LINCOLN, NEB. ? Former Nebraska football standout Turner Gill is staying with the Cornhuskers.

Gill said Tuesday that the opportunity to play a role in implementing Bill Callahan’s West Coast offense led him to accept the new head coach’s offer to remain on staff as receivers coach.

Gill, a three-time All-Big Eight quarterback in the early 1980s, is the program’s only remaining prominent tie to the Tom Osborne era. Osborne hired Gill as quarterbacks coach in 1992, a position he continued to hold during Frank Solich’s six years as head coach.

Gill was a candidate for the Nebraska head-coaching job, and he said he also had talked with UCLA and the Green Bay Packers about assistant-coaching positions.

“I’ve been considering the pro level for years, but I love the whole college football coaching experience,” Gill said. “It’s amazing to me how God works. He stayed faithful through my trials and I felt his presence at every turn.

“In the end, he has provided me a new challenge. I’m able to learn a new offense and new system right here at the place I love.”

Gill, 41, led the Huskers to a 28-2 record, including 20-0 in the conference, from 1981 to 1983.