LJWorld.com

February 9, 2012

This chat has already taken place. Read the transcript below.

Moderator:

Hey guys. This is Jesse Newell, KUsports.com editor. Sorry for the slight delay. Matt, you ready for this?

Matt Tait:

You betcha. Tip of the cap to Mr. Newell for hustling from KCI straight to the office to moderate this thing. Let's make it a good one... for Jesse!!!

baldwinjhawk:

Hey Matt, who is the most talented player on the team? Or, if you prefer. Best offensive player and Defensive player. You know... Jayhawk to Rock next year.

Matt Tait:

Tough question to get things started... Jesse Newell's bringin' it!!!

The reason it's so tough is there are so many different ways to measure this, but I'll just pick one and go with it.

For my money, I like Bradley McDougald on defense and Duane Zlatnik on offense.

I know the O-Line guys don't usually get credit for things like this, but Zlatnik absolutely man-handled guys last year and I'd expect him to only get better this year.

As for McDougald, I just love his raw athletic ability and blend of size and speed. The guy's a big-time talent and should have a great senior season.

Honorable mention in both categories?

Offense: Dayne Crist, James Sims.

Defense: Toben Opurum, Greg Brown.

This could change A LOT in the next few months...

thejhawk93:

Matt, thank you for all of the coverage - YOU ROCK at your job and everyone on here thanks you for your dedication. Have you heard any rumors as to how Season Ticket sales are doing for 2012 compared to last year and/or when they were at an all time high when Mangino was here? Just curious! Thanks!

Matt Tait:

KU just sent out the renewal notices for season tickets, so it's a little too early to tell.

Having said that, I do know that in the past month they sold more NEW season tickets than they did all of last year and that, of the more than 3,000 that already have been sold this year, more than half of those are new accounts.

Clearly, things are going in the right direction here and I'd expect a very high percentage of those who had tickets last year and the year before to jump all over renewing them in the next few weeks.

ShockNAwe:

Did Tevin Shaw visit/sign with KU?

Matt Tait:

Tevin Shaw is visiting KU this weekend and will be in attendance at the men's basketball game on Saturday against Oklahoma State.

He'll be there with Nas Moore (who already signed but is just now making his official visit) and a whole host of juniors, who will be in town for KU's first "Junior Day" of the offseason.

From everything I've heard, it sounds like KU has a great chance at landing Shaw. And from everything I've heard on his end of things, that's a good thing for Kansas. The kid is a beast, with great strength and speed. From what I can tell, he may resemble Darrian Miller a little bit.

Keep an eye out for updates this weekend.

885208:

So now that all the hoopla around getting a coach and signing five star prospects has occurred...is there a real possibility that KU finishes in the upper half of the Big 12 next year? If not next year, what kind of a rebuild time line are we looking at to be upper half of Big 12?

Matt Tait:

I think there's a chance, just not a great one.

A couple of teams will come back to the pack a little bit next year and KU should take a big step forward. It's too early to tell just how big that step will be, but I look for the Jayhawks to be in better condition, more disciplined and stacked with better talent almost across the board. That has to equal improvement in the win column, doesn't it?

I think it's still very likely that KU will finish in the lower half, but cracking the top five is not out of the realm of possibilities...

bradh:

I know it's very early, but who do you see being the strongest unit next year - defensive backs, linebackers, defensive line, offensive line, QB, WR, TE, RB?

Matt Tait:

Gimme quarterbacks.

I love Dayne Crist's ability, experience and poise and if for some reason he's not able to stay healthy or isn't effective, Turner Baty has many of the same characteristics behind him.

Add to that the possibility that Michael Cummings could still factor into things and Jake Heaps will be pushing these guys in practice and I think you're looking at KU's best unit by far...

Next? Running backs. Sims, Bourbon, Pierson, Cox and maybe Shaw. Wow.

hawk316:

The tremendous importance of quality assistant coaches is often overlooked and undervalued. It appears that Coach Weis has put together an outstanding staff. Matt, what's your impression of this staff?

Matt Tait:

I'm impressed. Coach Weis took his time assembling it and brought in a very nice mix of experienced guys, who have coached at the pro and college level and many of them know each other and know how they each work.

I think the chemistry on the staff will go a long way toward improving the product on the field.

BradKU:

What will you be most eager to watch at the KU spring game?

Matt Tait:

Several things. For starters, I think the game will be competitive, I'm also eager to see the turnout from the fans and, of course, it will be a blast to see all the new guys in a game-type setting...

If you're talking about a specific position, I think it'll be wide receiver. That's a huge unknown for KU right now and there are a ton of guys vying for spots. We've seen that what you do in the spring doesn't always translate into having a good season, but this year I think it might because the WRs who perform well in April likely will be the guys who pick up Weis' offense the fastest and that could lead to early playing time.

swunruhawk:

Any word on where Chuck Long might be headed?

Matt Tait:

I actually asked Buddy Wyatt about that the other day and he said he hadn't heard anything.

I've kept my ears open on this because I'm very curious how that will shake out. Though I think he was overmatched as an offensive coordinator, I think Long would make an outstanding quarterbacks coach for any team.

If not, Tom Keegan thinks Chuck has a future in broadcasting, perhaps with the Big Ten Network. I could see it...

RISEABOVEHATE:

What is the Future of Charlie Weis after 1 season as head coach

If you look at it. he really didn't really do nothing special during signing day...All we did was sign players we already new that was going to sign with the team

How come the Kansas Jayhawks didn't go after 4 or 5 star players

And if you look at it. The Kansas Jayhawks only had 12 signees to 8 transfers

What is the future of Charlie wies after this F graded signing day

Matt Tait:

I don't know about you, but I'm willing to let him coach a game before I grade him.

Who knows how this experiment is going to turn out, but, in my opinion, it already has done wonders for the KU program. Imagine if Dr. Zenger had stayed with Gill. There'd be little to no talk about football this offseason and I certainly wouldn't be answering your question in this chat.

For only having a month or so to put it together, Weis' first class is pretty impressive. It's not full of 4 or 5 star guys, but he has to win before he can bring those guys to town. That's the way it goes just about everywhere.

sigephandy:

Have you heard anything new of the Big XII expansion front?

Matt Tait:

It seems like things are continuing to progress in a positive direction with regard to West Virginia getting out of the Big East and joining the Big 12 next year. Beyond that, I've merely heard the rumors out there about Clemson and Florida State being interested in the Big 12, but, again, those are mostly just rumors.

Most everybody who I would consider to be a solid source on the topic has told me that there's nothing to that just yet.

That could change in a hurry or the talk could disappear. Gotta love realignment, right!?!?!

daverclear:

As a member of the media, how does Weis and his staff compare to the previous regime in regards to access, appearance, work ethic etc.?

Matt Tait:

We've only been in front of Weis and his staff three times so far, so it's still a little too early to tell on the access part, but I don't think it'll be that different.

Having said that, I also don't think we'll get a ton of access, which is a major bummer, but par for the course in a lot of ways.

As for the rest, I will say this, even in the limited amount of times that we've been able to talk to him, I've come away loaded with good information. I've also been incredibly impressed by Weis' command of the room, knowledge of his program and what he wants to get done and his ability to communicate that to us and his players.

The guy's a pro. First class all the way; and I'm looking forward to dealing with someone like that during spring ball and the 2012 season.

Moderator:

Time for a couple more ...

jjjhwk:

Matt,
Who do you think will be the starting LB's next year?

Matt Tait:

There are a ton of options and a lot of practice ahead before we get that answer, but I'll take a stab.

Assuming they play the 4-3, I'll take the following guys as my starters:

MLB Schyler Miles
OLB Tunde Bakare
OLB Colin Garrett

That leaves a heck of a group behind them, with Darius Willis, Huldon Tharp and Ben Heeney, along with Malcolm Walker and Isaac Wright and the other freshman Courtney Arnick.

I say Miles because it's obvious that both Weis and DC Dave Campo love the kid. Campo called him the kind of player you can build a defense around.

I say Bakare and Garrett because of speed.

Time will tell, but I love the depth here.

do267:

I am thinking that Taylor should be getting some serious consideration for big 12 player of the year. He has arguably been KU's most consistantly dominant player during league play... am I on crack?

Matt Tait:

I'm no expert on crack, but I don't think you are.

Having said that, I don't think Taylor has much of a shot either. That award is clearly Thomas Robinson's and although Taylor has been sensational of late, Robinson has been a rock most of the time and always gives KU one clear-cut advantage on the floor.

Some years, we've seen a scenario like this unfold where two guys on the same team have caused voters to split their votes, but I don't think that will be the case here. I think Robinson will win it going away. But I think Tyshawn's headed for the all-Big 12 first team with ease.

Moderator:

All right, thanks to Matt for all your responses, and thanks to you guys for submitting questions and checking out the chat.

Matt Tait:

Short notice this week, but thanks for showing up. We'll be here every Thursday sorting out whatever questions you want to throw at us.

Thanks again for your participation and big thanks to J-Newell for showing serious hustle and getting back here to moderate this bad boy. I haven't seen him move like that since hustling after loose balls during our Friday pick-up games. I've said it before and I'll go on record with it now, I'd rather guard Kobe than Newell.

Until next week...