Gill, Yori to Take Husker Nation Tour

Lincoln ? Four members of the 2004 Nebraska football staff, including Receivers Coach Turner Gill, as well as Head Women’s Basketball Coach Connie Yori and Senior Associate Athletic Director Bob Burton will travel to Syracuse, Nebraska City, Auburn, Falls City, Tecumseh and Beatrice as part of the 2004 Husker Nation Tour brought to you by First National Bank on Friday, June 25.

Gill will be joined by graduate assistants Dan McLaughlin and Aaron Stamn and Administrative Assistant Mike Christianson representing the football coaching staff on all six stops, while Yori will travel to the first four stops.

Adrian Fiala, entering his 16th year broadcasting Husker football, will emcee each of the stops of the Husker Nation Tour and will report back to Gary Sharp, who will host Sports Nightly from the SouthPointe Pavilions at 6 p.m.

The group is the first of the five to kick off the tour, with an opening stop in Syracuse at 7 a.m. The event will take place at the Syracuse South Park at 1st and Midland Street and donuts will be provided free of charge. (Local contact, Nadine Kreifels, 275-3328)

The tour will travel to Nebraska City for an appearance at 8 a.m. at the Historic Barn at Arbor Day Farm. (Mary Gerdes, 873-3388) Donuts, coffee and juice will be available for free and there will be a proclamation of Husker Nation in Nebraska City.

The group will move on to Auburn, where the Husker Nation Tour will begin at 9:30 a.m. at the Historic Band Shell at 10th and J St. (Mary Michel, 274-4981). Juice coffee and rolls will be provided for fans free of charge.

The tour will have lunch in Falls City at noon at the Prichard Auditorium at 312 West 17th Street. Free hotdogs and drinks will be available at the tour site (Rod Vandeberg, 245-2491).

Traveling to Tecumseh, the Husker Nation Tour will begin at 3 p.m. at the Band Shell in the Johnson County Square, where lemonade and popcorn will be provided. (Michele VanWinkle, 335-1244, and Bill Campbell, 335-3743).

The Husker Nation Tour will conclude with a tailgate party in Beatrice at the Indian Creek Mall Parking Lot at 6 p.m. Free hotdogs and drinks will be available and fans will be eligible for free giveaways (Larry Keslar, 228-4241, and Paul Garnett, 228-3413).

A former All-Big Eight quarterback at Nebraska, Gill is beginning his 13th season as a Husker assistant and his first as the receivers coach on Bill Callahan’s staff. Before assuming his current role tutoring the Nebraska receivers, Gill spent the previous 12 seasons as Nebraska’s quarterbacks coach. As a coach at Nebraska, Gill has helped develop the skills of some of the finest quarterbacks in Husker history.

Yori enters her third season at the helm of the Nebraska women’s basketball program and is coming off one of the top-10 turnarounds in the nation last year, finishing with an 18-12 overall record, after going 8-20 in her first season.

Dan McLaughlin is in his second season as a graduate assistant in the Husker program, and will again assist with the Nebraska offense. He will work directly with offensive line coach Dennis Wagner, new offensive coordinator Jay Norvell and Head Coach Bill Callahan.

Aaron Stamn begins his first season as a graduate assistant coach on the Husker staff.  He will work with the defense, assisting defensive line coach John Blake. Stamn comes to Nebraska from St. Cloud State University in Minnesota, where he served as a graduate assistant coach the past two years.

Christianson has joined the Nebraska staff as an administrative assistant for computer and video technology. Christianson oversees the daily operation of the football program’s technology areas, including all operations involving video, computer and electronics.

For weather-related updates and additional tour information on all stops of the 2004 Husker Nation Tour, visit Huskers.com.