FootballScoop is proud to announce that Will Gilkison is the 2020 FootballScoop Football Operations Director of the Year presented by AstroTurf as selected by prior winners.
2020 presented the most challenging year ever for someone charged with overseeing logistics for a major college football program. Covid. Testing. Quarantining. New rules and standards being issued frequently. Travel restrictions changing throughout the season.
Rutgers head coach Greg Schiano told FootballScoop, "Gilk is the best I've ever worked with. He was part of my second recruiting class here at Rutgers. He actually committed the first day he could and he has been a Rutgers man ever since."
A four-year letterwinner at linebacker and captain for the Scarlet Knights, Gilkison would go on to become a student assistant, then work in the weight room and in player development before transitioning briefly into a coaching role. For more than a decade, Gilkison has lead operations for Rutgers football.
Together with Brett Arnold and Ryan Glenn, Gilkison ensures the entire Rutgers football program remains on track and focused on their objectives. These are the folks who think through every logistical matter so that the coaching staff and players can think about how to win football games and become better leaders on and off the field.
Schiano added, "No body works harder than Gilk. He embodies everything we teach. Hard work, leadership, determination, discipline. Gilk is Rutgers football."
The FootballScoop Coaches of the Year awards presented by AstroTurf are the only set of awards that recognize the most outstanding position coaches in college football. The prior winners selected this year's winner.
Prior winners selected Michael Hazel (Penn State) as a 2020 winner alongside Gilkison.
Previous winners of the Football Operations Director of the Year award are Tom Deahn (Temple, 2009), Mike Kerin (West Virginia, 2010), Mike Sinquefield (TCU, 2011), Matt Doyle (Stanford, 2012), Jason Grooms (Ohio, 2013), Mack Butler (Oklahoma State, 2014), Mark Robinson (Florida State, 2015), Tim Knox (Illinois, 2016), Tyler Cook (UAB, 2017), Shane Elder (North Texas, 2018) and Randy Ross (Arkansas, 2019).
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