http://www.kansascity.com/2011/11/26/3288145/zenger-must-fire-gill-quickly.html#ixzz1eylXOQRm
Recruiting rankings don’t support the accepted narrative that Gill inherited a hopeless roster, and some NFL scouts think the talent difference between KU and K-State is nominal. The difference is the coaches.
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If you get beyond the rubbernecking of a disastrous season — last in both offense and defense; gave up 70 points in one game and gained 36 yards in another — you see an opportunity as promising as any that figures to be available this winter other than Ohio State and perhaps Tennessee.
Sound crazy?
Many coaches judge a job’s attractiveness in terms of expectations and the resources available to exceed them. KU’s roster is made up of recruiting classes ranked by Rivals between fourth (2009) and eighth (2010) in the Big 12.
Recruiting rankings have flaws, but the players KU had this year and will have next year were ranked higher than the ones who won the Orange Bowl after the 2007 season.
Mark Mangino proved that a career assistant can win under the right circumstances at KU, and years of record attendance proved that fans will support a good program.
Kansas provides a fan base that won’t expect much immediately, facilities competitive with most around the country and a Big 12 platform with access to the sport’s mountaintop.
Gill is making $2.1 million this year, in the top 30 nationally and more than coaches at Oklahoma State, Michigan State, Kansas State and others, according to USA Today.
In other words, this program is potentially upper-middle class but currently living in the slums.
Kansas football shouldn’t expect to date supermodels, but it should have experience in the Maxim Top 100.
Zenger can offer the kind of opportunity that most coaches spend their entire careers working for. He and the new coach can be the ones to bring KU football back to respectability at the most crucial time — like Perkins and Mangino, except with reputations that might live longer than a hamster.
Leach is the right man at the right time, with deep recruiting ties in Texas, and he might be motivated to build KU into a winning and metaphorical middle finger in the same conference as Tech. He created the offense that now dominates the Big 12, and with a capable defensive coordinator could push KU back into the league’s second tier behind Oklahoma and Texas.
This is a different conference than the one Leach last coached in, of course. An annual round-robin schedule makes it tougher in some ways, and the absence of Nebraska and Missouri to recruit against makes it easier in other ways.
Leach and Zenger also have a longstanding relationship, but if he says no, KU should target former Ohio State coach Jim Tressel, Houston’s Kevin Sumlin, Air Force’s Troy Calhoun, Southern Mississippi’s Larry Fedora, and others good enough to have options.
Zenger has a lot to sell here, despite what it looks like on the surface.
The strength of KU’s athletic program and university depend on him believing that and acting quickly.
Damn beems, boldfacing analysis from Mellinger who got most of his info from message boards and the delusional KU fans that reside there. And you believe this will somehow mask your butthurt that Leach didn't fly in from Key West tonight to bow down in Larryville (or at least check out a bitchin' yellow car parked at the airport)?
The ambush of the poor Larryville family arriving from vacation must have really left you struggling. My recommendation is to take a Xanax along with an Ambien (geez, I hope you can mix them) and get back to work on the Mike Leach dream in the a.m.
Disclaimier: I am not a doctor or a pharmacist. So, if you go tits up, it was an accident on my part.
