A Coaching Carousel: Part I (The Favorites)

Come one come all; join in on the Coaching Merry-go-Round. Mark Mangino: gone. Turner Gill: gone. Who is next? It feels like we just experienced this drama! Come to think of it, it was just a short 2 years ago.
Hopefully this coaching change will be more productive (I like to think it will). Current A.D. Sheahon Zenger surely learned from former A.D. Lew Perkins (see the hiring of Turner Gill for 5 years, 10 million dollars). One thing is for sure, Zenger will not be making that mistake this year.


Hopefully we as fans can avoid duplicating the same mistakes too! It's Harbaugh! It's Patterson! No. Until a coach is inked in black and white, none of us really have any idea how it's going to break. Let's take a collective step back and just enjoy the ride. Fair? For now I will just run through some potential candidates who, in my mind, would fit well in this program. 


The format:

1. A brief rundown of the coach's resume.
2. The Ups (Good things he will bring to Kansas or reasons why he would come to Kansas)
3. The Downs (The bad things he will bring to Kansas or potential obstacles to his hiring)
4. The Odds that he hires
5. (check out the videos to get a feel for each coaches' style)

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It looks like this year’s coach hot-board is a lot more fruitful, with familiar names across the board. Snatch one up, and this team can turn things around. Miss out on your top choices and get stuck with your last, uh-oh!

Today, Athletic Director Sheahon Zenger released a statement about what he is looking for in his hire. We’ll break down the candidates, but first Zenger will establish the ground rules…

Criteria:

"I am looking for someone with a strong pedigree. It could be a former head coach, current head coach or a coordinator. I think it is important that a coordinator comes from a highly successful program and he's been in that role for some time."

"I want someone that has strong football values and knows X's and O's. He must have a level of discipline above most."

Zenger was in the coaching business at Drake and as an assistant under Bill Snyder at Kansas State, so he knows exactly what he is looking for.

The Candidates

First we will start with...




The Front-Runners (I strongly feel that these candidates meet Zenger's criteria)




Number 1:

Mike Leach

The Rundown:

Age: 50

In coaching since 1987

Head Coach: 
            2000-2009: Texas Tech: 84-43 (10 seasons)

·         5-4 in Bowl Games

·         Set over 150 NCAA, Big 12 and school records

·          9 consecutive Bowl Games

      ·         Named 2008 Big 12 Coach of the Year. 

Offensive Coordinator:

1999: Oklahoma

1997-1998: Kentucky

·         Set 4 NCAA, 42 SEC, and 116 school records.

Ups:

Leach is well documented as a tough nosed, offensive guru. At a school like Kansas, you need a big bad coach in order to win football games. Glen Mason coached Kansas from 1988-1996. He was replaced by Terry Allen who coached from 1997-2001. Mason was a disciplinarian; Allen was not. Mason went 47-54-1 and won 2 bowl games; Allen went 20-33. Mark Mangino coached Kansas from 2002-2009. He was replaced by Turner Gill who coached from 2010-2011. Mangino was a disciplinarian; Gill was not. Mangino went 50-48 and won 3 bowl games including the Orange Bowl; Gill went 5-19.


Kansas does not have the firepower to just butt heads with Oklahoma, Texas, and Oklahoma State on talent alone. In order for Kansas to be successful, they need to play disciplined, fiery football. Gill was a charitable man, but his style does not work at a school like this. Leach brings in tenacity and he has a knack for overachieving.

Gill was a great face for the program, but his overall football knowledge was insufficient. Kansas was consistently out-schemed in the X's and O's. Leach, a Juris Doctor, is a pretty intelligent man. No more jargon and vague statements, Leach will say it how it is.

An interesting little tidbit: Leach has strong connections with Zenger. In 1993 Zenger started publishing a magazine called the American Football Quarterly. Zenger would often speak with Leach about his offense because it was so bizarre and effective. In 2000, Zenger was nearly hired by Leach as the running-backs coach at Texas Tech. 

Although the connection isn't earth-shattering, combined with the fact that Leach wants another shot in the Big 12, we could have ourselves a perfect storm. Leach certainly has the football pedigree that Zenger is looking for: he had a winning season in every year that he coached at Texas Tech.


He is especially great with quarterbacks (Graham Harrell can speak for that). He has strong ties with Texas and he can handpick talent out of a crowd (especially the big ugly offensive linemen). He looks like a perfect fit for a bottom heavy team with a lot of young talent stocked up. Heck, we are expecting a small recruiting class, so this doesn't have to be a remarkable year on the recruiting front.

And speaking of big uglies, he doesn’t like fat little girlfriends, and neither do we. I couldn't dream of a better scenario.

(Leach probably won't find too many fat little girlfriends in Lawrence. Former head coach Mark Mangino had this to say when asked about Leach's comments: "There's pretty girls everywhere. Tech got their share, and KU has their share. We're partial. We think KU has the best." So basically there is no reason why Leach should coach anywhere else.)


Downs:

Well, the allegation. Key word allegation, no s.


Leach was fired from Texas Tech in 2009 and before they played their bowl game. He had allegedly locked a player in a closet as a means of punishment. At the time, the player had a concussion, so the player claimed that Leach's punishment was "hazardous" to his health conditions. 

Even the controversy itself was questionable (see the video below).

Outside of the allegation, and the lawsuit between him and ESPN, I would love to have the Pirate on board. Maybe, just maybe, the self-proclaimed “Pirate” can right the sinking ship that Captain Turner has left us…

            
Odds of hire: 1 in 3

Number 2:

Larry Fedora

The Rundown:

Age: 49
In coaching since 1986
Head Coach:
                 2008-Present: Southern Mississippi: 32-19

               ·         1-2 in bowl games.

                                 ·       2011 Golden Eagles are 10-2 
Offensive Coordinator:

                 2005-2007: Oklahoma State

                 2002-2004: Florida

                 1999-2001: Middle Tennessee

Position Coach:

                 1997-1998: Baylor

                 1991-1996: Air Force

Ups: 
Fedora is very Mike Gundy-esque. He is confident, successful, and passionate. He has always been known for his strong recruiting ties in Texas, but he has yet to get a shot at the BCS level as a head coach. He has piloted several strong offenses and big-names, so he has seen what it takes to compete at this stage. Southern Mississippi usually has the unfortunate reputation of an undisciplined team because they have such low academic standards. In Fedora's short time in Hattiesburg, the team has played very disciplined and good football. He landed 5 star WR DeAndre Brown who had several SEC offers in the fold. For a "mid-major school", Fedora was a recruiting machine.

Downs:
Fedora might be looking elsewhere. Some might think that the move from Southern Miss to Kansas is more lateral than progressive, so Fedora might have his sights set on bigger and better things. His last memory of Kansas was in a 31-16 win, so Kansas might not exactly seem like a "job to die for".

Kansas had a shot at Fedora 2 years ago, but they didn't pull the trigger. Maybe with the ticket scandal 2 years behind, Kansas will be a more appealing place to coach. It will be interesting if these two parties have mutual interest.


Odds of hire: 1 in 5

Number 3:

Sonny Dykes

The Rundown:

Age: 42

In coaching since 1994
Head Coach:
                 2010-Present: Louisiana Tech: 13-11

               ·       5-7 in 2010. 8-4 in 2011. Won 6 straight games to end 2011 year. WAC outright.

                                 ·      Beat Ole Miss by 20. Lost @ Miss State by 6 in OT, undefeated Houston by 1.
Offensive Coordinator:

                 2007-2009: Arizona

                 2005-2006: Texas Tech

Position Coach:

                 2000-2004: Texas Tech

                 1999: Kentucky

                 1998: UL-Monroe

                 1997: Kentucky

Ups:

Here is my dark horse candidate. Texas Tech was 3rd in the nation in passing and 6th overall in total offense in 2006. Dykes won the Mike Campbell Award that year (it goes to the Top Assistant Staff Member in the country). In 2009 he was a Broyles Award Nominee. It's important to look at Dykes with a sharp eye because otherwise you might confuse him for another Turner Gill. Don't look at his overall record, but rather look at who he lost to. Dykes has played the SEC several times won. He is an excellent recruiter and is well respected in Dallas. Nick Isham, a dual-threat quarterback from Westlake Village, California, chose Louisiana Tech with offers from Air Force, Cornell, Dartmouth, Harvard, Penn, and Princeton. Whatever Dykes did to steal that kid, wow! 


Stealing big time recruits is not a new thing for Dykes. As the WR coach at Texas Tech, Dykes snagged names such as: Baron Batch, Taylor Potts, and Michael Crabtree, and at Arizona he hauled in 4 star OL J'Marcus Webb. 


He has the football pedigree and experience Zenger is looking for and he is certainly "attainable". Sure, his name doesn't have the same ring as "Leach", but Kansas could do a lot worse than Sonny Dykes. Especially being just 42, Dykes's future is on the upswing.




 

 

Downs:
There is a lot of pressure on Sheahon Zenger to make a block-buster hire, even though he doesn't need to. Mostly this is coming because Turner Gill, a small name, was a such a bust. How will the fans react if they hear the name Sonny Dykes after ponying up 6 million plus dollars to get the previous "mid-major" coach out of here?

            


Odds of hire: 1 in 8

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There is more to come from RCR, but these names are what I think are the top 3 candidates for the head coaching job. If you don't see your favorite yet, he will likely turn up in the next blog...