Friday, October 28, 2011
COMMENTARY
Mangino shouldn't come back
There is an idea gaining steam nationally and in Lawrence that Mark Mangino should be rehired as football coach, and it seems the only people opposed to it around here are the parking ticket officers.
As the Kansas football team continues to go off the rails, fans, boosters and columnists alike are clamoring for the return of the once-adored, then-banished Mangino. But anyone advocating for the return of the man who is larger-than-life, both literally and figuratively, needs to take off their rose-colored glasses.
On Oct. 20, Bill Reiter from FOXSports.com penned a column suggesting the Jayhawks (2-5) dump current coach Turner Gill and replace him with Mangino, who left after the 2009 season. Reiter said that if Kansas does not act soon, Mangino could be groomed as Bill Snyder's eventual replacement at K-State. And after last Saturday's deflating 59-21 loss to the Wildcats, several Jayhawk fans took to Twitter demanding Mangino be rehired.
Yes, Mangino was at the helm for Kansas' most successful football season ever. And yes, the fiery coach did some great things in his eight years in charge. But the deification of a man who was run out of town less than two years ago shows an absurd panic level. Even if Turner Gill is not the right man for the job, Mangino should never be considered for the position again.
The Jayhawks face regional competition in the Big 12 invitational Page 7
Yes, people do change. If he is truly repentant for his words, Mangino should get a second shot somewhere. But that place should not, under any circumstances, be at Kansas.
CROSS COUNTRY TEAM TRAVELS TO TEXAS
— Edited by Josh Kantor
With all this in mind, why are people longing for Mangino? Part of it could be that Gill, his successor, is his complete antithesis. When Mangino's trademark rage was directed at other schools or officials, fans loved it. On the other hand, at no point in his first two bumpy years in charge of Kansas has Gill shown one ounce of rage. Right or wrong, fans are interpreting Gill's lack of blowups as apathy. But on the heels of Mangino, a level head is exactly what this program needed.
Before delving into Mangino's 'resignation,' let's look at the big picture. In his eight years with the jayhawks, Mangino had only one season with a winning record in Big 12 play. In fact, Mangino only had three winning seasons all together. He had a winning record against only one B1 2 Goe (Iowa State). Against the three powerhousees of the last decade — Texas, Oklahoma and Texas Tech — Mangino was a combined 0-12. In his team's miracle 2007 season, Mangino avoided all three of those schools.
Mangino was the subject of an internal investigation in late 2009 after stories of his abusive conduct began leaking out. In November of that year, former Kansas wide receiver Raymond Brown told ESPN that he wanted to hurt Mangino after one incident, saying the coach yelled "If you don't shut up, I'm going to send you back to St. Louis so you can get shot with your homies" Brown's younger brother had previously survived a shooting that put a bullet in his arm.
As far as exiles go, Mangino falls a little closer to Napoleon than the Dalai Lama. His departure was a messy combination of failure on the field and fury off it. Seven consecutive losses in the Big 12 pushed Mangino's team out of bowl eligibility, but it was his off-the-field anglibility that pushed him out of a job.
KANSAN.com
ROBINSON HYPEREXTENDS KNEE BUT ONLY OUT FOR A FEW DAYS
SOCCER
Freshman forward Jamie Fletcher scans upfield for an open player during the first half of the match last Friday. Oct. 21 against Missouri. The team will plav Oklahoma today.
TRAVIS YOUNG/KANSAN FILE PHOTO
ONLY A WIN WILL DO
V
RYAN MCCARTHY
rmccarthy@kansan.com
Even though it is senior day at lajhawk Socer Complex, the jayhawks are more focused on working toward their future goal of making the NCAA Tournament than reminiscing about the past.
In order to fulfil that ultimate ambition, Kansas (11- 17) must get past Oklahoma (6-12) in today's home season finale.
"There's no bigger senior day gift that we can give the team than winning and knowing we're putting ourselves that much closer to the NCAA tournament," Kansas coach Mark Francis said.
The Sooners (6-12) come into this game with a winor-go-home scenario. If they do not beat the Jayhawks then they do not qualify for the Big 12 Tournament next week in San Antonio.
In order to get over this final regular season hurdle, the Jayhawks will rely on the continued consistent play of freshman goalkeeper Kaitlyn Stroud.
Stroud holds an 8-3 record in goal this year. She split time with junior Kat Liebetrau early in the season, but because of injuries, Stroud stepped in to the goaltender role full time.
"It's actually been really exciting," Stroud said. "This is something I've been working towards the past year."
While Stroud secured the starting spot, she looks to improve her skills every day.
"I need to keep that aggressive mentality, where I'm competing against myself now, and I want to do better than my last game and I want the other team to scout me." Stroud said. "I want them to be worried about me."
Another important factor for
changing positions.
the Jayhawks will be to have their attacks attacking the goal.
The team had no problem doing that last Sunday against Iowa State, posting six goals, but now it needs to sustain that through the rest of year.
"I think we were so mad that we lost against Mizzou and we wanted to come out and demolish the team we were playing," freshman forward Jamie Fletcher said.
The key will be "making sure that we're all doing our job," Hillis said. "When we get on the field, the coaches have given us a game plan, but after that it's kind of up to us."
Fletcher was asked to move to the forward position after playing in the midfield for most of her soccer career.
In her first year in the program,
Sophomore Madi Hillis is another player who changed positions, moving from midfield to defender. Making this change has allowed her to become a more outspoken person on the field. Hillis said she's taken on a bigger leadership role compared with her freshman year, despite the challenges of
Another realization for players is once the whistle blows, the responsibility of winning the game is on them.
And at this point of the season,
the players must be counted on to
execute that game plan, so they can focus on the task at hand: getting the win that will get them one step closer to the NCAA tournament.
"It's the mentality that we're looking for, it's not the Xs and the Os," Francis said. It's more just coming out and competing and they've done a fantastic job with that."
- Edited by Lindsey Deiter
BIG 12
Football homecoming for Jayhawks from Texas
MIKE VERNON
MIKE VERNON
mvernon@kansan.com
Junior defensive ten Toben Opurn pursues Kansas State's Collin Klein in the first half of last Saturday's Sunflower Showdown at Memorial Stadium. The Jayhawks were defeated 21-59 and will face texas next weekend. Kansas is now 2-5 for the season.
On Saturday, the Jayhawks will be heading home in a sense.
One of those players heading close to home is junior defensive end Toben Opurum. Growing up in Dallas, Opurum knows all too well the prominence that the Longhorns carry in his home state.
Traveling to the Lone Star State for Saturday's game against Texas will be a homecoming for the 38 Jayhawks from Texas. Families and friends of the Kansas players will be in attendance at 100,000-plus fans in Darrel K. Royal Stadium.
"It really doesn't matter where you are, once you're in the state of Texas you're going to see burnt orange everywhere and you're going to see Texas fans in every part of the state." Opurum said.
CHRIS BRONSON/KANSAN
And he used to be in that category himself.
Even though he said he used to watch mostly professional football, Opurum said Texas football was just about the only college football team he watched. Growing up a fan of the Longhorns, Opurum said their former quarterback Vince Young is one of his favorite quarterbacks of all time.
But like many of the Texans on the Kansas football roster, Opurum never got an opportunity to
play for the college team he grew up watching. This weekend will be his chance to play in the state capital and show that he deserved a look from the state's flagship school.
"It will be an opportunity for me and all the other guys from Texas on the team to prove them wrong." Oprum said.
Coach Turner Gill said he understands what playing Texas means to his players. But he also said that that right now, he's just trying to make sure the team has a great opportunity to compete and has a chance to win the game.
And playing against the two freshmen quarterbacks that Texas rotates will give the Jayhawks just that. The two interceptions that Kansas has forced and the five total turnovers the defense has gained both rank as the second lowest number in the nation.
Defending against the two freshmen will give Kansas its best chance to right those numbers.
"Obviously people are going to want to take advantage of them being younger," Opurum said. "But at the same time, they're very talented quarterbacks and they'll make big plays for them just as much as
hey'll make small mistakes."
To try and ensure that the small mistakes will come, Opurum said the Jayhawks will blitz more this week and generally be more aggressive.
Senior center Jeremiah Hatch is responding by preparing for a
But because Hatch grew up in Texas, he knows that a team has got to play its best in front of the sea of burnt orange that he grew up around.
team that blitzes more than any other offensive coordinator Chuck Long has said he's seen.
"Anytime you get to go to Texas, you're going to bring your 'A game,' Hatch said. "This game, in Texas, your hometown, you bring your 'A game.'
Edited by Ben Chipman
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