Kansas football coach Mark Mangino produced chuckles galore last season while discussing KU’s spotty longtime football record. In a masterpiece of drollery, he noted that “anybody can have a bad century.” Certainly the Jayhawks never threatened the excellence of Notre Dame, Michigan or Ohio State in that 1900-2000 span.
But KU had its moments of glory in those hundred years. So far this century, there’s only a 45-51 start, so Mark and his successors face a major challenge over the ensuing 82 years.
A year back, KU was trying to win a ninth straight game in a single season. That’s something it had not done since Bert Kennedy’s 1908 Mount Oread titans posted a 9-0 regular-season mark in the process of compiling an 18-0 streak. That didn’t end until a 12-6 loss to Missouri in the 1909 finale. The run began with a win over Missouri in St. Joseph, Mo., to end the 1907 campaign. Nothing like that since.
Glossiest single-season feat in Jayhawk annals was the 10-0 that Fielding Yost and Co. accomplished in 1899. Further, Mangino or anyone else will have to be able to walk on water or rent a tomb for only three days before duplicating KU’s 53-9-4 in the 1904-10 span under Kennedy.
The cautious Mangino last fall was trying to prevent people from getting too high while KU was en route to 12-0 before the Missouri derailment. He wanted to temper the excitement to show it would take a lot more time for Kansas to overcome its erratic past. He currently has the Jayhawks en route to a dual goal of consistency and achievement.
Mangino with his current 38-36 record as KU’s mahatma has moved to No. 4 on the victory list among the 35 coaches here. Leading the way is Kennedy with his 53-9-4. No. 2 is Glen Mason at 47-54-1. Ranking third ahead of Mangino’s 38-36 is Jack Mitchell at 44-42-5. Note that Jack remains the last coach to leave here (1966) with a winning record. No. 5 on the win list is Don Fambough, 36-49-5 for eight seasons.
You tell the average fan that Mitchell was the last departee with a plus mark and they scoff. They are sure Mason or Pepper Rodgers won more games than they lost, but Mason posted his 47-54-2 and Rodgers was 20-22 when he left for UCLA.
What a difference one season can make, certainly for Kansas and Mangino.
Many railbirds thought athletic director Lew Perkins was certifiably nuts when before the 2006 season he handed Mangino a new contract at $1.5 million a year plus incentives through 2010. When in the history of college football has any coach landed such a deal with a mere 25-35 record, which it what it was at the time? Name one. I can’t.
The 2007 prospects, however, looked fairly decent with four cupcakes in the leadoff spots. Then that sensational 12-1 hiked the Mangino record to 37-36 and produced an even niftier ($2.3 million-plus) contract.
Lots to be done to make the 21st century worth bragging about, but maybe the plotting-planning Mangino is laying a solid foundation for such.
