Big 12 Syllabus Series: Kansas Jayhawks
By Zach Pugh
The Kansas Jayhawks have received a bit more press than usual coming into the 2012 season. If you follow college football even casually you know why. In a move that still puzzles, former Notre Dame Head coach Charlie Weis decided to take his talents to Lawrence, Kansas with a plan of turning around a football program that needed an attitude adjustment. What can the former New England Offensive Coordinator bring to a team that has gone 5-19 over the last two seasons? That is the most intriguing question facing this program.
Much like last season, the Jayhawks have a good chance to start off with a 2-1 record. They kick off the season against FCS opponent South Dakota St. The Jackrabbits finished 5-6 last season and should be a team the Jayhawks can beat at Memorial Stadium. Kansas remains at home for their second game against Rice and should be able to take down the Owls. The Jayhawks’ schedule then gets difficult. Road games against rival Kansas State, Oklahoma, Baylor, Texas Tech and West Virginia could all be loses. It’s hard to imagine even without Brandon Weedon and Justin Blackmon, Kansas can beat Oklahoma State at home. And even with uncertainty at quarterback, Texas can easily duplicate last year’s 43-0 beat down in Lawrence. But, the Jayhawks’ offense may be able to produce enough points to give themselves a chance to pull out a couple surprise victories.
The defense is this team’s biggest weakness. Last season Kansas gave up 43.8 points per game along with 516.4 yards per game. To put it boldly, the Jayhawks had the worst defensive unit in the nation. LB Darius Willis will need to step up and anchor a linebacker core that will be absent the team’s leading tackler, Steven Johnson from last year. Defensive coordinator Dave Campo will be implementing a 3-4 scheme and should be able to put his NFL coaching experience to great use.
Believe it or not, quarterback is strength and does have a bit of depth. Sure, Dayne Crist never could live up to his potential at Notre Dame, mostly due to injuries, but Weis’s pro-style offense and new scenery may just be what he needs. If Crist falls to knee injuries once again, Weis will put his faith in Turner Baty who led City College of San Francisco to the junior college national title. Former BYU quarterback Jake Heaps will be eligible in 2013. Heaps was once the No. 1 high school quarterback in the nation and could flourish in the pro-style offense. The arrangement couldn’t have worked out more perfect because Crist is immediately eligible for this season and once Heaps is eligible in 2013, Crist will be gone.
3 & Out
1st Down: Can Charlie Weis make a winning team out of Kansas?
The Jayhawks are coming off a 2-10 season under former coach Turner Gill and with the absence of Gill, new head coach Charlie Weis hopes to correct the undisciplined, sloppy play the team displayed much of last year. Weis isn’t a stranger to the college football world. He spent 2011 as the Florida Gators offensive coordinator and went 35-27 in five seasons as head coach at Notre Dame. While at Notre Dame, Weis was big on selling his team on the fact that they would have an advantage with his offensive scheme because the strategies he developed in the NFL were above all in college football. Notre Dame’s offensive did improve under Weis, so it’s not crazy to think the Jayhawks will be improved on offense. Since Crist already has experience with the system, he can lead the offense by example. Weis was able to lead the Fighting Irish to a berth in the 2006 Fiesta Bowl. Although they lost to Ohio State, the improvement from the end of the Tyrone Willingham can’t be ignored. Sure, Weis was working with better recruits, but he can sell the current players and future players on his success at Notre Dame and obviously in the NFL. Weis has made it a point to recruit hard in the Junior College circuit, a model that has served in state rival Kansas State well. However, he must be careful not to load up too much on JC transfers because the team may have to reload more often. If Weis can work in a good mix of high school recruits and JC recruits, then the turnover won’t be so high every year.
2nd Down: What can Dayne Crist bring to the offense?
Dayne Crist has an upper hand on leading the Jayhawk offense since he was recruited by Charlie Weis at Notre Dame. He knows how Weis expects the offense to be run. Crist has had his college career hit the wall a couple times, due to knee injuries, so that is a bit of concern. However, there isn’t concern when it comes to his arm strength. He has the ability to make it in the NFL, but he needs to improve his accuracy. If Crist can remain healthy, the offense may be able to keep the Jayhawks in games, alongside one of the better receiving corps Kansas has had recently. Crist was one of the highest recruited prep players, so he has the skill set, but the talent level will be lower in Lawrence, however, with the right coaching, lower level talent can produce winning teams.
3rd Down: How much worse can it get?
2011 was a bad for year for Kansas. Not only because of the 2-10 record, but the team internally was a mess. The effort from players was not there and often looked disorganized. Charlie Weis has come in, what seems to be humbled, after his experience with Notre Dame and revamped the attitude in the locker room. The Jayhawks could muster up 4 or 5 wins, but that can only happen if last years’ worst defense in the nation can step up and slow down the high octane offenses in the Big 12. There’s no reason why Weis can’t put together a team much like 2008, where Kansas was able to go 11-1 with an Orange Bowl victory. This won’t happen overnight, but if Weis is given about three or four years to set solid footing in recruiting, the Jayhawks just may be on the national radar.