ not only because of the intimate relationship and mentorship between us, but also because current President Jerry Falwell and I formed a fast and easy brotherhood as college dorm mates,” Edwards said. “My wife, Tiawna, and I are excited to continue our relationship with Liberty University and to uphold the charge of building Champions for Christ.”
“We are honored to have Turner Gill back at Liberty as well as Kelvin Edwards, an alumnus and successful businessman. As executive vice presidents, they will help us demonstrate our commitment to reuniting people — both Republicans and Democrats — who have been divided by the establishment politicians.”
“People who should be natural allies, and always were, have been divided in the last few decades,” Falwell explained. “Through the Falkirk Center, through Liberty, we are going to work to reunite people who have been artificially divided by the establishment politicians, the ones who have shown that the only way they can keep power is by dividing and conquering. We’re not going to let that happen anymore. We’re going to bring people together who agree on most of the issues — not all, but most — such as school vouchers, pro-life, and the Second Amendment. Those are issues we all agree on, but we’ve been divided by evil, corrupt, establishment politicians. We’re going to change the country by reuniting those groups.”
