Mark Mangino

Year	School	Record	Bowl
2002	Kansas	2-10
2003	Kansas	6-7	Tangerine
2004	Kansas	4-7
2005	Kansas	7-5	Ft. Worth
2006	Kansas	6-6
2007	Kansas	12-1	Orange
Career		37-36	.507
	Kansas	37-36	.507

2008 SCHEDULE

Date	Opponent	Location	2008 CHS Prediction
8/30/08	Florida International	Lawrence, KS	W
9/06/08	Louisiana Tech	Lawrence, KS	W
9/12/08	at South Florida	Tampa, FL	L
9/20/08	Sam Houston State	Lawrence, KS	W
10/04/08	at Iowa State	Ames, IA	W
10/11/08	Colorado	Lawrence, KS	W
10/18/08	at Oklahoma	Norman, OK	L
10/25/08	Texas Tech	Lawrence, KS	W
11/01/08	Kansas State	Lawrence, KS	W
11/08/08	at Nebraska	Lincoln, NE	W
11/15/08	Texas	Lawrence, KS	L
11/29/08	Missouri	Kansas City, MO	L

	Coaches Hot Seat Prediction		8-4

Coaches Hot Seat Analysis

Two words or phrases keep coming up when reading stories or talking to people about Mark Mangino: "A very hard worker and an extra ordinary attention to detail." Reading or hearing that a college head football coach is a hard worker and is into details is like saying the sun comes up every morning, but still, the above two items detailing Mangino's manic work ethic and desire to touch on every detail are always there. Can it be that Mangino is working harder than many other head coaches? Maybe, but we find that really hard to believe. Does Mangino pay more attention to details? Yes, that is a possibility, because many items do get by even some of the top coaches, so maybe it is his attention to detail attached to one of the top work ethics in the game that gives him a leg-up. Is still seems hard to believe, but Mangino took take Kansas to a 12-1 record in 2007. Even 7 months later, what can you say but, WOW! There is no one here at Coaches Hot Seat that predicted a better than 7 win season for Kansas in '07, and no one was more shocked by Kansas' 11-0 start than us. Yes, Kansas played a very easy non-conference schedule, and they got A&M and Nebraska in down years, but that 11-0 start in '07 is never going to go away. We all thought that Missouri would handle KU in the last game of the regular season, but even that loss was closer than we expected. So what gives, why were we so wrong about Mangino and Kansas in '07, and what does KU's break-out year in '07 mean for the future? We were wrong about Mangino and KU, because we didn't have a clue to the amount of talent in key positions that Mangino had recruited to Lawrence, and looking back at several KU games from the last few years, we missed how competitive Kansas has gotten against other Big 12 teams, even as they continued to lose games. It all came together for Kansas in '07, and the big challenge for Mangino and the Jayhawks will be to keep improving, even if the the records in the coming years do not match the 2007 campaign. It looks to us that Mangino has built a very strong foundation at KU, and that foundation will provide a leg-up for Kansas on other Big 12 teams that are working to build their football programs as well. Kansas and Mangino have every opportunity to keep the momentum going as they enter the 2008 season, and they have an chance for another big year if they can prevail in a couple of very big, and very key games.

Coaches Hot Seat Bottom Line

We predict that Mark Mangino and Kansas will have a 8-4 record in 2008. Kansas opens the season against a team that is really struggling to establish itself, Florida International, and FIU opening the season against a Big 12 team is not a good way to get on track. This should be an easy win for Kansas, which takes them to 1-0. The schedule gets tougher in week 2, as Derek Dooley brings his La. Tech team to Lawrence, and this is not a team that KU will be able to go to sleep against. In a closer game than expected, Kansas gets the win, which takes their record to 2-0. Week 3 is the first of 5 big games for Kansas, as the Jayhawks travel to Tampa, Florida to play the surging USF Bulls. USF is no longer a pushover for any team in the country, just ask Auburn, and Kansas will have the USF team, USF fans, and the Florida hot and humid weather to battle in this game. In a very close game, we see USF getting the win over Kansas, which drops the KU record to 2-1. Sam Houston State visits Lawrence in week 4, and this should be an easy win for KU. After four games, Kansas is 3-1. Kansas travels to Iowa State in week 5, and this will be a game that Kansas should win over a rebuilding Cyclone team, but it is a game they could easily lose. In a closer game than expected, KU gets the win in the end, which takes their record to 4-1. In week 6 the Colorado Buffaloes and Dan Hawkins come calling in Lawrence, and in a close game until the 3rd quarter, we see KU pulling away to get a two-touchdown win or so. After six games, KU is 5-1. The second of 5 big games arrives in week 7, with a trip to Norman to play the mighty Oklahoma Sooners. Mangino knows what he is going to face in Norman from his time on Stoops staff, and in a great Big 12 game, we see Oklahoma getting the win in the end. After seven games, KU is 5-2. The third of 5 big games arrives in week 8, as Mike Leach and the Texas Tech Red Raiders arrive in Lawrence. This should be one of the most entertaining games of the year, with somewhere north of 80 points being put up on the scoreboard, and we see Kansas ending up on top when the scoring stops. After eight games, KU is 6-2. Kansas State visits Lawrence in week 9 and this cross-state rivalry game is on the verge of becoming a one-sided affair with KU winning the past two games and having the rising football program. This will be a very important game for Ron Prince to try and stem the tide against the Jayhawks, but we see KU as being too strong to lose this game. With a win over KSU, Kansas raises its record to 7-2. One of the most interesting games of the Big 12 season is when Kansas travels to Nebraska on November 8 to play Bo Pelini's first Husker team in Lincoln. By week 10 Pelini should have the Huskers playing some pretty good football, and don't think that Pelini won't be reminding the Nebraska players about the 76-39 debacle against Kansas in '07. Nebraska and its fans in Lincoln will be fired up and this should be a close game to the final quarter, but we see Kansas slipping quietly away with a win over the Huskers. After ten games, KU is 8-2. The fourth of 5 big games shows up in week 11 when the Texas Longhorns visit Lawrence. Kansas will be coming off a tough win at Nebraska and the Longhorns look ready for bear for the 2008 season, and in another great Big 12 football game, we see Texas getting the win over KU. After eleven games, Kansas is

8-3. The season ending Missouri-Kansas game in '07 was a sensation, and had a big-game feel to it with it being staged in Kansas City. This should be another great game in '08, and we give the advantage to Missouri again in another very competitive game. A loss to Missouri to end the season drops the Kansas '08 regular season record to 8-4.

If Kansas ends up with an 8-4 record in 2008, it will not be an altogether different result from the '07 season, because road trips to USF, Oklahoma, and Nebraska (with Pelini), and tough home games against Texas and Texas Tech have been added to the schedule. Anything better than 8-4 will only show the dramatic improvement that Mangino has made on the Kansas football program, and what great fun it is going to be to watch this Kansas team try to top their very impressive '07 campaign.

2008 Coaches Hot Seat Prediction: 8-4

Will Mark Mangino be back for the 2009 season? YES