Buffalo’s Turner Gill will be named head coach of the Kansas University football team, the Journal-World learned Saturday.

Gill, who is largely credited with reviving a Buffalo program considered to be one of the nation’s worst before his arrival, replaces Mark Mangino, who left the program under pressure following an investigation into his treatment of players.

In Gill’s four seasons at Buffalo, the Bulls compiled a 20-30 record and advanced to their first bowl game in 50 years during a 2008 season in which the team finished 8-6 and won the Mid-American Conference championship.

Following that season, Gill was named the MAC coach of the year by The Sporting News and was a finalist for the Bear Bryant College Football Coach of the Year Award — the same award Mangino won during the Jayhawks’ 12-1 2007 season.

Gill’s ties to KU and the Big 12, meanwhile, are numerous.

In addition to playing quarterback for Nebraska in the early 80s — going 28-2 as a starter and being named a finalist for the Heisman Trophy — Gill served as an assistant coach for the Huskers from 1992 to 2004, and his daughter, Jordan, is a sophomore at KU who recently began working in the school’s athletic department.

Spokesmen from both schools declined to comment on Gill’s status on Saturday.