What was probably meant to be a routine non-renewal of a standard contract seems to have taken a turn for the worst on Saturday as it ignited the fury of one former Michigan State defensive star.
Defensive line coach, Teg Gill, who served under head coach Mark Dantonio at Cincinnati for three seasons and has spent all six seasons thus far at MSU with the coach, was alerted on Friday that his contract for the upcoming season would not be renewed and that, sadly, his time with the Michigan State Spartans had come to an end.
Gill was the personal coach for ex-Spartan defensive superstar Jerel Worthy, now with the Green Bay Packers, during Worthy's time in East Lansing. Upon hearing the news Saturday, Worthy sent out a slew of tweets to voice his displeasure concerning the casual "dropping" of Gill from the coaching line-up.
"Coach Ted Gill will always and forever be my coach!" Worthy tweeted Sunday evening. "Best influence that I have ever had as a player. Don't agree with the decision to let Him go but I know that will always be loved by many of us Spartans he help achieve (our) dreams of making It to the NFL. Love ya COACH GILL"
Worthy obviously benefited immensely from the tutelage of Gill at MSU, and news of the school's decision sparked the former Spartan to stand up for the coach that he felt had not only made an impact on him, but on many of his former fellow teammates, as well.
Worthy would go on to cite Trevor Anderson, Jonal Saint-Dic, Ervin Baldwin, Justin Kershaw and Kevin Pickelman, all as players who were made better by the instruction of Gill. He even mentioned the NFL-bound William Gholston as one of Gill's benefactors over the years.
"No other position has more Spartans in the (NFL than) D Line over the past 6 seasons," Worthy added. "Guess they missed that too huh."
In the end, head coach Mark Dantonio had little to say about the quiet dismissal of his defensive line coach of nine years. But, after all, that's the name of the game for coaches... smile and put on a "happy face", so to say.
"I wish Ted the best in his future endeavors," was all Dantonio said in statement released on Friday.
Worthy, who changed his Twitter "avatar", or profile photo, to a picture of Gill on Saturday, had more yet to say:
"Nobody but Coach Gill is the reasoning behind our success as players!!"
God Speed, Mr. Gill...
You can follow MSU Examiner, Michael Ferro, at twitter.com/MichaelFerro.
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