Those of us in Kansas have watched Mark Mangino turn a laughable K.U. football program in to one of the better ones in the nation. This year the team has hit a rough patch for sure.
Now some players and parents are complaining about Mangino's tactics. Indeed, it appears the coach has made some inappropriate comments and poked his finger in to the chest of some of his players...but....come on!!! Are we witnessing the biggest generation of wimps ever?
Parents should let their sons grow up.
The players should learn how to become men.
ESPN.com - Mangino defends his tactics, program: "Mangino defends his tactics, program
ESPN.com news services
Kansas coach Mark Mangino defended himself and the Jayhawks football program on Thursday, speaking on Sports Radio 610 in Kansas City.
ESPN.com news services
Kansas coach Mark Mangino defended himself and the Jayhawks football program on Thursday, speaking on Sports Radio 610 in Kansas City.
Mangino, who is faced with allegations of verbal abuse and inappropriate physical contact against players, pointed to the team's success on the field and high graduation rates.
'We are sending kids out into the world prepared,' Mangino told the radio station. 'But I can't do the work of some parents, what they should have done before [the players] got to me. Some of these guys are bitter, they are bitter and [the allegations] are about that.
'There are some things that happen for 18 years of their lives that I can't change in four years of college. Can't do it. Can't change their behaviors, can't change their attitudes.'
Kansas athletic director Lew Perkins has launched an investigation into Mangino allegedly grabbing, yelling at and putting his finger in the chest of a player who had been laughing during a walkthrough or practice prior to the Colorado game on Oct. 17, two people briefed on the situation told ESPN's Joe Schad on Tuesday night. The Kansas City Star identified the player as senior linebacker Arist Wright.
Since then, several former Kansas players come forward with allegations of verbal abuse.
'There are people who want to embarrass the program for their 15 minutes of fame,' Mangino told the radio station.
Mangino's team started the season 5-0 but has since lost five straight heading into a game at No. 3 Texas on Saturday"
11 comments:
KU has a football team? Go Mizzou TIGERS!
Just to make sure we're talking about the same coach...
- the one who only has 23 conference wins (23W-39L)
- only 1 season with winning record in conference play
- and of the 23 conf wins, only 1 was against a team that finished with winning conference record
I think pressure's on because he's getting overpaid for only having 1 good season.
I personally would love to see him stay.
I heard the other day Mangino lost on his way to an appointment in KC. He stopped at a 7 Eleven and ask, “Can’t you tell me how to get to 435?” The attendant replied, “Try salads.”
Nice wikipedia look up Travis...
I'm sure you did the same for Bill Snyder and found out his first 6 seasons were very similar to Mangino's. It takes time.
Also, K-State had the advantage of being atrocious in basketball thus allowing for energy to be spent on football. Mangino clearly doesn't have that advantage at K.U.
To my point, however- players and parents need to grow up and get real. They're getting a fully paid for education (albeit, from K.U.) to play a stupid game.
Agree on the point of the post, they need to grow up.
Comparing what Mangino and Snyder inherited is kinda funny, and no their records weren't similar in conf play.
No knock on Mangino as a coach, he was a great assistant coach at KState in those early years of turning that around. He did the same thing when he rejoined Stoops to do something similar at OU.
I think Perkins is out to get him and Mangino's record in conference play doesn't help. Lew's just trying to find a way to get out of the contract.
The Big 12 is a better conference now then when Snyder had his first 6 years. No question. The "Big 8" was a joke.
Perkins is out to get him.
Us fat men are easily disposed of when we don't do what the powers that be want... :)
Tony, I agree with the general point about the players' needing to man-up, but some of the tirades of which Mangino is accused (if true) were of such a personal, private, and intentionally hurtful nature that he has to go.
Telling a kid whose brother was just shot that he's going to kick the kid off the team -- and send him back to the projects where he, too, will get shot by his "homeys" -- is beyond the pale. Same thing goes for taunting a kid in front of his teammates by comparing him to his alcoholic father. You just can't have that out of a college coach.
Zach,
Who knows the full story about these alleged interchanges? What the media has leaked thanks to some whining parents and players is meant to tip opinion and inflame. I'm withholding judgment on those statements until the total context can be established.
I'm not saying he shouldn't be corrected, I'm just saying it seems like we have a very wimpy generation coming up.
I think you'd be surprised at the kind of stuff coaches will say to players. And the kind of stuff players say to coaches. No way Mangino is that different from too many other coaches. The backers are just mad he's not winning.
These kids have a shot at a FREE college degree. That's worth listening to a guy scream at you.
Do you think I've never played sports before? I've got skills, bro! You know, like nunchaku skills, bow hunting skills, computer hacking skills. :)
So, no, I wouldn't be surprised one bit to hear what college coaches (and high school coaches, for that matter) holler at their players, although I can't say that in my day the players had the temerity to say much back. F-bombs? sure. Yelling and screaming? okay. A bit of physicality? no worries.
But if Mangino said the things I mentioned earlier (and note the well-placed qualifier "if"), that goes over the line in my book. Obviously, if he didn't say those things, then he didn't go over the line. Surely, even for you, there's something Mangino could say to those kids that would be inappropriate enough to outweigh the apparently inestimable value of a KU education?
OK, I'll bite...
The "joke of a Big8" during Snyder's first 6yrs had 3 National Champions. Understandings as you described could only come from Johnson or Douglas counties in the entire U.S. Many pundits today obviously didn't follow the Big8 back then.
Comparing what Snyder inherited at KState to what Mangino inherited at KU is ludicrous. In 1988, KState was rated worse than Wichita St as the worst football program in college football history, WSU hadn't had a team since 1986. Snyder showed up to a team that hadn't seen a win in years, didn't even have enough players to run practice. Asked the student body for volunteers to practice against. The NCAA had asked the university to shut down their program to prevent further embarrassment. That program went on for the next 10yrs to produce the more wins than all but four programs in the nation and contend for national championships.
As Barry Switzer and the rest of national college fb experts agree, it wasn't the coach of the year, coaching of the decade, it was the coach of the century.
Mangino is a great assistant, but unproven as head coach. Not worth the highest salary in the north. Also, comparing him to his mentor Snyder is ridiculous.
Jusy saying, KState isn't great today, But not even the rest of the college fb world would make a ridiculous comparison.
Ah Travis...I'll let your word be the last.
The Big 8 was a joke though....HA HA
Also, you're just an Italian-hater!
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