While between jobs in 2002, Charlie Weatherbie would come to Lawrence occasionally and watch his son Jonas practice with Kansas University’s football team.
“He was very supportive of his son and very supportive of our program,” KU coach Mark Mangino said. “Charlie’s a good guy. I have a very good relationship with him.”
Jonas Weatherbie, a former KU quarterback, has since moved on, and so has his old man. Charlie Weatherbie now is head coach at Louisiana-Monroe, which comes to Lawrence to play the Jayhawks at 6 p.m. today at Memorial Stadium.
Weatherbie, a Sedan native, has coached at Utah State and Navy, too, but this will be his first time patrolling a Division I sideline in his home state.
“Charlie’s coming home,” Mangino said. “He’s from the state of Kansas, so I’m sure it has a little extra meaning to him.”
Louisiana-Monroe, a Division I-A school out of the Sun Belt Conference, is 1-0 after stopping I-AA Alcorn State, 24-6, last weekend.
As for playmakers, quarterback Kinsmon Lancaster is at the top of the Warhawks’ list. Though undersized at 5-foot-11, 170 pounds, Lancaster is a textbook dual-threat slinger and has it in him to be a home-run hitter.
Lancaster passed for 100 yards and rushed for 62 against Alcorn State, accounting for two Warhawks touchdowns.
“He’s got all the talent that it takes to get it done,” Weatherbie said. “I think he will make a ton of improvement from his first game to his second game.”
Weatherbie said Lancaster had a few balls batted at the line of scrimmage – the downside of having a 5-11 athlete under center – but the coach still was pleased with how his sophomore quarterback played.
“In the second half, he really took control of the offense and drove them down the field,” Weatherbie said. “I think he’s finding a way to get the most out of the offense, which I think is important.”
ULM is 1-0 for the first time since 1999 and is looking to go 2-0 for the first time in 12 years of being a Division I-A program.
“We’re excited about the opportunity to have the success that we had, and we’re looking forward to this week against the University of Kansas,” Weatherbie said. “We believe this will be a great opponent to play, and we’ll see where we are as a team.”
Location: Monroe, La.
Enrollment: 9,725
Conference: Sun Belt
Nickname: Warhawks
Colors: Maroon and Gold
Home field: Malone Stadium
Capacity: 30,427
Surface: Natural Grass
Head coach (Alma Mater, Year): Charlie Weatherbie (Okla. State, ’77)
Record at School: 11-23 (3)
2005 Record: 5-6
Conference Record/Finish: 5-2/T-1st
Offensive Scheme: Multiple
Defensive Scheme: 4-2-5
Lettermen Returning: 40
Starters Returning: 13 (7 offense, 5 defense, 1 specialist)
