The first step to building anything worthwhile is laying down the foundation. That is precisely what KSU football head coach Brian Bohannon has done to gear up for the opening kickoff that takes place in one short year. He has no doubt played a pivotal role in bringing potential prospects to Kennesaw and has hired a cast of coaches around him to aid him in the endeavor of chartering an entirely new athletic program.
One of the men that Bohannon surrounded himself with was Brett Gilliland. He was a standout quarterback for West Alabama from 2000 to 2003, becoming the school’s record holder for single season passing yards (3,213) and career passing yards (6,689). No doubt, it’s easy to see why Gilliland would be a valuable asset for any collegiate head coach’s staff. Coach Bohannon hired Gilliland as KSU’s first ever quarterbacks coach last May, and his valuable experience at the quarterback position wasn’t the only motivation for his hiring.
“Brett was a G.A. with me at Georgia Tech,” Bohannon said. “Brett’s a great worker, he’s a great communicator, he understands people, just a great person. He’s someone that everyone wants to be friends with. He’s also a great football coach and he’s really detailed about the things he does.” Gilliland was just settling into his new role and an entirely new area when, six short months later, an unexpected opportunity arose from his alma mater. West Alabama’s head coach had decided to take a job at West Georgia. That left a vacancy that the school wanted its former quarterback to fill. Gilliland ultimately decided to reunite with his former team.
“It was coming back to the place I played; it’s my home in a sense,” he said. It’s a lot closer to family. It’s a great program that’s been doing some really good things. They’ve really made a commitment to putting the money into the program that is needed to win at this level. And it’s a chance to be a head coach. Those aren’t easy to get on the college level. And to do it at such a young age, it was just an opportunity that I felt like I was drawn to.”
Becoming a head coach was a major step up in his career, but Gilliland says that the decision to leave KSU to pursue that opportunity was by no means an easy one.
“I loved Kennesaw State,” he said. “I one hundred percent believed in everything coach Bohannon’s doing. It’s going to be a great program, and that was hard to leave. I had just moved my family and we had just bought a house there. It was going to have to be something really special to get me to leave there.”
Another detail that Gilliland had to wrestle with was the amount of time that he had been tenured. He had only been KSU’s quarterbacks coach for six months, and he did not want to leave the team with a new hole to fill so soon after his hiring.
“Through the whole process, I was talking with coach Bohannon because not only was he my boss, but he’s a mentor of mine as well,” Gilliland said. “I was shooting ideas off with him and gaining from his wisdom. It was a situation that I didn’t want to leave him in because of the short tenure. That was one of the things that made it very difficult.I wasn’t by any means looking to leave. I was not searching for another job, that opportunity came.”
Despite the fact that he now has to search for a new quarterbacks coach, Bohannon says he has no regrets from hiring Gilliland last year.
“You’re happy for Brett and his career,” Bohannon said. “You’re disappointed that you have a good coach that’s not going to be with your program anymore, but that’s the nature of the business. We talked about wanting to make this the best job, not taking this job to get another one. Brett didn’t take this job to get another one, Brett took this job to make it the best one. This thing just happened for him, and I think it’s a great opportunity and I wouldn’t have hired him if I didn’t think he was a great fit for us.”
Due in part to having an inside look at KSU’s emerging football operations, Gilliland has nothing but a positive outlook for the near future of the program.
“The administration and the backing that they’re getting and the facilities they have for that level, it’s unreal,” he said. “It’s not your everyday startup program. Yes, there’s still going to be some hurdles they have to overcome, but I actually pick them to be really good, really fast. Everything they’re doing there-it’s the right way.”
Even so, perhaps leaving all of that promise behind to continue life in Livingston, Alabama may not be such a bad thing.
“It means a great deal. It feels like coming home. A lot of the people are still the same people in the community, the people in the school are still the same. A lot of familiar faces and a lot of good people here that I have some great relationships with. I can’t describe it. It’s unbelievable to be able to come back here as the head coach.”