THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
TUESDAY, MAY 6, 2008
SPORTS
FOOTBALL
3B
Jon Goering/KANSAN
Senior linebacker Mike River puts a hit on junior running back Angus Qugley during the spring football game April 14. Clint Bower, former co-defensive coordinator and safeties coach, will replace former defensive coordinator Bill Young.
Current staffer takes over as defensive coordinator
BY ASHER FUSCO afusco@kansan.com
The mastermind may be gone,
but his protégé remains.
Bill Young, who coordinated Kansas' defense for six seasons, left for a job at the University of Miami soon after the Jayhawks' Orange Bowl victory, Kansas turned to codefensive coordinator and safeties coach Clint Bowen to replace its departed defensive gun - a move
from a distinguished veteran to a young coach who is just more than a decade removed from his playing days at Kansas.
Senior outside linebacker Mike Rivera
"We have been grooming Clint to take over as defensive coordinator here."
"We have been grooming Clint to take over as defensive coordinator here," Kansas coach Mark Mangino said. "A lot of things you saw on the field last year were not only Bill Young's stuff, but Clint
of layhawk football. Last season, Kansas allowed an average of 317 yards per game, the second best total in the program's past 25 years. For just the second time in 60 seasons, Kansas yielded fewer than 100 rushing yards per game.
said he thought the swap could help the Javhaws,
"Coach Bowen is young and he has a lot of energy," Rivera said. "He talks to us on a little bit of a different level, but we all like it. He's a great coach - he knows what he's talking about and he knows his schemes."
MARK MANGINO Kansas coach
During his two seasons as codefensive coordinator, Bowen helped piece together two of the best defenses in the recent history
Bowen's schemes constituted much of Kansas' defensive game plan during the past two seasons. Rivera said Bowen hadn't made any wholesale changes to the defense, and those fundamentals were still a major point of emphasis under Bowen's watch.
Bowen's,
too. He's
had a major
impact on our
defense."
Bowen's task should be made easier by the return of last year's start
linebackers. Rivera, senior outside linebacker James Holt, and senior middle linebacker Joe Mortensen, provided a solid foundation for last season's defense, leaving the coaching staff more worried about finding adequate reserves than filling holes in the starting lineup.
Mortensen earned All-Big 12 first team recognition last year and finished second in the conference in tackles-for-loss. Rivera successfully made the switch from middle linebacker to outside linebacker by slimming down and becoming a pass-rushing force. Holt put a bit of weight onto his 6-foot-3 frame and served as the team's best linebacker in pass-coverage.
Thanks to the team's depth at linebacker, Bowen could have the
Spring depth chart
LINEBACKERS
Outside linebacker Mike Rivera 6-3, 255, senior
Jake Schermer 6-2, 220, junior
Middle linebacker
Joe Mortensen
6-1, 250, senior
Justin Springer 6-4,232, sophomore
Outside linebacker
James Holt
6-3, 222, senior
Arist Wright 6-0,220,junior
ability to use multiple packages to fit different in-game situations. In the spring game, sophomore strong safety Olaitan Oguntodu settled in at outside linebacker during some plays to offer some pass-rushing help. Sophomore linebackers Drew Dudley and Justin Springer saw time as true freshmen in 2007, and could contribute on special teams and as late-game defensive substitutions.
Edited by Mandy Earles
》OLYMPICS
New letter describes protest rules
BY EDDIE PELLS
ASSOCIATED PRESS
DENVER — With the Beijing Games less than 100 days away, the International Olympic Committee clarified its protest rules Monday, saying that athletes' external appearance, clothing and gestures would be scrutinized in China.
The IOC sent a six-point letter, a copy of which was obtained by The Associated Press, to the national Olympic federations in response to their request for interpretations of Rule 51.3 of the Olympic charter. That rule states "no kind of demonstration or political, religious or racial propaganda is permitted in any Olympic sites, venues or other areas."
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The letter expanded on the rule, saying: "The conduct of participants at all sites, areas and venues includes all actions, reactions, attitudes or manifestations of any kind by a person or group of persons, including but not limited to their look, external appearance, clothing, gestures, and written or oral statements."
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>> NBA
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Contestants compete in the 500-meter race at the U.S. Olympic Trials in Oklahoma City in April, Oklahoma City is still a "Dust Bowl" town to many, decades after John Steinbeck immortalized the plight of Okies in "The Grapes of Wrath." But local business leaders hope Oklahoma's first permanent major-league pro sports franchise will change the way people think about the state.
Dust Bowl image disappears makes way for NBA franchise
BY MURRAY EVANS ASSOCIATED PRESS
OKLAHOMA CITY - Even the mayor admits this is a town with an image problem.
When people think of Oklahoma City, they harken back to the 1995 federal building bombing that killed 168 people or a massive tornado four years later that killed 44. Decades after John Steinbeck immortalized the plight of Okinies in "The Grapes of Wrath," Oklahoma City is still a "Dust Bowl" town to many.
people think about the area.
NBA owners voted last month to allow the Seattle SuperSonics to come to Oklahoma City, paving the way for it to take residence no later than 2010 in an arena that is the centerpiece of an urban renaissance.
"That Dust Bowl image has been ingrained in people's minds," said Roy Williams, the president of the Greater Oklahoma City Chamber of Commerce. "I don't know that you ever eliminate it, but what you can do is expand it and you can say, 'Yeah, that happened, but now all this is happening.'
But civic and business leaders here hope Oklahoma's first permanent major-league sports franchise will finally change the way
"We have allowed ourselves to be branded by negativity, by disasters," Mayor Mick Cornett said. "We need positive imagery connected with Oklahoma City."
"You can't erase history, but you can certainly write the new history, and I think that is what is going on in this community."
That Oklahoma City could support a major-league franchise seemed improbable less than 20
years ago, when downtown activity mostly ceased at the end of the business day and entertainment options were minimal.
Then developers and city leaders conceived an idea to turn an aging warehouse district adjacent to downtown into an entertainment destination.
The first restaurant in Bricktown opened in 1988 but growth didn't pick up until voters narrowly approved a temporary one-cent sales tax five years later to refurbish the Oklahoma State Fairgrounds, upgrade the Civic Center Music Hall, build a Triple-A baseball stadium and construct a canal that runs through Bricktown.
Just south of downtown, three dams were created to fill a riverbed typically so dry that locals used to joke it was the only river that needed mowing.