The fall of Mark Mangino at Kansas was one of the more surprising, and quick, coaching downfalls I’ve seen in quite a while. But more surprising, perhaps, was the short list of coaches that Kansas was apparently interested in. Apparently on the list:
- Jim Harbaugh, Stanford
- Brett Bielema, Wisconsin
- Tim Brewster, Minnesota
- Chris Petersen, Boise State
- Brian Kelly, Cincinnati (eventually went to Notre Dame)
- Pat Fitzgerald, Northwestern
- Butch Jones, Central MichiganKevin Sumlin, Houston
- Larry Fedora, Southern Mississippi
- Skip Holtz, East Carolina
- Turner Gill, Buffalo (was eventually hired as head coach at Kansas)
Memo to Kansas: you’re Kansas.
I mean, can someone explain to me how Jim Harbaugh or Pat Fitzgerald would leave their respective alma maters for the Kansas job?
As I saw some of the names that were being thrown around, I thought to myself, how many Big Ten head coaching jobs are less desirable than the Kansas job? I’d say there are two that are, under normal circumstances, not as enticing as the Kansas job. Those are Indiana and Northwestern. But with the success that Fitzgerald has had at his alma matter, in context I just don’t see it being a better move for Fitzgerald. Other Northwestern coaches at other times? Sure. But not this coach, not this time.
Then I considered those that were pretty close to the Kansas job. Purdue? Probably. Minnesota? Possibly. Illinois? Doubtful. Wisconsin? Please.
Did Kansas really think they had a shot at Brewster, especially considering that they just build an incredible facility in Minneapolis? If anything, it would be a lateral move, at best. What about Bielema? I mean, did they really think that a guy who just went 9-3 and had a solid year in the Big Ten would give it up for a team that finished, ah hem, last in the Big 12 North?
It could even be argued that for Chris Petersen at Boise State, moving to Kansas would be slightly better than a lateral move. Sure, the Big 12 conference is much better than the WAC. But Boise has shown an ability to make the BCS year in and year out. They’ve had an undefeated regular season for four of the last six seasons. And this year they were one Colt McCoy lackadaisical throw-away from possibly being in the national championship game. I’m not saying the Boise State job in the long term is better than the Kansas job. It’s probably not. And I’m not saying Petersen isn’t going to leave Boise State, because he probably will at some point. I just think he can wait for a better opportunity than trying to resurrect a Big 12 cellar team that historically hasn’t been especially competitive for sustained periods of time against teams like Texas and Oklahoma.
In the end, it seems like Kansas got a guy that made a lot of sense. Turner Gill led lowly Buffalo to a MAC championship in 2008, and has seemed poised to make a jump to a comparatively higher profile program. He was a star quarterback at fellow Big 12 North school Nebraska, and has a daughter currently enrolled at Kansas. I don’t have the slightest clue whether or not Gill will be successful at Kansas, but the hire makes a lot more sense than some of the others that happened to end up on the list.
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