Volume 124 Issue 68
kansan.com
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
COMMENTARY
Successful football coaches are ultimately measured in wins and losses, and not by the quality of their character. Turner Gill was perhaps the greatest person to ever take charge of the Kansas football program, but he was not the right coach for the job.
Gill not the right fit for KU
After two dismal seasons in Lawrence, athletics director Sheahon Zenger informed Gill on Sunday that he was relieved of his duties as Kansas' head football coach.
Although it was clear Gill put every ounce of energy and passion into coaching at Kansas, his tenure was an outright failure; there is no other way to see it.
Yes, Gill inherited a program and team virtually devoid of all talent left over from the 2008 Orange Bowl championship team, so Kansas was not expected to immediately compete for Big 12 titles. The problem with Gill was not just that he was losing, but that his team looked completely clueless and regressed dramatically despite an upgrade in talent from last year's team.
Gill's record at Kansas was 5-19, he never beat rivals Kansas State and Missouri and failed to capture a single road victory. Even though Kansas was expected by many to finish last in the Big 12 this season, nobody could have expected the staggering nature of the defeats.
Kansas lost 10 games in 2011, but the record-breaking fashion of the defeats was Gill's undoing.
After winning the first two games of the season, Kansas traveled to Atlanta to take on the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets. The Jayhawks had upset Georgia Tech in Lawrence last season, so this was a great opportunity for Gill and his staff to sweep both the non-conference schedule and the series. What ensued was one of the most embarrassing and lackluster defensive displays in college football's modern era. The Yellow Jackets won 62-44, accumulating 768 total yards and 608 rushing yards. The loss dropped Kansas to 2-1, and the Jayhawks went on to lose every remaining game — all but two by double digits.
The end of the Gill era is the end of a tumultuous three-year period for Kansas football. Former athletics director Lew Perkins forced out the Jayhawks winningest coach Mark Mangino for "mistreatment" of players, and he decided to hire Mangino's polar opposite in Gill.
Despite an unimpressive 20-30 record at Buffalo, Gill was given a five-year, $10 million contract (all guaranteed money). Perkins boasted that Gill was a man of high character who would be a role model for the Kansas football program. Gill definitely lived up to that billing, but he was brought in to Lawrence to win games first and foremost. As much as I would have liked for Gill to succeed at Kansas, he did not give Zenger any reason to believe that the football program would improve in his third year.
Having lost all momentum from the Orange Bowl title, the next coach at Kansas must rebuild the program from the ground up. Let the search begin.
Edited by Ben Chipman
NEXT IN LINE
THE CANDIDATES
MIKE VERNON
mvernon@kansan.com
ETHAN PADWAY
epadway@kansan.com
MIKE LEACH
MIKE LEACH
Age: 50
Previous head coa-
ing experience: Texas
Tech 2000-2009
(84-4 in 10 seasons)
Bio: The current frontrunner for the Kansas
Leach
job. Leach had success in the Big 12 in his 10 seasons at the helm of the Red Raiders, taking them to a bowl game each season. Texas Tech fired Leach amid a controversy involving treatment of players, which might bring back memories of Mark Mangino to Kansas fans. Leach is one of the biggest names on the market, and if he wants a chance to reestablish himself in the Big 12, Kansas is the place.
JIM LEAVITT
Age:54
Previous head coaching experience: South Florida 1997-2009 (94-57 in 13 seasons)
Bio: Leavitt is currently the linebacker coach for the San Francisco 49ers, following
his successful 13 seasons as the head coach at South Florida. He coached the Bulls in their first Football Bowl Subdivision season and had a record of 8-3. In 2005, South Florida moved to the Big East and made a bowl game in each Leavitt's four seasons in the conference. While Zenger coached under him at South Florida for one season, Leavitt was fired for alleged abuse of a player, which, like Leach, might initially anger some Jayhawk fans.
Leavitt
BLAKE SCHUSTER bschuster@kansan.com
In light of Turner Gill's firing, a number of possible replacements exist. The following list is of former and current head coaches as well as assistant coaches, all of whom could bring excitement to a program that lacks fan support.
Age:49
LARRY FEDORA
Previous head coaching experience: Southern Mississippi 2008-Present (31-19 in four seasons)
Bio: Currently at Southern Mississippi, Fedora is known as an offensive-minded coach, and
he's had success offensively throughout his career. Fedora was born in Texas and has strong recruiting ties to the region, which makes him an attractive candidate for Kansas. His teams at Southern Mississippi have never missed a bowl game, and his 2011 team finished first in Conference USA. Fedora is a good backup for Kansas and is likely to be a favorite for the Mississippi job.
Fedora
KEVIN SUMLIN
KEVIN SUMLIN
Age: 47
Previous head coaching experience: Houston 2008-Present (35-16 in four seasons)
Bio: Sumlin is a hot name right now as his Houston Cougars are defeated and
Sumlin
on the inside track to crash a BCS bowl this winter. Sumlin has experience as an assistant at big schools such as Oklahoma and could be persuaded to take his game up to a major conference if the situation is right. Sumlin is currently very happy in Houston and although moving to Kansas would be a step up in competition, the quality of the team he takes over might not be at the same level as the one he currently coaches.
SEE COACHES ON PAGE 6
BRENT VENABLES
Age: 40
Previous head coaching experience: None
Previous head coaching experience: None
Bio: Venables is a Kansas native and spent his collegiate career at Garden City Community College and Kansas State before getting his first job in coaching as the linebackers coach under Bill Snyder. Venables has been at Oklahoma since 1999, currently serving as the
Venables
defensive coordinator. Venables would be an attractive coaching candidate given the amount of time he has spent in the Big 12, the success his defensive success and the fact that Kansas is his home state. But the major drawback to Venables is his lack of head coaching experience, so it would be a risk bringing in a first-time guy to turn around a program.
MARK STOOPS
Age: 44
Previous head coaching experience: None
Previous head coaching experience: None
Bio: Stoops is the younger brother of Bob and Mike Stoops. His brother Bob is a legend at Oklahoma, but after his brother Mike was recently fired at Arkansas, Mark will not be hired on name alone. Stoops' unit is currently ranked sixth in the nation in total defense, second in rushing defense and fourth in scoring defense. With his
Stoops
defenses continuing to perform, it's only a matter of time before he gets a shot at a head coaching position, but whether Stoops can replicate the success he's had in the ACC in a stronger conference such as the Big 12 remains to be seen.
DAVE DOEREN
Age:39
Bio: Doeren is seen as an up-and-comer in the coaching ranks and is coming off a successful first season as a head coach. Doeren is a Kansas native and served as the linebackers coach and co-defensive coordinator for the Jayhawks from 2002-2005. Doeren
Previous head coaching experience: Northern Illinois University 2011 (9-3 in one season)
Doeren
doesn't have the head coaching experience as the other candidates and lost to the recently fired Gill 45-42 this season.
MEN'S BASKETBALL
Self doesn't trust his bench just yet
MAX ROTHMAN
mrothman@kansan.com
twitter.com/udk_bball
In the final minutes of the Maui Invitational championship, when Kansas faded against Duke, coach Bill Self was without a choice. His starters were exhausted, but they had to play.
"We're better off having veterans in there that are tired, than young-sters that don't know what they're doing yet," Self said.
Last season, Self deployed a 10-player rotation that usually featured Thomas Robinson (14.6 minutes per game), Josh Selby (20.4), Marion Little (13.7), Travis Releford (10.4) and Elijah Johnson (13.7) off
He admitted after the Duke loss that he probably overplayed some of the players. It wasn't because he forgot about fatigue or misread his team's level of energy. He just had no one else to throw in the game.
the bench.
This season, however, Self has much less depth. He has relied on senior guard Conner Teahan to come off the bench and provide a shooting touch. After a sharp start to the season, Teahan converted just one 3-point shot in the entire Maui Invitational. Then there's freshman guard Naadir Tharpe, junior forward Kevin Young and sophomore forward Kevin Wesley; the talents who have meshed at times, but
Tharpe has the intelligence and composure to excel in Self's half-
court, pass-heavy sets. But before Tharpe can showcase any of his skills, he must first take care of the ball, an issue that
plagued Kansas against Duke.
"Naadir turned that sucker over too?" Self said.
Young must grab rebounds and loose balls, areas that require consistent improvement from the front court. His physical attributes make him a hybrid, able to play as a guard inside the paint and as a
forward on the outside. By doing so, Young can draw defenders away from their usual spots on the floor and create mismatches for himself and for teammates.
"Those are usually the hardest teams to guard." Self said of teams with the versatility Young can offer.
Wesley has been hindered by foul trouble this year. In just 38 minutes played in the Maui Invitational, he tallied 14 fouls. His athleticism can create opportunities as a scorer and defender, but if he's not on the floor, he's not any help.
Tharpe, Wesley and Young will crack the rotation in key moments only after they earn Self's trust by playing defense and bringing their skills up to speed.
"He's still thinking" Self said of Wesley. "He's not reacting."
Self's mantra has always been: when the little things come together, the scoring will follow.
"These guys are starting to learn coach Self and how he works," senior guard Tyshawn Taylor said.
Edited by Adam Strunk
CHRIS BRONSON/KANSAN
Freshman guard Naddir Tharpe looks for an open teammate while bringing the ball down the court in the first half last Tuesday night's game against UCLA. KU won 72-56 and advanced to finals for the 28th annual EA Sports Maui Invitational where they lost to Duke. Coach Bill Self said that Tharpe and the rest of Ku'l's bench need to improve.