Don’t ask Mark Mangino which freshmen he expects to contribute to Kansas University’s football team this fall.
The coach squirms a bit, shuffles his feet, shakes his head and finally says, “I don’t want to put that kind of pressure on a kid. That wouldn’t be fair.”
If, on the other hand, you ask the coach which newcomers have impressed the staff during the offseason, you’ll hear an entirely different answer.
“Gary Green’s not going to let anybody rest,” Mangino said of the San Antonio freshman who could make the battle at tailback a three-man race with returning starter Clark Green and sophomore John Randle. “He’s one of the most focused true freshmen I’ve seen in a long time.”
Green — who rushed for 1,729 yards and 23 touchdowns as a senior last fall at Madison High — impressed KU’s strength coaches during summer workouts, which concluded Wednesday. He’ll be just one of several first-year players to watch when the Jayhawks report to camp Aug. 6.
Mangino lauded Green, freshmen linemen James McClinton and Todd Haselhorst, quarterback Marcus Herford and receiver Dexton Fields last week at Big 12 Conference media days, and he heaped more praise on his new class Monday night at a KU Alumni Association event.
Haselhorst, who battled bronchitis during the spring, reported to camp out of shape and struggled early in the summer.
“After that first workout, he walked up to me and said, ‘This is hard,'” Mangino said with a laugh. “I said, ‘Welcome to the Big 12.'”
Haselhorst’s illness and grueling workouts in the summer heat dropped the 6-foot-4 lineman from 303 pounds to 283. But he adjusted to the pace of KU workouts, which lasted for 2 1/2 to three hours four times a week and regained the weight.
“Todd Haselhorst is a great kid,” Mangino said. “He’s going to be a heck of a player for us.”
Mangino didn’t specify whether that would happen this year or in the future, but the Jayhawks could use some help on the defensive line. KU lost three senior starters from the line, and four backups left the program. In addition, defensive end John McCoy will miss the season after his Army Reserve unit was called to active duty, and junior-college end Charlton Keith is still in Minnesota trying to gain his eligibility in summer school.
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“We’re not going to be real deep on the defensive line,” Mangino said. “We’re going to have to find a way to get a rotation going. We have some good young kids coming in that are going to make an impact really quickly.”
Mangino also liked the looks of Shawnee Mission Northwest linebacker Mike Rivera.
“He’s a specimen,” Mangino said. “His body hardly has an ounce of fat on it.”
The freshman could have a hard time breaking the two-deep at linebacker, where the Jayhawks have three starters and several experienced backups returning. Mangino said he wasn’t considering moving the 6-3, 250-pounder to defensive end.
“He’s a really good linebacker,” Mangino said.
Freshmen aren’t the only newcomers turning heads. Junior-college defensive backs Theo Baines and Rodney Harris are excepted to contribute right away in the secondary.
“Our strength staff can’t rant and rave to me enough about Theo Baines,” Mangino said. “He’s physical. We’re counting on him to win one of those positions. He can play man (-to-man defense), and he’s a physical tackler.”
Over on offense, red-shirt freshman tackle Cesar Rodriguez (6-foot-7, 270) has gained 33 pounds since reporting to campus last summer.
Mangino hopes the Californian isn’t done bulking up.
“Hopefully, he’ll be 280 by the time we line up on game day,” the coach said.
When the Jayhawks open the season Sept. 4 at home against Tulsa, they’ll be aiming to earn a bowl berth in consecutive seasons for the first time in school history.
“You always want to play in postseason play,” said Mangino, whose team reached the postseason for the first time since 1995 last winter. “Every Division One team, when they line up in September, that’s the hope. But we have to earn it. We understand that. When we line up Sept. 4, 2003, is forgotten. It doesn’t mean anything anymore. It was just a good springboard for our players to get ready for the 2004 season.”
