Here’s the best thing about Todd Reesing: It doesn’t really matter what anybody else thinks about his shortcomings. He thinks he’s really good, and it shows in everything he does.
It showed in the way he hustled onto the field for practice in Monday’s triple-digit heat, happy and hollering and ready to bake in the sun for the second practice of the day.
It showed in the way he sprinted down the field after firing a beauty of a touchdown to tight end Derek Fine to exchange a double-high-five with the player sure to develop into a favorite target.
Leadership comes naturally to Reesing, the sophomore from Lake Travis High in Austin, Texas. He plays the game in a way that says he’s in charge, and if the defense tries to prove otherwise, he loves to improvise and make plays on the fly.
It takes thick skin to play quarterback at his height, which surely is less than the listed 5-foot-11, because there never will be a shortage of experts ready to opine that he’s too short to play with the big boys.
And it takes thick skin to play quarterback for Mark Mangino, Kansas University’s demanding sixth-year coach. A time will come when Reesing fumbles at a crucial point in a game and Mangino will let him have it on the sidelines in full view of 30,000 spectators announced as a crowd of 37,318. Reesing will remind himself of how good he was in high school and of how he energized the entire Kansas team, even the defense, after he tore off his red shirt and carried Kansas back from a 9-0 halftime deficit to a 20-15 victory over Colorado. That win alone justified the decision to spend a year of eligibility. It kept Kansas in play for a bowl bid, which never came because Missouri hammered KU, 42-17, when Mangino kept Reesing on the bench far too long and stayed with sore-shouldered Kerry Meier far too long.
That was then. This is now: Reesing is spending more time running the first team than Meier, who looks slightly hobbled. His shoulder looks fine, his mobility somewhat hampered.
Spies trained in breaking codes would have a difficult time deciphering football coaches’ answers to questions posed this time of year. They are forever mindful of the opponents reading every word. Yet, everyone has a button that, when pushed, makes a man tip his hand. Mangino tips his when he’s trying not to reveal he’s a little perturbed. This happened Monday when he was asked about Meier’s health.
“I’m not going to discuss anything along those lines,” he said. “I’ll tell you this: I don’t think it has a bearing on the competition, who’s healthy and who’s not.”
The message came through loudly and clearly. Reesing is not winning this job by default. He’s winning it because he has taken charge of the offense in a way that has impressed Mangino and his staff. Durability is just one factor in Reesing’s favor in a competition he won’t officially win until Mangino names him the starter.
Questions remain on the offense. Is there enough quality depth on the line, particularly at guard? Who will emerge as the No. 1 running back, and can he be anywhere near as productive as Jon Cornish, now a special teams player in the Canadian Football League? Don’t question whether Reesing will help in those areas with his contagious confidence. He will.
