The fall of Kansas football should look familiar to Texas Tech fans

In the middle of the 2000’s, a once fledgling Big 12 football program rose to national prominence under the leadership of an unusual and quirky head coach. Then, just as soon as the program’s tide of success came it, it rescinded back out to sea when a mutiny caused the removal of the mastermind that had guided the program to never-before-seen heights. However, this is not another piece about Texas Tech and former head coach Mike Leach.

While we are all familiar with the collapse of the Texas Tech football program, many may not realize that Kansas football has been through almost the exact same saga. In fact, the similarities are eerie.

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In 2001, Kansas hired former Oklahoma offensive coordinator Mark Mangino as head coach (one year after Texas Tech hired his predecessor at Oklahoma, Mike Leach). In only two years, Mangino led Kansas to its first bowl birth since 1995 when the Jayhawks lost to possible Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback Phillip Rivers’ N.C. State Wolfpack.

Using a passing system similar to Leach’s Air Raid offense, Kansas soon found itself atop the standings of the Big 12’s north division. In fact, Mangino’s 2007 team won a BCS bowl (the 2008 Orange Bowl) after a 12-1 season.

But just like Texas Tech, Kansas football was soon headed for a terrible fall because of the actions of its head coach. In 2009, after the most successful 4-year span in over a century of Kansas football, Mangino was fired when allegations of player mistreatment were brought against him. Link

The second-winningest coach in the program’s history and 2007 national coach of the year officially resigned in December of 2009 in light of the growing allegations and an internal investigation into his actions.

In December of 2009, Texas Tech fired head coach Mike Leach after similar allegations of the mistreatment of a player. Leach’s firing came only weeks after he beat Oklahoma in the team’s regular season finale to become the program’s leader in coaching victories.

Both programs would soon make mistakes from which neither has yet fully recovered.

Following the dismissal of Mike Leach, Texas Tech hired veteran college head coach Tommy Tuberville to run the Texas Tech football program. While Kansas went in the opposite direction by hiring an up and coming coach in former Nebraska quarterback Turner Gill.

In only three years, both universities would have new head coaches again.

Tuberville lasted only three seasons at Texas Tech before he left to take the head-coaching job at Cincinnati. The former Mississippi and Auburn head coach was a terrible fit in west Texas and his seat was growing warm after three mediocre seasons. Many felt he skipped town after being told by athletic director Kirby Hocutt that better results were expected.

Meanwhile, Gill’s stint at Kansas was even more disastrous. After being given a 5-year, $10 million contract, Gill went only 5-19 in Lawrence. While Tuberville left Texas Tech to work for an old friend, Cincinnati Athletic Director, Tom Hathaway, Gill was fired in part because Kansas brought in a new athletics director, Sheahon Zenger (yes that’s his real name) who wanted to hire his own football coach.

As if the two universities’ paths were not similar enough at that point, the programs became even more connected by their next head coaching hires.

In 2011, Kansas hired former New England Patriots offensive coordinator Charile Weiss who already had one failed collegiate head coaching stint at Notre Dame from 2005-2009 where he went 35-27 and was fired.