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Friday, January 18, 2008

Assistant to leave for Miami

D-coordinator Young takes on 'new challenge'

By Ryan Wood

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KU defensive coach leaves for Miami

Only paperwork stands in the way of Kansas football's defensive coordinator, Bill Young, accepting a coaching job at the University of Miami.

What Keegan says: Replacing Young now top priority

No point in sugar-coating it: The Kansas University football program suffered a monumental loss when defensive coordinator Bill Young decided to accept a job offer for the same position at the University of Miami, pending completion of formalities.

Faster and bigger defenses throughout the nation didn't perform nearly as well as KU's did under the guidance of Young, too humble to embrace "genius" and "guru" labels that usually get pinned on coordinators as successful as Young.

The defense must replace not only James McClinton and Aqib Talib, it must replace Young - its brain and its leader. Mark Mangino's most important recruiting job of the offseason will involve landing an assistant coach who can approach bringing as much to the defense as did Young.

- Tom Keegan

With a blanket of snow covering Lawrence on Thursday, Kansas University defensive coordinator Bill Young was dreaming of the sunshine.

"I like palm trees and beaches," Young said.

He'll get his share now.

Young confirmed to the Journal-World on Wednesday afternoon that he is in line to become the new defensive coordinator at Miami. The deal is not done, as an official announcement is awaiting the processing of paperwork and may take a few days.

But Young's successful six-year tenure as defensive coordinator of the Jayhawks, which saw KU's defense soar to unprecedented heights, is all but over now.

Once the deal is official, Young will be in sunny South Florida, taking over a once-proud Miami defense that's fallen on hard times.

"It's a new challenge," Young said. "Sometimes as a coach, you need that."

Young knows challenges. He was hired by coach Mark Mangino at Kansas in 2002 and given a cupboard that was pretty much bare. After two rough seasons defensively, the Jayhawks became respectable 2004 and dangerous in 2005.

The '05 team ranked third in Division I-A in rush defense, a big reason the Jayhawks went 7-5 and won the Fort Worth Bowl over Houston.

Injuries decimated KU's defense in 2006, but it was better than ever in '07. Kansas ranked eighth nationally in run defense, ninth in pass defense and fourth in scoring defense, allowing just 16.4 points per game.

The defense was overshadowed by KU's exciting offense, but it made the final statement of a magical 12-1 season. In a 24-21 victory over Virginia Tech in the Orange Bowl earlier this month - coincidentally in Miami - KU's defense led the way with timely playmaking that stopped any Virginia Tech rally.

Young stressed that he's leaving a great job at Kansas.

"It was a wonderful time," Young said. "It's been a great six years."

Young, 61, has coached football for 39 years, making stops at many of the best college programs in the nation. He's been defensive coordinator at Ohio State, Oklahoma and Southern California, and was coaching the defensive line of the NFL's Detroit Lions before joining Mangino's first staff in 2002.

Now he's in line to join a Miami program that has five national championships, the latest in 2001.

The Hurricanes, under first-year coach Randy Shannon, finished 5-7 in 2007 and struggled defensively at times. They gave up 40-plus points in blowout losses to Oklahoma, Virginia and Virginia Tech.

Miami lost its last four games of the season, and defensive coordinator Tim Walton was let go after the disappointing conclusion. He eventually landed at Memphis.

It now appears that Shannon has Walton's replacement, barring an unforeseen roadblock while the i's are dotted and the t's are crossed in the next few days.

It's a challenge Young said he's excited about.

"It's a great opportunity," Young said, "to coach a program that has won several national titles."

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Comments

KU (anonymous) says...

Wow. Interesting move, to say the least. Yes, Miami has the tradition. But Coach Young could be looking for another job in 2 years if Randy Shannon doesn't pan out to be a legitimate head coach and gets himself canned. If I were 61 I wouldn't want to deal with all the drama of South Beach and the racy lifestyle and seemingly uncontrollable nature of the players that go to Miami. If I were 61 I would like to enjoy the fruits of my labor from the past 6 years and see if I could retire as a beloved coaching icon at KU, a school that has had far too few of those over the last century. Look at the way we treat Coach Fam....You would think he had 3 national championships at KU the way he is revered for his loyalty to his school.

January 18, 2008 at 6:34 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

LHS1980 (anonymous) says...

And it begins..Good luck coach, we will miss you, thank you for all your hard work.

January 18, 2008 at 6:34 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

jayhawkinatl (anonymous) says...

Ah, yes...the price of success. Good luck, Coach Young!!!! Thanks for the GREAT defense.

January 18, 2008 at 6:46 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

woodhawk (anonymous) says...

Didn't expect him to leave at all. Best of luck to you, Coach. Who's going to be our next defensive mastermind?

January 18, 2008 at 6:51 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

bennettcl (anonymous) says...

61 years old and South Florida, I'm thinking Young is just setting himself up for a nice retirement in South Florida.

As far as our next def coordinator, wasn't Young more of a co-def coor. So I'm guessing the other co-def coor is just going to take over. Also we are returning most of our defense so we should be fine next year. I believe we are only losing Talib and McClinton so we are going to be just fine. We're returning some excellent D-backs, our brilliant Def ends, and probably the best linebacker crew in the nation next year.

Good luck Young, thanks for a great year.

January 18, 2008 at 7:48 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

danimal33 (anonymous) says...

I believe that Clint Bowen is the "co-defensive coordinator" you are speaking of. We should be just fine with him in the driver's seat.

January 18, 2008 at 8:19 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

dsmith84 (anonymous) says...

great programs trade assistant coaches like this all the time, read Young's resume for proof of that. the key is to keep guys who won't completely change the system on a year by year basis, but instead work with the strengths the program already has, and considering the "co" status of Clint Bowen, it seems like it should be a smooth transition for the 9 returning defensive starters.

January 18, 2008 at 9:21 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

jhwkfan162515 (anonymous) says...

Hope it works out for him, but considering Thug U's checkered history and their recent mediocrity, along with the rise of Kansas as a national power, one has to wonder if Young isn't making a huge mistake.

January 18, 2008 at 9:34 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

KGphoto (anonymous) says...

He will have to water-down whatever defense he takes to Miami. That place is a black hole for brains.

Good luck anyway. It's been great.

January 18, 2008 at 9:58 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

KUMatt2001 (anonymous) says...

jhwkfan, I couldn't agree more.

"It's a great opportunity," Young said, "to coach a program that has won several national titles."

We'll see who has more shots at a national title over the next few years while he is at Miami.

January 18, 2008 at 10:52 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

justanotherfan (anonymous) says...

As I said yesterday, I wouldn't write off Miami so quickly. They can walk outside and run into more D-1 recruits in five minutes than you can find in the entire state of Kansas. That's not a knock on the talent in Kansas so much as a testament to the overwhelming volume of talent (and speed) that exists down there.

And as much of a KU fan as I am, I have not yet classified the Hawks as a "national power." If this were basketball and a team made a run to one final four the year after missing the tournament entirely (which is basically what KU did after not going to a bowl last year) and said they were now a "national power" we would laugh them off the map. We have to remember, we have two bowl wins (and three appearances) in the last decade. Let's not get ahead of ourselves here.

One season of tradition is not national power status. Let's do that two or three more times, then we can start flaunting our powerhouse status.

January 18, 2008 at 11:03 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

notabandwagonfan (anonymous) says...

Its nice to see that there are intelligent fans such as justanotherfan on here.

January 18, 2008 at 12:15 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

okjhok (anonymous) says...

Glad somebody finally said it, justanotherfan. It's the truth. KU is NOT a national power. It take years, if not decades to achieve such status. That doesn't we can't be proud of what has been accomplished, just don't call it something it isn't. That said, I'm very optimistic for the next few years, and I think this year's success is sustainable.
Now to Young....like I said yesterday, I'm with Jimmy Dean on this one. If he doesn't want to be at KU, then I don't want him here, and I hope he doesn't let the door hit him in the ass. Just as he is obliged to bolt for what is considered by some to be a better job, I'm obliged to give him a big ol' LAJayhawk5 "SUCK IT"

January 18, 2008 at 12:42 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

PLKaws23 (anonymous) says...

Best of luck in Miami

Clint Bowen should fill the role nicely, he has done a great job with defensive backs this year.

January 18, 2008 at 12:44 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

fabio (anonymous) says...

So long Young, I always knew you were weak......

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ZuJIr...

January 18, 2008 at 1:06 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

beebe1 (anonymous) says...

Last year, I would have hired a new D-man rather than get the outstanding Offensive Coordinator we've got. Getting the new O-man was a right choice. Don't know when Clint Bowen got to town; maybe it was last year and the upgrade in D is attributable to him. Guess we'll have to wait and see!

January 18, 2008 at 3:44 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

txrockchalk (anonymous) says...

Clint Bowen was on Terry Allen's staff, and was one of the few retained by Coach Mangino when he took over. That being said, it would be nice to him, being one of our own, move up in the assistant coach ranks within our program.

January 18, 2008 at 3:54 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

troutsee (anonymous) says...

Clint Bowen is Jayhawk through and through. Went to LHS and played at KU and has been at KU ever since. He has probably learned a lot from Young. Our defense should not miss a beat. And, as Young said, we have many defensive starters and back ups, who played a lot, returning. We'll be better next year than this year, although our schedule will be tougher. Still, I would not be surprised by a 10 win season and another major bowl victory. Credit Mark with many, many hours of hard work. He has earned his time in the sun.

As for Bill Young, I wish him the best. He's 61, has no Lawrence roots, has grown kids, and is probably looking for a nice retirement area, like Florida. The Miami job came along at the right time for him and his wife, who probably wanted to go to Florida, too. I don't think he would have left for another job. We'll be okay and he'll be okay. He sure put together some good defenses at KU and obviously worked hard while he was here. However, the U of M job is going to be tougher than it was 10 or 15 years ago, as there is increased competition in that state for talent due to the rise of CFU, South Florida, Florida Atlantic, and Florida International....not to mention raids from out of state universities.

January 18, 2008 at 4:18 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

Kirk (anonymous) says...

Ouch. This will hurt.

January 18, 2008 at 4:30 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

TKELuke (anonymous) says...

Nooooooooooooo

January 19, 2008 at 11:26 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

wats211 (anonymous) says...

it looks like a promotion for someone knowledgable of our system..young wouldnt leave if he didnt think a current assisstant was capable..good luck coach and thanks for great fun this year!!!!!

January 19, 2008 at 9:07 p.m. ( | suggest removal )