After Turner Gill turned Buffalo’s once dismal football program into a winner last year, Bulls athletic director Warde Manuel knew it was only a matter of time before he’d lose his coach to a higher-profile job.

Now that it’s happened — Gill accepting an offer to take over at Kansas — it didn’t make the parting any easier for Manuel, who reluctantly launched a national coaching search on Sunday.

As his first step, Manuel named Bulls offensive coordinator Danny Barrett interim coach, and noted that the former Canadian Football League star quarterback is considered a candidate to take over the job on a full-time basis.

“Today is a day that creates mixed feelings,” Manuel said in a release issued by the school. “I am saddened to see Turner leave us, as he has done an absolutely fantastic job of building our football program to unprecedented success.”

On the bright side, Manuel added, “I am extremely happy for Turner and his family that they have been granted this opportunity.”

Manuel and several players are scheduled to meet with reporters later Sunday to discuss Gill’s departure.

Gill leaves Buffalo in a far better position than where the program was when he arrived as a first-time head coach in December 2005.

In four seasons, the Bulls produced a 20-30 record under Gill, a former star quarterback at Nebraska and Heisman Trophy finalist. That’s a remarkable turnaround for a team that, prior to his arrival, went 10-69 since joining the Mid-American Conference in 1999.

Gill’s best season came last year when Buffalo (8-6) won its first MAC championship and competed in its first bowl game, a 38-20 loss to Connecticut in the International Bowl. He followed that up with a 5-7 finish this year, which was better than expected for a team going with a first-time starter at quarterback and one which lost its top running back to a season-ending injury in August.

It was during Buffalo’s run to the conference title last year when Manuel began openly discussing the eventuality of Gill’s departure, expecting an offer would come Gill’s way that Buffalo couldn’t match. As difficult as that was, Manuel noted the positive mark Gill would leave on the program.

Not only did Gill prove that Buffalo could be turned into a winner, Manuel noted that Gill also made it easier for him when it came to finding his successor by making the Bulls an attractive destination for up-and-coming coaching candidates.

“If Turner Gill were to depart and go on to a bigger conference, bigger school, I would look back and say, ‘Turner Gill has helped us far more immensely by being here than having not come here at all,”’ Manuel said in November. “And it’ll make the job significantly easier to get another coach of his caliber than it was prior to him having come here.”

Now Manuel has to put that belief to the test.

Barrett, who completed his third season at Buffalo, will be the only candidate considered among Bulls assistants. He previously served as head coach and assistant general manager for the CFL Saskatchewan Roughriders. During a 14-year CFL career split with four teams, the Cincinnati product finished with 23,419 yards passing and 133 touchdowns.

Buffalo school president John Simpson credited Gill for being a “remarkable leader.”

“Turner has done a marvelous job rebuilding our football program and bringing positive national attention to the University,” Simpson said. “We wish him and his family the very best.”