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Kansas head coach Turner Gill gathers with the team during spring practice on Sunday, March 28, 2010.
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Quick, identify the biggest star, the guy whose name you want on the marquee to help sell season tickets for the 2010 Kansas University football team.
Thinking.
Still thinking.
Haven’t come up with anybody yet.
Can I use one of my lifelines to call a friend?
No, it wouldn’t do any good anyway.
The closest thing Kansas has to such a player is a running back who does his best work running between the tackles and is not listed anywhere on new coach Turner Gill’s two-deep depth chart he released after spring football.
Sophomore Toben Opurum led Kansas in rushing yards (554) and touchdowns (nine) as a freshman, but still hasn’t fully recovered from a leg injury to the extent Gill would list him as the starter.
Sophomore Tanner Hawkinson, at this moment, projects as the player an NFL team is most likely to draft high some day. He showed good quickness, coordination and intelligence in making such a quick transition to the offensive line, but left tackles win football games more than they sell tickets.
Seniors Jake Laptad, a defensive end, and Chris Harris, a cornerback? Laptad has earned All-Big 12 honorable mention the past two seasons, which makes him worth mentioning for the marquee, but doesn’t quite qualify him. Laptad had 61⁄2 sacks last season, seven the year before that. He’s a good player, not a great one.
Harris did break up a team-high nine passes and placed third on the team with 84 tackles, but he didn’t have an interception last year and has three for his career. That’s not marquee material.
Junior tight end Tim Biere has the look of a potential all-conference player, but hasn’t caught enough passes to put on a billboard just yet. Bradley McDougald had 33 receptions as a freshman, but only 9.6 yards per catch.
The answer is nobody, which is why it’s a good year to hype a first-year coach and put his name on the marquee, his face on the poster.
A year from now, Kansas will have players to put on a poster because plays will be made and somebody has to make them.
Maybe junior Daymond Patterson, the burner back on offense after a year-and-a-half trying to play cornerback, will flash to the end zone often enough to make a big name out of his small frame. Christian Matthews, the quarterback-turned-receiver, looked so quick in the spring game. Chris Omigie, the long wideout, might use his long stride to earn star power.
Maybe Kale Pick, the sophomore quarterback from Dodge City, surrounds his growing pains with enough big passes and runs to earn star treatment.
If Opurum stays healthy, he might bull his way to enough touchdowns to carry the star label well.
Or could it be Brandon Bourbon, the 6-foot-1, 208-pound freshman running back from Potosi, Mo., who rushed for 451 yards in a game and was clocked in 10.4 seconds in the 100 meters? He originally committed to Jim Harbaugh at Stanford and changed his mind when Gill and recruiting coordinator Reggie Mitchell signed with Kansas.
Stars will be born this season.
Spring game highlights April 28, 2012
Charlie Weis Jr. helps lead the KU running backs in drills April 19, 2012
D.J. Beshears makes tough catch on deep pass from Dayne Crist April 19, 2012
Highlights from Charlie Weis press conference April 10, 2012
KU football's first spring practice under Charlie Weis March 28, 2012
Comments
tbbucboy21 (anonymous) says…
After Kale Pick breaks a couple 50 yd td runs he will be the star, and after quigley trucks linebacker after linebacker he will be 2
hawkman1031 (anonymous) replies…
Sounds good to me. Is Quigley back at running back?
Anyway, right now focused on Paul Pierce and the Celtics. The tv "experts" didn't give them any chance. They just talked about Lebomb and Howard. Guess who is alive and who is dead. I've been saying the lakers had a hollow championship last year with NO ONE to play from the east, like the year before when they LOST to the Celtics. Now the green is healthy and ready, and so, we will see. Two years ago Paul Pierce was series MVP and Kobe was just a japanese restaurant. We will see.
um... kchawk81... that is strange. Todd Reesing, Kerry Meier and the rest had us all fired up. You go back to 03? what about the defense in the Texas Bowl year? What about pinning 76 big points on nebrasska? I suspect you are with the football staff and want to ccreate interest in the season, which is alright. I am very uninspired about this year, and the graduation of several favorites and punting of coach MM for misleading reasons, along with the hiring of buffalo gill have done that. I will wait and see. As for football vs. basketball, that is a dumb argument and it only counts when they actually fight each other like they did last year. :D I do, however, like your comment about great, specualtive points. That one gets a chuckle. There is a lot of speculation, and I don't expect much from this team. Beating Mizzoo and KSUcks would make it good, and since you only have to win 6 to get in a bowl, we should never miss... but will we? Snyder family and the stadium boys beat us last year. Have we ever beaten him? We fumbled that *(#$(*&T^(*&^_)_&($^R^ game away. dam
labbadabba (anonymous) replies…
Feel badly for you. Poor Hawkman, he can only cheer for basketball players. He can only talk about basketball on a football article. Poor guy.
I guess he doesn't know about the potential we have next year in football!
ku fans, get over yourselves and realize that we CAN cheer for more than one sport. Jeez.
baldjedi (anonymous) says…
If you want to pick someone, just pick Coach Gill for now. It is his new regime and it would be wise to make him the focus of the poster this year if you ask me. Right now he is the star of the team and since he already said we are a team without names then it should be him this time. If we really need players then just pick the top names from from last year and I would say they should be Wilson, Hawkinson, Laptad and McDougald, but that is just me. Either way it will be a fun year to watch.
Brock (anonymous) says…
Prinze Kande. Write that down.
KCHawk81 (anonymous) says…
Agreed, baldjedi. Turner Gill is the obvious choice. He's the one who has me fired up for September 4th. I haven't been this excited about KU football since Bill Whittemore and the fall of 2003. KUSports message board blasphemy: if I were forced to choose, I'd take a great football season over a great basketball season every year.
JBurtin (anonymous) says…
I actually find this to be a postive thing for a new regime.
Guys that were stars under the last coaching staff may not thrive with a change in tactics. I also tend to think that many young players wait for the big dogs to make plays rather than stepping up themselves. With a lack of Senior studs I don't think anyone will hold back as each and every player knows that this is his chance to step up.
We may not have stars, but we have a team full of potential stars that are just old enough to come into their own. Should be a good fresh start for a new coach and will keep expectations low. Then he has a good chance to pleasantly surprise everyone with a solid year.
dagger108 (anonymous) replies…
Well said.
It is good that Coach Gill doesn't have to worry about stars wanting to do it "the way it's always been done".
Add to that The wise, wise move to give everyone a fresh start and let them decide where they want to play. Where they want to be successful. (Hmmm, imagine having a prof decide your major for you after you've enrolled in school.)
I'm excited for this season, because the team is so much more excited for this season and to play for these coaches.
I want to see the coaches take some gatorade showers this fall/winter. I want to see KU's version of the ISU-NU victor's lockerroom celebration on YouTube this fall. It's coming.
Phoggin_Loud (anonymous) says…
Agreed, JBurtin.
I still look forward to "open competition" that will allow the motivated to rise-up. Never before at this University has there been this much talent without pre-conceptions.
May the best men win.
justanotherfan (anonymous) says…
Brian Maura. Prinze Kande. Bradley MacDougald. Daymond Patterson.
One, or all four, of these guys will probably break off enough big plays to have fans chanting their name by mid-October. I like MacDougald.
justinryman (Justin) says…
Kinda like not having a "star" on the team. That way there is no pressure for them to perform higher than thier team mates. Plus how does a coach stop a bunch of no names?? He can't plan to stap the "star" and will have to try and defend all 11 guys on the field.
baldjedi, I agree just put Coach Gill and the coaching staff on the tickets!!!!
Rock Chalk
TimmytheJayhawk (anonymous) says…
azalum, I agree, it's gonna be a long season, but hopefully the start of something really special. Mangenius had us in a good position and Gill got a few nice recruits. No expectations for a few years, but the fact that we are not starting from rock bottom is a reason to hope.
(I can totally see that messiah looking picture of Gill that this site always uses on a billboard. Looking into the future!)
Rock Chalk!
Deke13 (anonymous) says…
Did something happen to Johnathan Wilson that I don't know about? He has great potential to shine now that Briscoe and Meier are gone. A senior that played every season. If we have a QB that can get it to him, I think he has the ability to do some great things this year.
dagger108 (anonymous) replies…
JW admitted in an article just a couple days ago that he dropped some crucial passes last year. Todd totally lost faith in him, and was willing to just throw it up in the general direction of Briscoe or Kerry and let them attempt to make plays. It is the reason his completion percentage and everything else was down, but ypc were up, and just one component of the slide that was '09.
Hopefully, JW can turn things around and come up big this year, but there is a lot of seasoned potential nipping at his heels.
rolo2383 (anonymous) says…
We could use the entire offensive line on a poster. We have some studs on the line.
Gill is probably the best choice for this year.
FSUJHAWK (anonymous) says…
We don't need stars, we need a good group of guys who work together as a team, perform to the best of their abilities and ultimately win. This is not the pros, this is college football, you don't need stars to sell tickets at this level. If the team wins more tickets will sell. If the team loses tickets will still be sold, albiet not as much. If you have a start or two then of course that's a plus.
rcjhgku!!!!
simon_4th (anonymous) says…
Lubbock Smith! Only starter in the secondary that is not a senior. We have 3 seasons of him...
jayhawkinATL (anonymous) says…
We didn't have any "stars" before the 2007 season either. Turned out OK.
justinryman (Justin) replies…
Agreed!!
justanotherfan (anonymous) says…
I don't understand all of the disrespect and lack of confidence in head coach Turner Gill's ability to lead this team among some on this board.
Let's look at the numbers. Yes, he was 20-30 in four seasons at Buffalo, but let's get some perspective on that. Buffalo was 40-135 in the 16 seasons (1990-2005) prior to Turner Gill's hiring. He won half as many games in a quarter of the time. Not only that, he led the most successful four year period at Buffalo since 1983-1986. Buffalo football was so bad prior to Gill's arrival that a coach went 0-11 and kept his job. He was let go after going 2-9 the next season. In the five seasons immediately prior to Gill's arrival, Buffalo went 8-49. Turner Gill won 8 games in 2008.
Prior to Buffalo, Turner Gill was the QB coach at Nebraska from 1992-2003. He coached a Heisman winner (Eric Crouch) and two first team All-Americans (Tommie Frazier and Crouch). Oh, and the Huskers won national titles in 1994, 1995 and 1997, and nine conference titles.
Now let's compare that to a certain former head football coach.
That coach was an assistant at K-State in 1991 and was part of K-State's growth. He moved on to Oklahoma in 1999 and was an assistant for one national championship (2000). That year, he was also assistant coach of the year nationally. He was hired with no college head coaching experience, although he was head coach at two different high schools.
So on one side we have a man with more than a decade of assistant coaching at a successful program (during an extremely successful run), along with some head coaching experience (with mild success). On the other, we have a man with about a decade of assistant coaching at a pretty successful program, followed by a more successful program, but no head coaching experience AT ALL. Add to that, Gill was assistant coach for three national champions, while a certain former coach assisted on one national champion.
And yet people insist we have taken a step BACK?!?!
Maybe Turner Gill isn't the right man. I don't know. There are games to be played and that will ultimately determine whether he is or not. But tearing him down when there are still three months before his FIRST game on the sidelines?! I don't get it.
If he wins, many will say it's because the cupboard wasn't left empty by a certain former coach. If he loses, some will probably call for his job. But looking purely at the numbers, Gill is more qualified than the previous coach, who for all his "winning" only had a winning record in conference ONCE during his entire tenure in Lawrence.
And before you point to Gill's record at Buffalo, let me remind you again that you can't buy any victories at Buffalo against a I-AA opponent. And Gill had two winning conference seasons while at Buffalo.
I back Turner Gill, and until it is proven otherwise, I don't see why some of you won't do likewise.
KCHawk81 (anonymous) replies…
Thank you. It amazes me that there are so many "KU fans" on these boards who just can't wait to see this man fail. Anyone who doesn't recognize what an amazing job Turner Gill did at Buffalo isn't paying very much attention to college football from year to year.
labbadabba (anonymous) replies…
Unfortunately KU "fans" aren't really known to pay much attention to college football. This needs changed.
MitchumMan (anonymous) says…
Just put a freakin' Jayhawk up on the billboard. That will sell itself. Or put a picture up of some of the players where you can only see their backs. The back pose could be good because it'll get the opposing team used to seeing the back of our jerseys because that's all they're going to see anyways! touchdown jayhawks!!!!
But in all seriousness, like a few have said, it's probably good we don't have proven stars on the team. We're in a new era where some of these players may not be as good under the Gill regime and some might be better suited for it. If I were to put players up there, I would put the offensive line and that's it.
hailtoku (anonymous) says…
Until we get a new stadium and a coach with ANY accomplishments under his belt....
5-7
cshjhawk (anonymous) replies…
Don't need a new stadium. We need to fix up the one we have!
hailtoku (anonymous) replies…
You can put lipstick on a pig but it's still a pig (refer to our new scoreboard).
Our current s-- hole of a stadium is land locked and only has so much room to renovate.
Why can't we do this???? (capacity 50,000) http://chapters.cupahr.org/mn/www/sit...
Minnesota had horrible attendance...
okiedave (anonymous) says…
I predict the Hawks will be a surprise: 8-5 and bowl bound. Change in coaching staff often translates to a good first year.
grandpa (anonymous) says…
Okiedave, I agree with you. Not enough optimism here! We are going to be at least
8-5 or better. We have a lot of good boys and they have a great attitude.
Jayhawker28 (anonymous) says…
9-4, first energy and optimism will carry us coupled with the fact that 2 years that we won 20 games, we were consistently beating out big 12 big 10 schools for good players.
Hawkinson, Omigie, Smith, Opurum, Dent, Parrish, Linton, Hatch, Biere, Young etc etc
They're sophomores and RS Frosh now, and are ready to contribute. We really do have the speed and athleticism to win the Big 12 North.
Rock Chalk Jayhawk!!!
dagger108 (anonymous) replies…
We also have the "weak" half of the South for the next 2 years.
actorman (anonymous) says…
Justanotherfan, what's wrong with you??? Are you actually trying to introduce FACTS to this board. Haven't you learned by now that the numerous idiots whose sole purpose is to run down the team they supposedly love will not have their minds changed by silly little things like facts?
KGphoto (anonymous) says…
Kale Pick tops the list. If Gill coached Eric Crouch to a Heisman, surely he's licking his chops with what he has in Pick. Hell, if you gelled up Kale's hair, they even kinda look alike. (By the way, thank god I'm not seeing any Alabama Comb Overs on the team. That's the dumbest hair trend since David Cassidy)
The option play won't be our bread and butter, however with our stable of running backs and Kale's ability, I'd be stunned if we didn't use it frequently. Number 7 is going into the endzone a lot this year.
And kudos to Tom for even mentioning Brandon Bourbon. I've been pimping Bourbon on this site for weeks. I should be his damn agent.
Someone else came up with this moniker, but the new billboard should be for...
"Bourbon and Seven"
"Hey football fans! Come on out to Memorial Stadium on Saturday for some Bourbon and Seven!"
That'll fill the stadium...
..for the first half.
JayhawkBigXII (anonymous) says…
Fascinating... There seems to be an awful lot of offense oriented posters on this story. Maybe it's because Mangino's offense put KU back on the football map. It was definitely fun to watch.
However, defense wins championships. If KU can't stop Nebraska or K-State, the offense will likely not be able to make up for it. There were a lot of missed opportunities last year because of poor defense. Hopefully strong defense is, or will be the focus of this program.
jayhawkfan96 (anonymous) says…
As much as I want to predict a bowl game, I just don't see it. If we can find a way to beat Georgia Tech, then maybe. But if we lose, I don't see six wins on the schedule. Baylor and Texas A&M have improved considerably. Iowa St. almost got us last year, and they're bringing a lot of people back. The problem is, aside from the coaching changes I don't see much improvement on the defensive side of the ball.
I just think this season will be a little painful. 5-7 sounds right. I have the utmost confidence, however, in coach Gill. And I have a feeling 2011 will start a very long stretch of success for the boys in blue.