Charlie Weis’ firing at KU speaks to a broken football program
In-season coach firings are not intended for the people who feel the greatest impact, the current roster.
They’re caught in the middle between a coach who didn’t work out and one who isn’t known. And if a firing happens late in a season, as it more often does, the condition can even produce some much-needed relief.
In 2001, when Kansas fired Terry Allen and made Tom Hayes interim coach, the Jayhawks were overmatched for a couple of games but remained interested enough to win their finale.
The timing of Charlie Weis’ firing, announced by Kansas on Sunday morning, sent a message to the fan base that athletic director Sheahon Zenger wasn’t going to tolerate the lack of progress, and make no mistake, there wasn’t enough progress with the on-field product, as evidenced by Weis’ 6-22 record in Lawrence.
The Jayhawks may have been near rock bottom when Zenger fired Turner Gill after 2011, but the Weis regime recorded just one more victory in a tenure that lasted the same number of years plus four games.
The 41-3 loss two weeks ago at Duke was an embarrassment. Needing to recover an onside kick to hold off Southeast Missouri State in the opener, and Saturday’s inability to score against Texas was enough for Zenger.
The program’s most obvious failure was not developing a quarterback by a coach who worked with Tom Brady through three Super Bowl victories and the Chiefs’ Matt Cassel in his Pro Bowl season. Weis’ quarterback decisions included transfers Dayne Crist and Jake Heaps to homegrown recruit Montell Cozart, who looked lost and confused in the Texas loss.
The other group asked to take notice of Sunday’s events is recruits. Weeks of speculation over Weis’ future would damage Kansas on the recruiting trail.
Firing the coach doesn’t excite the high school and junior-college prospects, but it doesn’t slam the door either. Those who have committed for next season have a big decision to make.
As for the current players, they’re being asked to give their energy for the final two-thirds of a season to a coach they didn’t sign up for. But Kansas is fortunate to have Clint Bowen on the staff. The interim coach is about as Jayhawk as they get, having grown up in Lawrence, he played for Lawrence High and for KU in the Glen Mason years.
Bowen has spent 16 years on the KU coaching staff. He and recruiting coordinator Reggie Mitchell, also in his second term on the staff he joined originally in 1988, are the program stalwarts.
The next guy? Zenger fired Gill, the Nebraska QB legend who had won a Mid-American Conference championship at Buffalo, and went for a big personality hire with Weis. That doesn’t eliminate either category, and good coaches come from all backgrounds.
But the last one that worked wonders for the Jayhawks looks like a good place to start: A coordinator from an established program, one who understands the particulars of Kansas, where at the first sign of football trouble in September, fans start talking about the hoop prospects who are arriving for Late Night.
As the years pass, it’s easy to conclude Mark Mangino was the perfect candidate, with his knowledge of the conference and his association with Kansas State’s Bill Snyder and Oklahoma’s Bob Stoops. Also, Mangino’s expertise in coaching the offensive line, where, at a program like Kansas, can make a huge difference in competitiveness.
He’ll be back in Lawrence later this season, as Iowa State’s offensive coordinator. The conduct issues that contributed to his push out the door after the 2009 season have been satisfactorily answered by his employers. Iowa State is Mangino’s second job since his return.
I don’t think Zenger would go there. Kansas chancellor Bernadette Gray-Little had been on the job for only a few months when she had to deal with the Mangino departure. Her signature is on his settlement agreement.
So, probably not Mangino. But he provided the blueprint on what it takes for KU to win football games.
To reach Blair Kerkhoff, call 816-234-4730 or send email to bkerkhoff@kcstar.com. Follow him on Twitter: @BlairKerkhoff.
College football weekend in review
RISING
▪ It was a busy weekend for Texas coach Charlie Strong, who upon returning to Austin from a 23-0 victory at Kansas, met with NFL commissioner Roger Goodell on Sunday morning to discuss Strong’s “core values” system that’s been in the news recently with Strong’s dismissal of nine players for not adhering to the code. There are five “core values” for players: honesty, treating women with respect, no drugs, no stealing and no weapons.” Bill Snyder’s 16 Goals for Success work well, too.
▪ Washington State played Oregon tough a week ago, and the Cougars got over the hump Saturday in a 28-27 victory at Utah. Quarterback Connor Halliday once again put up big numbers, with 417 yards and four touchdowns, as Washington State handed the Utes their first loss this season.
▪ UCLA delivered the performance its fans have waited the first month to see when the Bruins demolished Arizona State 62-27 in Tempe, Ariz. Ishmael Adams returned an interception 95 yards and a kickoff 100 yards for scores as the Bruins played their best game against the first ranked opponent they faced.
FALLING
▪ Michigan has a reserved spot here. The Wolverines’ 30-14 home loss to Minnesota was perhaps the low point of the sinking Brady Hoke era. Hoke said after the game he didn’t hear the Big House booing and jeering him and athletic director Dave Brandon. “I didn’t hear it,” Hoke said. “When you’re in the moment, you really don’t. This is a big boy business.”
▪ Quite a plunge for South Carolina, which fell from No. 13 to out of the Associated Press poll released on Sunday. The Gamecocks couldn’t prevent a fourth-quarter rally by Missouri, which scored 14 unanswered points in a 21-20 victory.
▪ North Carolina surrendered 50 points and 528 total yards to Clemson, and improved its defense over the previous week. The Tar Heels fell to Clemson 50-35, a week after getting blasted by East Carolina 70-41. Problems persist in Chapel Hill.
COMMITTEE OF ONE
Projecting the semifinals for the College Football Playoff
▪ Rose Bowl: No. 1 Oregon vs. No. 4 Texas A&M
▪ Sugar Bowl: No. 2 Alabama vs. No. 3 Oklahoma
▪ Knocking on the door: Florida State, Auburn, Baylor, Notre Dame
RANKING THE BIG 12
Team (Saturday’s result) | This week’s opponent | Comment |
1. Oklahoma (off) | at TCU | Another stiff test for Sooners |
2. Baylor (def. Iowa State 49-28) | at Texas | Offense running at full capacity |
3. Kansas State (def. UTEP 58-28) | Texas Tech | Cats responded to Auburn loss |
4. Oklahoma State (def. Texas Tech 45-35 Thur.) | Iowa State | Pokes can score quickly |
5. TCU (def. SMU 56-0) | Oklahoma | Big step up in class for Frogs |
6. West Virginia (off) | Kansas | Looking to avenge last year’s loss |
7. Texas (def. Kansas 23-0) | Baylor | Offense needs to show more |
8. Texas Tech (lost to Oklahoma State 45-35) | at Kansas State | Webb’s best game vs. Pokes |
9. Iowa State (lost to Baylor 49-28) | at Oklahoma State | Game against Baylor hurt |
10. Kansas (lost to Texas 23-0) | at West Virginia | Clint Bowen interim era begins |
RANKING THE SEC
Team (Saturday’s result) | This week’s opponent | Comment |
1. Alabama (off) | at Mississippi | Blake Sims getting more comfortable |
2. Texas A&M (def. Arkansas 35-28, OT) | at Mississippi State | 5-0 for first time since 2001 |
3. Auburn (def. Louisiana Tech 45-17) | LSU | Rough schedule continues |
4. Mississippi State (off) | Texas A&M | Huge weekend in Mississippi, part 1 |
5. Mississippi (def. Memphis 24-3) | Alabama | Huge weekend in Mississippi, part 2 |
6. Georgia (def. Tennessee 35-32) | Vanderbilt | Gurley running wild |
7. LSU (def. New Mexico St. 63-7) | at Auburn | New QB Brandon Harris played well |
8. Missouri (def. South Carolina 21-20) | off | Have beaten all SEC East teams |
9. Arkansas (lost to Texas A&M 35-28, OT) | off | SEC losing streak stands at 14 games |
10. South Carolina (lost to Missouri 21-20) | at Kentucky | Season slipping away |
11.Tennessee (lost to Georgia 35-32) | Florida | Solid effort vs. Dawgs, but not enough |
12. Florida (off) | at Tennessee | Pressure building for Muschamp |
13. Kentucky (def. Vanderbilt 17-7) | South Carolina | Finally, an SEC victory |
14. Vanderbilt (lost to Kentucky 17-7) | at Georgia | Playing better after dreadful start |
This story was originally published September 28, 2014 at 1:36 PM with the headline "Charlie Weis’ firing at KU speaks to a broken football program."