Les Miles shuffles KU’s coaching staff after one preseason prognostication fell short
Kansas football will have a new man leading the offensive line as it tries to avoid unwanted history in the last three weeks.
KU coach Les Miles announced Friday that offensive line coach Luke Meadows had been fired. John Morookian, an offensive analyst with the Jayhawks, was promoted to the role for the rest of the season.
Miles, in making the move, cited a desire to “go in a different direction.”
“I look forward to using our last three games as an opportunity to continue to improve as a team, and believe this decision supports that,” Miles said.
KU’s offensive line — for a variety of reasons — has been the team’s most glaring weakness in 2020. Potential starting candidate Antione Frazier opted out before the season, with KU also later facing various injuries up front that has contributed to an overall lack of production.
Entering the week, KU (0-7, 0-6 Big 12) has allowed 5.4 sacks per game. If it stands, it’ll be the highest mark of any FBS team since at least 2009.
Miles, an O-line coach earlier in his career, was optimistic about the group heading into the season, hinting to reporters during an August media session that he was more bullish on the 2020 group than the one he had last season.
Those hopes never came to fruition. Miles even expressed some frustration about his team’s O-line play after it allowed nine sacks in a 62-9 loss to Oklahoma on Nov. 7, specifically talking about that in relation to quarterback Jalon Daniels, who left in the fourth quarter with an undisclosed injury.
“He got hit a lot of times in that game and we can’t treat our quarterback that way or we won’t have one,” Miles said afterward. “That’s a fact.”
Morookian, who joined KU as a senior offensive analyst in March, spent the previous two seasons as an analyst at Iowa State. He was a four-year starter on Toledo’s offensive line from 2008-11.
This story was originally published November 20, 2020 at 4:46 PM.
