Kansas Football: The 2 calls the Jayhawks must make

Kansas football needs some drastic changes to once again be competitive. These are the two calls the Jayhawks must make after parting with Les Miles.

To say the Kansas football program is a mess would be an understatement.

Fourteen seasons ago, Kansas was in the Orange Bowl and ranked as high as No. 2 in the polls. In the 13 seasons since, Kansas has won more than three games twice: 2008 and 2009. After firing Mark Mangino after 2009, the Jayhawks have run through five head coaches.

To put it in perspective, since 2010, Kansas has a record of 21-98. Rutgers, who’s been a laughing stock since joining the Big Ten, has 25 wins since arriving in the conference. And that happened in 2014. UAB has 52 wins in that time span, and they didn’t even have a team for two seasons. Even Duke, who had perhaps the worst decade in college football history, won 22 games between 2000-2010.

Simply put, Kansas is in a bad spot, and they need to make the right hire now.

It’s clear Kansas won’t be able to compete for the same talent and with the same strategies. That means they have to be different with a completely altered state of thinking. There are two names that fit that bill perfectly, but both are on complete opposite ends of the college football spectrum.

The first is Navy head coach Ken Niumatalolo. The triple-option is just about as different as you can get in the Big 12. In a world of high flying passing attacks, ground and pound might just be crazy enough to work.

The triple-option can sometimes be hit and miss, but at a program where it’s been nearly 100 percent miss for over 10 years, it’s a risk that’s worth taking.

Niumatololo’s success speaks for itself: 101-67 in 13 full seasons plus one game in 2007. He’s led his teams to victories over some top tier teams including Notre Dame, Missouri and Wake Forest, as well as the elites of the AAC.

The triple-option just beats you down. It keeps the opposing defense on the field for chunks at a time. Oklahoma wouldn’t be able to score 50 points if Kansas had the ball for 40 minutes of game time. Not to mention, as quickly as Oklahoma can score, that puts the defense in a worse position against this attack.

It might take a couple seasons to get the appropriate personnel in place, but the option would at least bring Kansas back to respectability.

The second option Kansas has, which might actually be the best one, is the first person you think of when you hear the word “different” and that’s Mike Leach.

Let’s be honest: Leach is a square peg in a round hole in the SEC. Granted, last year was nearly impossible to judge coaches given the circumstances. But Leach left plenty of reason to doubt that his move to Mississippi State would be good. They improved towards the end of the season, but still finished 4-7.

The Big 12 is Mike Leach’a territory. He’s proven he can win there. He had incredible success at Texas Tech before an incident involving a player that depending on who you believe, may or may not be true. Leach’s hatred of Texas Tech might be a selling point as well considering Leach has said he’s willing to fight the school “until he dies”.

Leach never won fewer than seven games in his 10 season at Texas Tech, including an 11-win season in 2008 that featured a thrilling win against No. 1 Texas.

The air-raid can and does work in the Big 12. It’s what brought Texas Tech its biggest success. It’s brought Oklahoma one of its best periods in program history. Leach even brought it to Washington State, where they were as high as No. 7 in the polls.

It’s also worth noting that in the four years prior to Leach’s arrival at Washington State, the program had a 9-40 record. He can turn a program around.

Leach is Kansas’ best option, and should be the first phone call they’d make. Bring Leach back the conference he knows where the success will come.

The best scenario is Kansas hires Leach and reunited with someone he reached his highest success with: Graham Harrell. He would come in as offensive coordinator with the “head coach in waiting” label.

If Kansas can hit a home run with this hire, the program could be set for the next 15 or more years.