Kansas football team not backing down from expectations

By Jesse Newell Aug 5, 2008

Mike Yoder

Sophomore defensive tackle, Jamal Greene, left, and junior defensive end Maxwell Onyegbule, right, greet each other on the field at Memorial Stadium during KU football's media day on Tuesday, Aug 5, 2008.

Mark Mangino and the rest of the Kansas Jayhawks aren’t about to shy away from the high expectations heaped on them after completing a 12-1 season a year ago.

In fact, the KU coach said his team needed to embrace its new standing as one of the favorites in the Big 12.

“There is nobody outside this program that has higher expectations than the kids here,” Mangino said during media day on the KU campus Tuesday.

Mangino said his players had come to the first four days of practice with more confidence than in years past.

The Jayhawks might need it. Not only will they have a more difficult schedule, they’ll also be out to show that they’re a national powerhouse and not a one-hit wonder.

“We’ve still got to prove something,” KU cornerback Ryan Murphy said. “Last year, that’s just one season. We still didn’t fulfill all the goals we wanted to do.

“… There’s still a lot of room for improvement and a lot of things we want to accomplish. We’re definitely hungry, and we know there’s still a lot of doubters out there. We just want to go out and prove them wrong.”

For a full recap of media day, keep checking KUSports.com and LJWorld.com.