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Thursday, November 22, 2007

Results change, but Mangino the same

By Tom Keegan

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The Border War 2007

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¢ 6Sports video: Beaten but still in top 5<br /> ¢ 6News video: Fans cheer on Hawks from Lawrence<br /> ¢ 6News video: Crowds brave cold for ESPN's Gameday<br /> ¢ 6News video: Broken dreams<br />

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Photo by Nick Krug

Kansas coach Mark Mangino congratulates running back Jake Sharp after a touchdown run against Nebraska. Mangino prides himself on never having told a player an untruth.

Reader poll

Personnel-wise, who do you think creates the the biggest matchup problem for KU's defense?

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KU Football

The public's perception of Mark Mangino has changed now that his team is 11-0 and his career record is 36-35 as coach of the Kansas University football team, but the coach himself maintains he hasn't changed much at all.

He said he tells his players repeatedly, "You should have the same friends today as you had a year ago. And if you do, you should be just fine. I do."

Mangino's closest friends are from his hometown of New Castle, Pa., not that he could see them much, even if they lived in Lawrence, given his work schedule.

"A lot of my friends, unfortunately, don't live in the same community, and I don't get a chance to converse with them frequently," Mangino said. "When I do talk with them by telephone, it's usually late at night or maybe at lunch time. I'll go back to my hometown for three, four or five days during the summer, and I make an attempt to see everybody."

Mangino's approach to coaching his team hasn't changed, either, he has said repeatedly. He still adheres to the "sawing wood" approach that has grown into the team's motto by accident.

An avid reader, Mangino said he keeps himself centered by reminding himself of a famous quote.

"No matter how hard I drive myself at times," Mangino said, "no matter how long you coach, no matter how much you win, no matter how much you lose, Winston Churchill said it best: 'Success is never final; failure is never fatal.'''

Interestingly, that quote often is attributed to the most successful college basketball coach of all time, UCLA's John Wooden, but Mangino cited the correct source.

Those who know Mangino well wouldn't be surprised by hearing him quoting historical figures, but the majority of sports fans across the country formed their impressions of Mangino from the video of him airing out Raimond Pendleton, who in a show-boating move dove into the end zone after returning a punt for a touchdown. A video of that, replete with salty audio, made its way to YouTube.

"Usually, television stations covering the game on the sideline use all the video footage they can," Mangino said, looking back on the coverage of his tirade. "I've never heard of audio being used inside the coach's box. It's always been kind of a courtesy that you don't do that. I wasn't extended that courtesy. Now that I know, I'm more careful, but I don't let it affect my coaching."

Former Kansas City Chiefs running back J.J. Smith, who played for Mangino at Kansas State, said he hopes Mangino isn't too careful to let it a player have it after he makes a mistake.

"I had a big fumble in a game against Kansas," Smith said. "When I got to the sideline, he chewed me out and used about five 'Sopranos' episodes worth of language. I was so mad when I got back on that field, I took it out on the other team. And you know something, I never fumbled again."

The tough-love approached worked for Smith. It doesn't work for everyone.

"You have to pick and choose, and I'm sure J.J. embellished that story a little bit," Mangino said with a chuckle. "He has a history of that. I'm sure I gave him an earful, and he didn't fumble after that. But you can't take that approach with everyone. You have to know what buttons to push. Some players respond to a pat on the head, some to a good chewing out, some to an intellectual conversation. The important thing is that at the end of the day, they all know you care about them."

Mangino, who said he enjoys reading "motivational books and biographies," didn't take a conventional path to coaching. He never played college football. (Neither did Notre Dame's Charlie Weis, which suggests little can be drawn from that in terms of predicting success as a college coach since Weis' team is 2-9.)

Mangino, 51, was an offensive lineman at New Castle High and was an assistant coach there while attending Youngstown State University. It was then that one of Youngstown State head coach's assistants, the late Bob Dove, approached him about helping out at Youngstown State.

"I knew him and bumped into him on campus one day when he asked me to come over for a cup of coffee," Mangino said of Dove, a two-position All-American who played at Notre Dame from 1940-42. "He told me they were looking for somebody to help out coaching the offensive line, knew I was on campus every day and asked if I was interested."

He didn't need to be asked twice. He worked on the late Bill Narduzzi's staff for a year and worked a year under Jim Tressel, now the head coach at Ohio State, for a year. From there, he became offensive-line coach and offensive coordinator at Geneva (Pa.) College (1987-1989). In 1990, Mangino was head football coach at Ellwood City (Pa.) High.

In 1991, Bill Snyder hired him as a graduate assistant, the first big break of Mangino's career and the beginning of a Big 12 run that's in its 17th season.

"Coaching is something I've always aspired to do," Mangino said. "Working as a graduate assistant at Kansas State was a new experience, I worked hard at it, and coach (Bill) Snyder took to me."

Graduate assistants do grunt work such as running photo copies for assistant coaches and taking roll call on buses and airplanes.

"I just did everything that (Snyder) asked me to do and even extra," Mangino said. "I enjoyed coaching, and I enjoyed everything that went with it. To me it wasn't work. It was fun. It was challenging, and I wanted to make sure I did everything I could. When you're a graduate assistant, you help three or four assistant coaches, and there are times when the all want something done, and they need it right away, all at the same time. You might have to come earlier or stay later to get all that done."

Work-wise, Mangino takes the same approach as a head as he did as an assistant. He stays until he gets the job done every day and looks forward to Thursday nights, the one night during the season he spends at home. Tonight at bread-breaking time, Mangino's family won't be the only one in the state of Kansas giving thanks for his presence.

More on Mangino

¢ Just who is the man they call "The Bear"? Mark Mangino, coach of the 11-0 Kansas Jayhawks football team, purposely keeps a low profile, rarely agreeing to interviews not pertaining to his team. Those who know him best say he is a complex man. Some say he is engaging and has a "bubbly" personality. Others say he's a demanding workaholic. Most say, don't cross him on the football field. Read an in-depth profile of Mangino in Saturday's Journal-World.

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Comments

JBurtin (anonymous) says...

Great article,

Ironic that the sports writers at the journal world wouldn't have bothered to write an in depth article about Mangino in any other year.

What was that quote "You should have the same friends today as you did a year ago. And if you do you should be just fine. I do."

I really can't say that most of the sports writers here in Lawrence or almost any of the fans wanted to treat Mangino with such respect a year ago. Before this season started most people were focusing in on his most obvious flaws and ignoring any good points in him simply because we hadn't gotten a bowl game last year. Now suddenly he's taken on the Nickname that they gave him at Oklahoma ("the Bear"), and articles are being written about the complexities in his personality, and his obvious intelligence.

Sounds like Mangino's made a few new friends of the fair weather variety. I'm happy to say that though I don't know him personally I have been a fan of him since my first introduction to him when he was still just a name on a list of possible replacements for Terry Allen. I knew he had a hell of a task in front of him to turn around a program that was as far down as this one, but I also knew that he was the right man for the job.

Win or lose this Saturday, Mangino has brought a long lost pride back to the Kansas football program. He has pulled together a group of young men that anyone would be proud to be a fan of both on and off the field. They work hard, they play hard, and they never quit.

Thank you to all of the Kansas coaching staff, players, and of course the man of the hour Mark Mangino. This season has made this one of the most entertaining years of my life. I'll admit that something fun and lighthearted was something that I desperately needed as 2006 was filled with repeated tragedies that left myself and my family shell-shocked and heartbroken. Your perseverance has been an inspiration to me, and to Jayhawks everywhere.

And to those who have recently discovered how fun college football can be. Welcome to the bandwagon, we all had to join at some point in time. I certainly wasn't hanging on the edge of my seat to see the outcome of games in the Terry Allen years. I just hope that when times get tough (as they inevitably do for any team sometimes), that the fans will remember what Mangino has given us this year, and remember that it can happen again at any time. If KU is to succeed for the long haul, their fans must not be so quick to dismiss them on an occassional tough year.

November 22, 2007 at 5:28 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

DCJayhawk0208 (anonymous) says...

Great points, jburtin.

And I wish you and your family well.

November 22, 2007 at 7:26 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

sevenyearhawk (anonymous) says...

Happy Thanksgiving to all, even the Tigers!

no mangled movie quote today, just my favorite from Coach Mangino, which I believe is also a Churchill one:

"If you're going through Hell, just keep going!"

and a link to the 610 Mangino Montage:

http://thedashow.com/mp3/manginomonta...

November 22, 2007 at 8:27 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

troutsee (anonymous) says...

Nice post JBurtin. Well thought out. I agree entirely. Hope life takes an upturn for you and your family. A KU victory on Sat night should help, and we will win by at least 6.

November 22, 2007 at 8:44 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

seattlehawk_78 (anonymous) says...

JBurtin, I don't think I've been on Mark's bandwagon as long as you but I have been a big fan for some time. When they hired him I thought at the very least they got someone with good credentials with a background at two winning programs under Stoops and Snyder. It was probably somewhere in the middle of his second season that I started to notice the progress he was making. Going into this season he was 10 games under .500 but the margin of defeat with every opponent was shrinking. When you are winning everyone is a great guy and life is beautiful. I'm curious as to how fans will react when he is not 11-0. I don't expect to contend for a national title every year like the basketball program but I believe this team will be competitive with everyone and that's all I can ask.

November 22, 2007 at 1:28 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

sevenyearhawk (anonymous) says...

let's just continue to enjoy the ride, and admire the culture change Coach Mangino has begun ...

seattle, e-mail coming your way!

November 22, 2007 at 3:21 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

kevbo (anonymous) says...

I'm with you JB, nice post.

November 22, 2007 at 4:09 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

seattlehawk_78 (anonymous) says...

Amazing but this is the biggest game in our history and it's not even for a conference title. The B12N, the B12, and the national title are all at stake. Seems ironic but several years ago football replaced basketball as my favorite sport. The basketball team has been playing at such a high level for so long that the only thing that could satisfy my thirst was a national title. The level of expectation and ultimate disappointment made it less fun with each passing year. Football on the other did not come with the same expectation and as a result was more enjoyable to watch. Now here we are starring down the barrel of a national title. Like I said, ironic.

7year, I hope everyone else is enjoying the culture change and we don't lose any bandwagon fans next year when we don't start the season 11-0. I think indifference would be the worst enemy of this program.

November 22, 2007 at 4:51 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

ku_fan25 (anonymous) says...

everyone click this link its the list of commited players coming in next season some of these guys had offers from florida oklahoma auburn texas and a few other big programs these guys are gunna be good
http://rivals100.rivals.com/commitlis...

November 22, 2007 at 6:59 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

troutsee (anonymous) says...

By team ranking KU is 49th. Incredibly, NU is 13th. Go figure. I'm not sure Rivals is the cats meow on evaluating high school talent.

November 22, 2007 at 7:07 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

bmcmich1 (anonymous) says...

It's all speculation. If this year has proven anything it's that it doesn't matter how many rivals.com stars a player had next to his name coming out of HS, but what the coaches get out of said player once he's on campus. I put absolutely no stock into recruiting class rankings.

November 22, 2007 at 10:29 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

seattlehawk_78 (anonymous) says...

Agreed bmcmich1. Mangino has proven the ratings system wrong too many times.

November 23, 2007 at 1:11 a.m. ( | suggest removal )