Who would have thought that Colorado coach Dan Hawkins would be retained and Kansas coach Mark Mangino would be shown the door. It kind of seems backwards doesn't it? We've neutered football so much where the quarterback has to be sacked a certain way, a receiver has the right not to be hit too hard by a defender while trying to catch a pass and the coach can't talk mean to his players. What is the world coming to?
Who cares if Mark Mangino was rude and insensitive to his players! It's not his job to coddle them or be sensitive to their feelings. He's their football coach, not their mother. He's supposed to be harder on them than anyone ever has...ever. He's supposed to push them to the brink of quitting and giving up by testing their physical, emotional and mental limits. That's what turns young boys into young men!
"Some players will be happy to see him go and others will be sad to see him go," defensive back Justin Thornton said. "He did a lot of good for a lot of people here."
The Kansas football team was soft. When they were punched in the mouth (football speak) they backed down. Mangino knew that about his team and so did many of the fans but it appears that school wasn't willing to back his ability to change that. Instead of hard and mean they want soft and sensitive. Perhaps they should scour the local YMCA's and McDonald's play places for a coach. The YMCA will allow you to find a coach who will always be encouraging and positive no matter how many failures the player may have and the McDonalds will allow you to find enough mommys to make sure all the players have someone to hold their hands crossing the street, wipe their noses and tell the coach to shhhhhhhh if he starts talking too loudly.
Mark Mangino took the Kansas football program to new highs in 2007 with a one loss season and an Orange Bowl victory. He followed it up last year with a victory in the Insight Bowl for an unheard of back-to-back bowl wins. Now the university administration has taken the program back to new depths by letting athletes hurt feelings run the athletic department. Good luck with that coaching search!