Eight years of success turns into one year of demise for Kansas coach Mark Mangino
The story and the jokes can finally come to an end. Sports fans throughout the midwest have been following the fate of KU head football coach Mark Mangino and allegations that he verbally and physically abused his players.
Well fans, now that he has resigned and the weeks of rumors and headlines about his coaching future will likely cease, what now?
If the allegations are true then Mangino and his family will have to deal with the matter outside of KU football and it’s possible we will see little coverage of the story anymore, we might, but news about “has beens” is never interesting and doesn’t last long.
I’m all about treating people fairly and respecting the rights of individuals and to think that a coach might be over the top and potentially abusive to players is unacceptable. I have touched on the earlier stories of coaches literally working their players to death and it’s inexcusable, it’s football…not the Roman gladiator training program.
What has always rubbed me wrong is how perspectives and viewpoints are influenced. In the world of competitive collegiate sports, it’s obvious that viewpoints are swayed by wins and losses. One year ago I attended a KU/KState football game in Lawrence, KS and the energy was incredible, fifty thousand screaming fans, aroma of BBQ in the air, beer flowing, and the weather was perfect.
The KU football team comes bouncing out of the locker room facility and the place erupts and behind the team walks this short, very heavy though almost regal figure…Coach Mangino.
Yes, he is a very heavy man and he is short…he looked more like a godfather then a college football coach. The man had an entourage, students alike were chanting Mangino, young guys wearing the infamous “My Coach can eat Yours” T-shirt, however, the man was beloved and he entered the field like Elvis would have been greeted entering a concert venue.
Why? KU was playing well and they had just come off an Orange Bowl victory. The man could do no wrong, he was adored, on all the radio shows, the center of attention, the KU football program was in a state of euphoria which hadn’t been seen in years or maybe never.
Football was never KU’s sport until Mangino came along and it will only improve with a qualified replacement . The fat jokes are funny to a point but what happens is that he is eventually defined by his personal appearance. When your team is 12-1, obviously you’re untouchable and these young men who supposedly suffered at the hands of Mangino apparently never came forward or it just wasn’t the right time.
I am in no way condoning the abuse of players, but do losing coaches have to endure more than the feeling of failure that comes with a losing season? It has to be compounded by outside influences deciding to come forward? Maybe Coach Mangino got cocky and aggressive with his new found success, maybe his level of expectations rose to a point that he tolerated very little from his players, maybe KU football players for the first time finally experienced life as losers in a WINNING PROGRAM!! Ding Ding! I don’t imagine Bob Stoops is a fun guy to be around when the Sooners lose and I don’t imagine practices are cupcakes and sweet tea.
Bham! Your team is now 5-7 and you make horrible coaching decisions in your own end zone, you’re history. I am very anxious to see if these lawsuits and reports of abuse will actually come to fruition and formal charges carried out against him…or was this a nice, vindictive way to oust a head coach out of a program that only ten years ago was the laughing stock of the Big 12.
Let’s hope Bill Self doesn’t contract some glandular condition which balloons him to 300 lbs…I can only imagine how quickly the search for a new coach will be underway.
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