One of the biggest (HA! Another fat joke) storylines of the past season was the job Mark Mangino did with the Kansas Jayhawks. For his efforts Mangino was recently named the Walter Camp Football Foundation's 2007 Coach of the Year. Kansas finished the year 11-1 Jayhawks and will face Virginia Tech in the Orange Bowl. Mangino's squad also got off to their best start in school history and peaked at #2 in the polls marking their highest national ranking since 1968.Besides the coaching accolades, Mangino has also won over his fair share of college football fans. Who can resist the amazing story of Mangino's rise?
"He packed his family and $500 into a Ryder truck and drove west to become, more or less, an unpaid graduate assistant coach for the worst program in college football. He was 35, married, two kids, and they all lived in the basement of a friend's house for six weeks and ate pizza most nights because they had coupons."From there he rose through the coaching ranks, eventually taking over at a basketball school that was less than an afterthought in the Big 12 just a few short years ago. Mangino has also done this with a collection of players that were passed over by most of college football's powerhouse teams. Nothing could be a greater testament to his coaching abilities.
Not bad for a guy that was famously raked over the coals by one Jason Whitlock not so long ago stating:
"You can fool yourself into believing that Saturday's 12-3 Kansas State victory was a physical, defensive struggle between two evenly matched squads and that the closeness of the score is yet another indication that Mangino is closing the gap on Bill Snyder. Go ahead, delude yourself. I won't. In throwing away a brilliant defensive masterpiece, Mangino made Mike Brown's leadership of FEMA appear competent."Good call once again, Whitlock.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
12-12-2007 @ 7:57AM
jon said...
"You can fool yourself into believing that Saturday's 12-3 Kansas State victory was a physical, defensive struggle between two evenly matched squads and that the closeness of the score is yet another indication that Mangino is closing the gap on Bill Snyder. Go ahead, delude yourself. I won't. In throwing away a brilliant defensive masterpiece, Mangino made Mike Brown's leadership of FEMA appear competent."
Good call once again, Whitlock.
Did you actually watch that game? Watch it then write a letter of apology to Mister Whitlock...Im glad Coach got the award cause he seems like a nice guy and a good coach but lets not turn him into some legend..One really good year does not a career make
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12-12-2007 @ 8:05AM
carl said...
Let's not forget they played nobody then when they did they got
murdered,got picked for a bowl they don't belong in and will most
likely been blown out but he seems cool and no nonsense which we need
nowadays
Reply
12-12-2007 @ 9:27AM
Steven Smith said...
Considering how often sportswriters are wrong, it's a little odd that you decided to pick on Whitlock
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12-12-2007 @ 11:36AM
cinchedcowboy said...
Mangino rocks!!!!
Boomer Sooner...
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12-14-2007 @ 10:23PM
get real said...
Come on get real Mid level teal in ACC, SEC, Big Ten or PaC tEN
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