Volume 125 Issue 58
Wednesdav. December 5, 2012
kansan.com
COMMENTARY
Kansas football has worst record in school history
Three, two, one. This is not a countdown to zero. This is the number of wins the Kansas football team has had in each of (my) three years at Kansas. In case math isn't your strong suit, that's a total of six wins in three seasons.
Which leads me to the question: Have we witnessed the worst stretch of football in Kansas history?
I doubt this comes as a shock to you, but Kansas football has been through some pretty rough periods before.
three, two, one.
How about in the mid-'20s, when Kansas won six games in the three seasons between 1924-1926? Surely this is worse than the team's current circumstances. I think not, for a couple of reasons. One, because college football is a totally different game now, which I'll get to shortly. Two, because Kansas didn't finish last in its conference two of those three years in the '20s.
Yes, Kansas football is currently a nail getting slammed by a hammer. But there's only one way to go, right? It has to get better, right?
Between 1953-1956,the Jayhawks won a total of eight games with a coaching change in the middle. Still, Kansas managed to have three conference wins during that stretch. Kansas has only had one in the last three years.
Like I said, I wasn't counting down to zero, and I don't expect to, but that doesn't mean I won't get there.
Edited by Joanna Hlavacek
Some of that is the players' fault; some of that is Weis'. Would Kansas have been better with former quarterback Jordan Webb, who transferred to Colorado this year? Most likely.
The best argument for the worst stretch in Jayhawk football history (outside of the current one) comes in the three seasons between 1986-1988. Former coach Bob Valesente led the Jayhawks for two Turner Gill-esque seasons, winning four total games before getting fired. He went 0-13-1 in the Big 8.
Feel confident Kansas is getting better? Charlie Wies, an offensive coach and the offensive coordinator of the team, oversees an offense that ranked 115th in the country in points per game. There are 120 FBS programs.
From a pure record standpoint, that is the worst three-year era in Kansas football history. But when you take the current context of college athletics into account, the record doesn't matter quite as much.
In the past three seasons, Kansas has suffered through a scoring margin of 17.25, 19.75 and 17.833 respectively. That's right: Weis's first season has been statistically worse for the Jayhawks than Turner Gill's was. However, Gill had a team full of Mangino players on his side.
ASHLEIGH LEE/KANSAN
Glen Mason stepped in to replace Valesente in 1988 and won one game in his first season before taking the layhawks to two bowl games in nine seasons. In those three years, Kansas went 5-27-1.
Because of potential conference realignment and the University's fragile state in the Big 12, this is the worst possible time for Kansas football to bomb.
And it has bombed.
Ernie Rodriguez, a senior from Lenexa, rebounds for junior guard Markisha Hawkins during practice yesterday in Allen Field-house. Rodriguez has been a student manager for the past two years after starting out as a practice player for one year. "The coolest thing about the job was being able to sit on the bench during the Sweet 16." Rodriguez said.
BIGGEST FANS
ALL WORK, NO PLAY
Student managers play integral role in success of Kansas teams
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ETHAN PADWAY
epadway@kansan.com
For Ernie Rodriguez, responding to a mass email sent out by Kansas Athletics asking for practice players for the women's basketball team altered his course at the University.
While he enjoyed playing in the pick up games at the Ambler Student Recreation Center, the Lenexa senior didn't find the pick-up basketball as competitive or organized as he wanted.
"It was just something that I was interested in and gave me an opportunity to come to a college practice and get to see what it was like," Rodriguez said.
After spending his sophomore year practicing alongside the team, he befriended a few of the student managers.
"I love basketball, love being around it and I got to a point when I made my decision, I kind of was interested in being a coach or being involved in college athletics, and from people I talked to in college athletics, being a manager led to positions within college athletics," Rodriguez said.
One of the managers was graduating after the season and told Rodriguez that he should apply to take his spot as a manager for the women's team.
Rodriguez obtained an interview in the spring with Larry Hare, the Assistant Athletic Director in charge of Equipment
Services, and the person in charge of the student-manager program.
With basketball being the most popular sport at Kansas by far, Hare receives between 60 and 80 applications for spots on the men's team each year.
But there are only a handful of spots available each year.
Hare screens all the applicants, bringing them in for interviews and whittling the list down to around 30 students, who will be
At the end of the summer camps, the staff and the current managers, sit down and select the students who will receive the offers to fill the vacant spots.
brought in to work the basketball summer camps, where they will be supervised by the current managers.
great experience getting to work with the kids and get to know the coaching staff"
Even the sports with fewer applicants use summer camps or offseason training to test out prospective managers.
"It was long hours and tiring, but it was definitely worth it in the end," Carissa Miller, a softball manager said of her time working the summer camp. "It was a
The second tier of students, those who they want to bring into the program, but were just below the cut for the sport they indicated as their top priority, are put
But once a student is committed to a sport, they're in it until they exit the program.
on a list and offered any positions in other facets of the program.
Switching sports programs isn't allowed because of the time they invest in training the managers.
He said it can take up to a year to train managers because each time they go through something in a season, they are dealing with it for the first time.
This allows the managers that don't graduate to assist in the training of the new hires.
Miller said communication between the managers and the coaches is a two-way street.
"Sometimes they come down before practice and go through things, but it becomes pretty routine in that you can just set up things with your eyes closed by the end of the season."
The more experienced managers get the benefits of traveling more frequently.
"Coaches are creatures of habit for the most part, so you will have practice set up the same way most of the time," Hare said.
Eventually, the managers learn what is expected from the coaches before practice. Then they are expected to show the ropes to the new managers that come along the next year.
SEE MANAGERS PAGE 8
FOOTBALL
Season ends in surprises, downfalls
2) Home Improvement: In 2011 Kansas was outscored at home 248-189. This year the Jayhawks cut their opponents' scoring down by nearly 100 points in Lawrence, getting outscored 156-115. The Iowa State debacle cost Kansas 51 points. Take away that game and the numbers are even closer. Not to mention Kansas went right down to the wire with Texas, Rice and Oklahoma State. A team has to give itself the best chance to win at home and Kansas did that regardless of the outcome.
BLAKE SCHUSTER
bschuster@kansan.com
1) James Sims: Aside from Kansas coach Charlie Weis — who predicted Sims's breakthrough season way back in training camp — no one imagined the junior running back racking up more than 1,000 yards and nine touchdowns rushing. Keep in mind Sims did this after being suspended for the first three games of the season. His Kansas record-setting streak of six straight games with 100 or more yards helped Sims shatter his previous best of 742 yards, which he ran for in his freshman season of 2010.
1) Dayne Crist: Maybe expectations were set too high, maybe he really did have no help or maybe he just wasn't meant to be a college quarterback, but for whatever reason Dayne Crist is not who we thought he was. Weis' highly-touted Notre Dame transfer completed only 48 percent of his passes and had a 4:9 touchdown to interception ratio. Every
BIGGEST SURPRISES:
BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENTS:
Jayhawk fan wanted a storybook ending for Crist. It just wasn't meant to be.
2) Kansas Receivers: Even if Crist was firing off rockets, there was rarely someone there to catch it. Of the 313 passes the Kansas quarterbacks attempted, just 75 were caught by Kansas wide outs. Perhaps the most notable statistic is that, of the seven touchdown passes thrown this year, none of the Kansas wide receivers caught one. For all of Charlie Weis' offense prowess, there was never any rhythm to the passing game.
OFFENSIVE MVP: JAMES SIMS
Sims led the Big 12 in rushing with an average of 115 yards per game even though his suspension forced him to miss Kansas' Big 12 opener against TCU — a 20-6 loss that in which Sims' skills could have been used. If this season is any indication, Kansas fans are in for a treat when he comes back for his senior year.
Honorable Mention: Tony Pierson
DEFENSIVE MVP: BEN HEENEY
Heeney anchored a backfield core that shaped up to be one of the better units in the Big 12. The sophomore from Hutchinson was second in the Big 12 in tackles with 88 (51 solo) and was fourth in tackles for loss (nine solo, four assisted). Defensive coordinator Dave Campo may have talked a lot about the personnel issues with his group this year, but he's got a heavy hitter in Heeney.
Honorable Mention: Bradley McDougald
SEE FOOTBALL PAGE 8
Running back James Sims sprints downfield. Sims ran for more than 1,000 yards this season
TYLER ROSTE/KANSAN
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