Volume 126 Issue 56
kansan.com
Wednesday, December 4, 2013
COMMENTARY
Reagan may return to Kansas football
John Reagan came back to Lawrence in September of 2012. His friends called with questions that weren't exactly about him. Questions about his team.
"How are you going to be?" "What are you going to do?"
are you going Reagan — who was a friend for five years to Kansas — returned as a foe. He coached the Rice Owls, who beat the Jayhawks. Those who knew Reagan's past history as a Kansas coach spoke highly of him when he returned. Their praise seemed to go beyond the fact that Reagan and the Jayhawks won when he was the offensive line coach and run game coordinator for the University. It's because he had an idea of why they won.
"We were going to be harder," Reagan said in September. "We were going to be tougher."
Last Wednesday, the Lawrence Journal-World reported that Reagan is coming back to the University. The report said Reagan be the offensive coordinator for the Jayhawks, a role that Weis himself filled the previous two seasons.
Then KU Athletics released a statement that Tim Grunhard, the team's offensive line coach, will not be a part of the team next season.
"We have already hired a replacement for Tim." Weis said in the statement. "When that coach becomes available we will provide more details."
While KU Athletics has not confirmed the hiring of Reagan (he does have a bowl game to coach at Rice), the move would be a step forward for Weis and the lajhawks.
Most of all, hiring Reagan would be about winning. Kansas has won four games in two seasons. The heat and pressure are building on Weis for year three. Reagan was here when the pressure lifted off Mark Mangino and results rolled in.
He was here when Mangino coined the phrase "keep sawin wood." When Reagan was asked about hiring previous-Kansas assistants to the Rice team — such as Ryan Cantrell or J. Steward — he said Kansas football taught them how to go from an average team to one that wins the Orange Bowl.
In 2010, Reagan became the offensive coordinator at Rice. In 2009, Rice had the No. 104 rushing offense in the country. This season, the 9-3 Owls have the 17th best rushing offense in the country. Keep in mind, Rice is the second smallest Football Bowl Subdivision school in the country.
Also, the move would mean that Weis is, to an extent, relinquishing his duties as offensive coordinator. While Weis has an extensive history coaching the offensive game, the offensive results from the Jayhawks have not been so splendid.
"They learned how to win." Reagan said. "They learned what it took to win. They learned the patience along the way to keep working."
In 2012, Rice led the nation in time of possession, averaging 33:59 minutes with the ball per game. In the Big 12 conference, time of possession can be an important factor in keeping some of the nation's most elite offenses off the field.
So in 2012, when Rice traveled to Kansas and Reagan arrived wearing Rice's blue and gray, it felt unusual — at least before the ball was kicked off.
"If I were being honest," Reagan said in September, with no apparent knowledge of the possible return. "A year ago it was weird to be at Memorial [Stadium] and not be wearing the colors at KU."
It seems that may eventually be a problem of the past for Reagan.
- Edited by Kayla Overbey
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Junior forward Chelsea Gardner prepares for a free throw during the Nov. 10 game against Oral Roberts University. The Jayhawks won 84-62. Gardner's average points per game dropped from 22.3 to 15.3 during the team's past few weeks on the road.
STELLA LIANG
eliang@kansan.com
After a tough couple of weeks on the road, the Kansas women's basketball team (4-3) returns home to take on an undefeated Arkansas (8-0) squad Wednesday night. Since its last home game on Nov. 17, Kansas has gone 1-3 in road and neutral environments, including a 1-2 finish in last week's tournament in the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Arkansas has been hammering its opponents offensively during its current eight-game winning streak. The Razorbacks average
76. 4 points a game, while their opponents have been held to an average 40.5 points per game. This includes a 72-23 victory against Binghamton in its last matchup on Nov. 30, which was the finale of the New Mexico Thanksgiving Tournament. Arkansas also beat Southeast Missouri 88-37 on its way to winning the tournament title.
The Razorbacks are not ranked in either the AP or Coaches Poll, but have received votes in both. They have not played in a true road game yet, with their only games away from Fayetteville, Ark., coming in the Thanksgiving
tournament on a neutral court. Freshman forward Jessica Jackson leads the team in scoring by averaging 14.4 points a game.
Arkansas will face a Jayhawk team that is ready to be back at home. The difference in the team's latest performances is noticeable, starting with Kansas' leading scorer, Chelsea Gardner.
Gardner, a junior from DeSoto, Texas, was averaging 22.3 points a game before the road trip. Since then, her average has dipped to 15.3, which includes a two-point effort in the last game against Duke. Gardner had been hampered with some foul trouble
during the holiday tournament and had less playing time. Her rebounding numbers have stayed steady over home and road matchups.
Junior Asia Boyd has also seen her numbers take a dip since the homestead. Boyd was averaging 18 points per game in the first three games at home but is now averaging 11.7.
For the last two games, seniors Markisha Hawkins and CeCe Harper have been added to the starting lineup, replacing Boyd and sophomore Lamaria Cole in the guard positions. Harper was named to the all-tournament team
of the Island Division following the tournament in the Virgin Islands.
These two teams met just last season in Arkansas. Arkansas came out victorious 64-56 over the then 17th-ranked Jayhawks, who had been previously undefeated. Each team has lost key players since then.
This time around, the teams meet in Allen Fieldhouse Wednesday at 7 p.m.
Edited by Emma McElhaney
SAFETY
Head injuries in NFL prompt changes in youth football
MAX GOODWIN
mgoodwin@kansan.com
There was a time when the word "concussion" was seldom used on the sidelines or in locker rooms. It was only when a player was unconscious on the field that serious head injuries were considered.
Concussions are impossible to ignore in football today, as lawsuits continue to increase over the issue.
The Kansas City Star reported
Former Kansas City Chiefs general manager Carl Peterson said he had not heard of the lawsuit when he spoke at an
yesterday that the Kansas City Chiefs are being sued by five former players over head injuries.
"Basically we're trying to change, I don't like the word, but the culture of the game. It begins with proper tackling technique. When I taught tackling, it was always lead with your head. That has got to be eliminated." Peterson said.
Trent Green and NFL offensive lineman Conrad Dobler. One of the topics of conversation was a change in proper tackling technique.
"In the age of concussions, somebody has to make a stand."
Peterson is the current chairman of USA Football, a nonprofit organization that has established "Heads Up Football", a movement that is "USA Football's national initiative to help make the sport of football better and safer," as the organization's website states.
event at the Kansas City Public Library's Plaza Branch for an event titled "Big Hits, Lasting Hurts."
USA Football has initiated a player safety coach for every
Peterson was part of a panel that included former NFL quarterback
CHARLIE WEIS
Kansas football coach
youth football league. Peterson's organization is focused specifically on improving the safety of the sport at the youth level.
game" involves players playing through pain to stay on the field.
Part of the "culture of the
For so many years in our game, it was well, you've got to be tough to play football. I've heard neurologists say, 'you've got to be tough to play football, but your brain is not tough,' You have to be smart enough to recognize when your brain is not right and sit out," Peterson said.
A saying that Peterson stressed the importance of was "when in
Weis decided with two games left in the season that he be cautious and allow Pierson the time he needed to recover, rather than putting him back on the field.
doubt, sit them out," which is essentially what Kansas football coach Charlie Weis did this season as junior Tony Pierson dealt with a recurring concussion.
"The best thing for Tony's health, therefore the right thing to do, is instead of coming out and putting him down on the depth chart ... at the end of the day, the right thing is for me and the training staff to sit there and say, 'Tony, you might be able to go, but you're sitting down the next two weeks. We're going to make sure this head of yours clears up.' Weis said at a press conference on Nov. 22.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
That is exactly the message being sent by those trying to make a safer game.
The message on Tuesday between Peterson, Dobler and Green was that everybody involved in the game must take a stand on concussions.
Monique Hase, left, from Delia, Eva Faulkner, center, from Blue Springs and Jill Kauts, right, from Merriam practice their tackling stances under the watchful eye of former Kansas City Chiefs player will Shields during a football safety clinic for area mothers at the Kansas City Chiefs practice facility on Dec. 3, in Kansas City, Mo.
"In the age of concussions, somebody has to make a stand," Weis said.
The reality is that football is as popular in the United States as it has ever been, but the game faces an issue of safety that clearly threatens the sport at every level
The positives of this game called football so far outweigh the negatives. It's accountability, it's responsibility and it's discipline. Whether a youth football player plays one year, four years or ten years, I think what they gain from that is an experience that you can't do in any other sport, so I don't want to
from youth to professional.
see the game go away, I want to see it grow, become more qualitative and safer", Peterson said.
Edited by Chas Strobel