Financially, making one of the lesser bowl games is about a break-even proposition for most schools. It’s the extra few weeks of practice time lost that infuriates football coaches forever looking for the edge. The less time between the end of the season and the beginning of spring practice the better, as far as coaches are concerned.
Bowl-bound coaches even have been known to use that extra practice time to experiment with position changes, a common spring practice.
On the topic of position switches, Kansas University has a few intriguing possibilities Mark Mangino ought to consider while flying or driving to various recruiting stops.
No, not shifting Kerry Meier from quarterback to running back, even though Meier fared far better running the ball than passing it during his first injury-interrupted season as a college quarterback. Meier said he wasn’t hurt in the final weeks, but his throws certainly didn’t have the same zip on them. If he wasn’t hurt, then Todd Reesing projects as a better quarterback.
Taking the red shirt off Reesing was justified by his leading the team to victory over Colorado. He should have come into the Missouri game far earlier than he did, but the reason has nothing to do with justifying red-shirting him and everything to do with his giving the Jayhawks a better chance of winning that game. (The way the defense played, they probably would have lost it anyway.)
KU doesn’t have enough depth at quarterback to consider trying Meier at running back. Besides, running from the quarterback position is a different challenge than running into the line.
Position switches worth trying:
Raymond Brown, who will be a fourth-year junior next fall, started his career at safety and was moved to cornerback. He was burned badly playing in place of suspended Aqib Talib and was relegated to special-teams duty thereafter. Brown can fly, and at 6-foot-3 and 200 pounds, the St. Louis native would make a nice target for Meier or Reesing. Whispers he could be at wide receiver in the spring make sense.
Watching Brandon McAnderson bury so many return men on special teams made it easy to envision him at linebacker. A 6-foot, 235-pound graduate of Lawrence High, McAnderson moves well, has the right size and is tough as they come. He still could play some fullback and shore up the outside linebacker position, a weakness on KU’s on-again, off-again defense. He received multiple honors as a high school linebacker.
Any discussion of KU position switches would be incomplete without mentioning Marcus Herford. He has such a loud combination of speed and strength that it seems a waste for him not be on the field more often. His release at quarterback was too slow, necessitating a switch to wide receiver. He averaged an outstanding 17.1 yards a catch, but had just eight receptions. Why not try him at running back and see if he takes to the position?
Winning a Baylor game in which KU blew an 18-point lead with less than 10 minutes left would have meant Mangino not only could be trying position switches already, he could be telling recruits he is preparing for a third bowl game in four seasons. Oh well, as the often quoted Joe Anonymous once said, “If ifs and buts were candy and nuts, we’d all have a Merry Christmas.”
