SOCCER: Seniors honored before win against Missouri. SEE PAGE 3B. NEW COACH: What Hayes has planned for the final games. SEE PAGE 6B. TALK TO US: Contact Jay Krall or Sarah Warren at (785) 864-4858 or sports@kansan.com SPORTS THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN 1B WWW.KANSAN.COM/SPORTS MONDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 2001 Commentary Michael Rigg Columnist sportskeansan.com Allen's tenure had surprises, but his demise shocked none Dear Terry Allen, First of all, I admire your guts. You took one of the worst coaching jobs in America, and you honestly believed you could make a difference. And you did, too, in your first year, when you started off the season 4-1 and had everybody believing again. Unfortunately, it was all downhill from there. In week four of your tenure, your team traveled to Cincinnati and was pasted 34-7. Two aspects of that game — lack of discipline and inability to win on the road — led to your "demise." Was that really just five years ago? You seemed so different back then. You were the young, "aw-shucks" kid from Iowa whom everybody wanted to be friends with. I look back at pictures of your hiring, and you looked so young, with your Ned Flanders moustache and your eternal optimism. opinism. I look at pictures of you now and I just wonder what might have been. When you were hired, you were a young 59. Now, you look like an old and frail 44-year-old. Even you noticed it last week, when you said, "I've really aged a lot in five years." Unfortunately, being nice doesn't win games in the Big 12 Conference. Year two of your tenure was a great example, when you drilled nationally ranked Colorado on Homecoming, and should have also defeated Texas A&M. Of course, your 1998 team also lost to the likes of Baylor and needed four overtimes to beat Alabama-Birmingham. Of course, that's what five years of disappointing losses and failures will do to a person. Throughout it all, your teams always amazed me by the way they competed with teams that should have blown the Jayhawks off the field, and by losing some teams to which you should never, ever, in a 1,000 years, should have lost. Last year was when the vultures started circling, when your team looked completely unprepared in a loss to Southern Methodist in the season opener. That game marked the beginning of the end for you, and you knew it. When your team lost to Missouri two weeks ago, it was just the final nail in the coffin. I've never been more confused about the timing of a firing. I don't know why anybody in their right mind would want your job now. Obviously, the powers that be at Kansas have no idea how to treat their employees. I admire your love for the game and how you handled these last few weeks. I really wish you had succeeded — just once, I'd like to see the nice guy finish first. But you stayed optimistic throughout the whole thing. You tried seeing the good in your players, even when your players (I'm not going to mention names here) had no good in them. You were always a pleasure to talk to, and I consider myself lucky to have had a chance to get to know you. Nonetheless, you should be disgusted with how you were dismissed, how you were fired with three games left on the schedule. So many people say you were fired because you were too good of a person. If that's the case, then I hope you never keep another job. Good luck, Terry. CHRIS BURKETT/KANSAN Kansas Head Coach Terry Allen watches his team execute a play. Allen is the 34th head coach KU has had in its last 111 seasons. Your friend, Michael Rigg Rigg is a Greenwood Village, Colo. senior in broadcast news. Allen leaves with style CHRIS BURKETT/KANSAN By Jeff Denton Kansan sportswriter Fifteen minutes before the scheduled 4:30 p.m. press conference yesterday, Terry Allen's support crew had taken their seats. Wide receivers coach Clarence James sat alone in the right corner of Hadl Auditorium. Special teams coach Clint Bowen and defensive ends coach Tim Burke were seated nearby. Close to them were the three senior captains — Harrison Hill, Nate Dwyer and Marcus Rogers — each expressionless, eyes forward. Wide receiver Roger Ross was also present, as was former Kansas running back David Winbush, who was a part of Allen's first recruiting class at Kansas At 4:30, Terry Allen emerged from the rear exit door. Lynne followed each of her husband's steps. Allen walked slowly to one of the two empty chairs under the table in the front of the room. Al Bohl, Kansas athletics director, and new interim coach Tom Hayes entered together one minute early. In Allen's last public address to the media, colleagues and friends at Kansas, he wore the biggest smile in the room. Known for his nice-guy image in his five years as Kansas' coach, Allen began his speech with an apology. Being dishonest emotionally had torn the freshly fired 44-year-old man. "I didn't tell you the whole truth last night, and that's really kind of bothered me," Allen began. "You guys know that sometimes we don't tell the whole truth to protect the interest of our players. But last night was a little different situation. "I wanted to make sure that we got things perfectly clear because I have never been the one not to tell the truth." The night before, after Allen's Jayhawks were throttled 51-7 by the Nebraska Cornhuskers, the media fired questions at Allen about rumors that he had coached his last game at Kansas "I am still the football coach of the University of Kansas," Allen said on Saturday. "Our team meets tomorrow at 2 o'clock. Until anything comes forward from that, we will just forge forward." But Allen had just coached his final 48 minutes at Kansas. He had lied to protect his team that was the loyalty that he would be remembered for, Dwyer said. SEE ALLEN ON PAGE 6B Allen at Kansas December, 1996 — Terry Allen is hired as Kansas' football coach. Oct. 24, 1998 — Allen's Jayhawks win their homecoming game 33-17 against No. 17 Colorado, forecasting a bright future for his program. The game would be Allen's only win against a Top 25 team. Oct 30, 1999 — Kansas nearly upsets No. 8 Nebraska in a 24-17 loss, going on to finish the season 5-7. to finish the season. Feb. 26, 2000 — A Kansas women's soccer player reports having been sexually assaulted in a parking lot by two football players. Allen is later criticized for his handling of the incident following reports that he had made players run stairs at Memorial Stadium as punishment. Sept. 2, 2000 — The Jayhawks fall to Southern Methodist 31-17 in a disappointing season opener. Kansas finishes 4-7. Sept. 1, 2001 — Allen hands in it. Sept. 1, 2001 — Allen heads into the first game of his final season against Southwest Missouri State after having suspended quarterback Mario Kinsey and running back Reggie Duncan for team rules violations. Kinsey goes on to win the start job. Nov. 3, 2001 — Kansas is embarrassed 51-7 by No. 2 Nebraska in Allen's final game as the Jayhawks' coach. No.2 Nebraska pounds Jayhawks in sellout conference contest LAURIE SISK/KANSAN By Jeff Denton Kansas sportswriter It was the second verse of the same song for the Kansas football team Saturday night. For the second time in a 14-day span, Kansas could not stop the run. And its offense could not move the football. The song ended with Kansas dropping its fourth straight Big 12 Conference game, as it was pounded 51-7 by No. 2 Nebraska in front of a sellout crowd. The 44-point spanking was the fifth loss in a row for Kansas coach Terry Allen. Kansas senior free safety Jamarei Bryant tries to tackle Nebraska split end Thomas Wilson. Wilson gained 65 yards on six catches during a 51-7 rout of Kansas on Saturday at Memorial Stadium. "They're just so physical," Allen said. "They came in and dominated us with their defense versus our offense. I thought our kids came ready to play, but I don't know if we were quite ready to play well enough offensively." oftenly. Nebraska racked up 284 yards and four touchdowns on the ground. While the 'Huskers' offense continued to pound the football down the Jayhawks' throats, Kansas' offense had trouble getting the ball past midfield. In the first half, Kansas scraped for three first downs and a measly six yards on 24 plays. In the second quarter alone, the Jayhawks generated four yards on 10 plays. Allen admitted his offense had floundered, but he said part of the reason it had weakened the past three weeks was because of the defenses it had faced. Oklahoma, Kansas State and Nebraska pose defenses ranked in the country's Top 10. 10. "There is no question we have struggled offensively," he said. Allen said the Kansas defense played hard despite allowing its largest point output of the season. But junior linebacker Leo Etienne, who tallied 11 tackles, said Nebraska was not as much overpowering as his own teammates were exhausted. "It wasn't that hard to stop their offense," Etienne said. "But when you got a defense out there 85 percent of the time, something is going to happen." Another question Kansas has to tangle with is who is going to quarterback its club for its final three games. At the start of the season, two quarterbacks shared time. Redshirt freshman Mario Kinsey had received of the snaps since Kansas' 41-17 loss to UCLA Sept. 8. SEE LOSS ON PAGE 6B Basketball team loses recruit to Arizona By Ryan Malashock