Mark Mangino took the podium on Tuesday to discuss his thoughts on the disappointing 34-30 loss to Colorado in Boulder and to talk about the upcoming match up against the Oklahoma Sooners this Saturday. The press conference had plenty of nostalgic undercurrents being discussed, such as Mangino’s time as an assistant at Oklahoma and his relationship to his former mentor Bob Stoops. Another interesting point of discussion was some of the lineup changes that that took place last week and what to expect in the same department this upcoming week against Oklahoma.
Mangino started off discussing his thoughts on the Colorado game.
“Once again, I felt like Todd Reesing played really well, and he had a lot of help from his receivers. We did not run the ball well, which is something that we need to get back to doing. On the defensive side of the ball, Darrell Stuckey played a strong game. Also, Drew Dudley played extremely well.” Mangino explained. “He is really settling in there at linebacker and we like the way he is progressing. The defense played pretty well, or at least improved. There were some new faces and some personnel changes that I think have boosted our defense. As those players continue with experience, they will get better and better. It has really helped our defense both against the run and the pass.”
Mangino had high praises when discussing the Oklahoma defensive unit that the Jayhawks will be facing.
“It is a good defensive unit; there is no question about it. It is the same aggressive style that OU always plays on defense. They are up front. Their front four are very talented and very quick guys who jump the ball. You have guys like Gerald McCoy, Jeremy Beal and Austin English, along with others who are quick, athletic and run to the ball. The linebackers are always good players. Ryan Reynolds in the middle kind of anchors it down.” Mangino told the media. “Their secondary is very quick, very athletic and are good tacklers, as usual. You have people like Dominique Franks back there with a lot of experience. So, yes it is a very, very good defensive unit.”
Mangino also discussed some of the necessary transition of players to the opposite sides of the ball. Bradley McDougald has been practicing and seeing time on both sides of the ball and John Williams has moved back to the defensive side of the ball.
“It is difficult, but sometimes out of necessity, you have to do it. What you need is a young guy who is willing to do it, willing to understand the frustrations and disappointment early on, but I think if you have kids who are mentally tough, you can do it. We have had kids in the past make those kinds of moves and be very successful.” Mangino explained. “For John Williams, it has been a sudden change, but not for Bradley McDougald, because we have worked him on defense for several weeks now in practice. We have given him work each and every day on the defensive side of the ball. He is still not ready to play every down and we do not expect that. He will be helpful.”
Mangino went into more detail when discussing the redshirt freshman John Williams. Williams was a highly recruited defensive tackle out of Washington High in Tulsa, Oklahoma and the Jayhawks have been looking for a way to best utilize his talents.
“We recruited John to be a defensive tackle, but then his freshman year he had an injury that kept him out the whole year. So, we he thought to get him back, he would be better suited on the offensive line to take some of the pressure of the injury that he had suffered. He was doing well on the offensive line, but I kept looking at him and seeing a defensive lineman.” Mangino explained. “The more I watched him in practice, the more I kept saying ‘this guy is a defensive lineman.’ He has quickness, explosion and a low center of gravity. He plays the game with power in his lower body. He can jump the ball. He is extremely quick for a guy his size. So, I finally decided to pull the trigger and said ‘we are going to do this.’ And I really think it is for the better. There is no question he will help us on the defensive line. I think he is very talented.”
Mangino was more than happy to discuss the decision to play McDougald both ways in more detail as well. There have been examples of two way players for Mangino in the past, such as Aqib Talib and Daymond Patterson, but McDougald has a special skill set.
“Our philosophy here has always been ‘try to put our best guys on defense.’ There are some guys who are extremely talented, but they are not made for defense. Dezmon Briscoe is not built for defense. That is not what he does. Kerry Meier is not built for defense, he is an offensive player. He and Dezmon are so strong in what they do on offense; it would be ridiculous to have put them on defense. But there are some kids who have the skill sets for both and Bradley McDougald is one of them.” Mangino told the media. ”We have tried to put our most athletic guys and our guys that can play a physical-style ball on defense, as well as trying to recruit to that. Everybody is throwing the ball around and spreading the ball around, so I don’t care who you have on defense, in the Big 12, there are just not a lot of low-scoring games anymore because the style that is being played is utilizing the entire field.”
Mangino knows that the Jayhawks will be facing a very talented offensive team. The national media has made a big deal about the loss of some key weapons from last years Big XII champion Sooner team, but Mangino knows that coach Bowen and the defense will still have their hands full.
“They are still a productive offense. They are in the top 20 in total offense in the country. They have a lot of weapons. If you look at their running backs in DeMarco Murray and Chris Brown; those are good running backs. Murray is a tough, hard running guy who is a veteran guy. Brown has a lot of speed and is really a handful back there. OU’s receiver, Ryan Broyles, has to be one of the fastest receivers in the league.” Mangino explained. “They have some other kids who can receive too, like Brandon Caleb, who are just playmakers. Their offensive line is probably not what they had a year ago, but it is still a big, physical offensive line. They are not putting up the kind of numbers as they did last year. But you lose a Heisman trophy quarterback and maybe a top-five player in the draft in Jermaine Gresham; obviously you are not going to have the same production you had a year ago, but they are still pretty doggone good.”
The Jayhawks are lucky in the sense that they will not have to face the reigning Heisman trophy winner Sam Bradford, but Mangino knows that his backup Landry Jones is more than capable of getting the job done for the Sooners.
“Well Landry Jones is a pretty talented kid. He is a good player. One of the things I see in him is he understands their offense really well, so that tells me he is paying attention to what they are doing. He has the ability to throw the ball very well and with accuracy.” Mangino explained Jones’ strengths. “He has enough escape ability from the pocket to give you trouble. He looks poised to me and looks like a very intelligent player. He is a quality player. Obviously, I understand that when you lose a guy of the caliber of Sam Bradford, there is going to be a drop-down to some degree. But it is not a horrific drop; they are not falling off a cliff after Sam Bradford.”
It is well known throughout the Big XII that Kansas has one of the top offenses in the country, but they have yet to face the caliber of athlete that they will see against Oklahoma this Saturday. Oklahoma did an excellent job last week against the high flying Texas spread and held them to 16 points. Mangino knows that Kansas will need to bring their A game to compete.
“It puts a lot of pressure on your entire offense, not just your offensive line. Now, let me tell you, they will blitz. They are going to dial up blitzes, I know that for a fact, but they play a zone defense very well. The key is, they will mix it up and we have to understand the difference and be able to play with both.” Mangino explained. ”Anytime you have a pressure defense, it puts pressure on the quarterback, on the offensive line and on the receivers. They [receivers] have to understand the checks and call for the ball and get ready to make a play. The running backs have to protect as well.”
Mangino was more than willing to discuss the philosophy that a coach has to take coming off of a loss as well, especially considering that both KU and OU are coming off of disappointing ones.
“Well I can speak mainly for us, obviously, it was disappointing to lose, but that is long gone out of our system. It is behind us. We can’t change it, we can’t do anything about it, but we can do something about the games we are about to play and our next game is against Oklahoma. Now, I can’t speak to them, but I have been a part of their program and they will not have any problem getting their players ready to play. I know that.”
One of the underlying themes of the press conference revolved around the relationship that Mangino has with OU head coach Bob Stoops. Mangino discusses how his philosophy on how to deal with a loss stems from what he learned from Stoops.
“It is a pretty simple philosophy that I have carried here, but is something that I believe, and that I did really get from Bob. You cannot change what is done. You lose, you lose. The sun is going to come up the next day. There is no sense in crying or pouting about it, because you cannot do anything about it. The things that give me pause in life are the things that I know that I can control; the things that are in front of me. The things that have happened behind me do not bother me.” Mangino explained to the media. “Am I disappointed we lost? Yes, but I got over that disappointment at about 2 p.m. on Sunday because I watched the tape, graded it and then started look at Oklahoma, our next challenge. And I have not looked back. Life is too short to worry about things you cannot control. I tell our players all the time, ‘the next play is the most important play, what you did a play ago, whether it was good or bad, is gone, the next game is the most important game.”
Mangino thinks that Stoops is using a similar philosphy to help his guys get ready for Kansas after a tough loss to Texas last week.
“I think Bob did a great job of that with the kids at OU when we were there. I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that the kids follow the head coach’s lead. If the head coach is going to walk around with his head down and pout and feel bad for himself, so will the players. If the head coach runs out on the practice field ready to go, then the kids will do that. They will follow the lead of the coaches. Being around Bob for a long time, he would always say ‘hey, we are not going to let anybody beat us twice.’ And that is the way we are too, so hopefully this will be a great matchup for us Saturday.”
Mangino was more than happy to speak nostalgic about his time at Oklahoma as well. He won a championship in 2000 as the offensive coordinator for the Sooners and holds his time there near and dear to his heart.
“Well, they were important years in my career, but they were also a lot of fun. The best way to explain it is we had a really good coaching staff. Bob put together a really good staff of people that had known each other for a lot of years. There was a sense of family and community when we got there. The people of Oklahoma welcomed us with open arms. The first year we went to the Independence Bowl and they were thanking us. Now, there is nothing wrong with the Independence Bowl, but Oklahoma and the Independence Bowl? And the fans were still thankful.”
Mangino was more than happy to talk in detail about the championship run in 2000 as well.
“Then we won a national championship and the football program got its swagger back. The fans were energized about their football program. You know, even if you do not go to school at OU, if you live in Oklahoma, all the people there call it ‘their football program’. So, I was comfortable there and I liked the folks there. They reminded me a lot of western Pennsylvania people, where I grew up. They are hard working, not pretentious and just love football. It was an exciting time for my family and me and because of the success there, I had the opportunity to come here to Kansas. It was an important time of my life. I enjoyed it and I’m glad to hear I am still popular there even though I wear Crimson and Blue now.”
Mangino and Jayhawks will need to get out to a much better start than they have been able to thus far this season. The Sooners may be reeling from some tough losses, but they are still loaded with players who won the Big XII last season and played for a national championship. If Kansas is able to come out and take advantage of the turmoil on the Sooners roster and punch the Sooners in the mouth early, then they should be able to move one step closer to their goal of winning the Big XII North.
