What would Bill do?

Fan favorite Whittemore weighs in on KU's struggles

The first thing that rushes back in your memories is that twang in his voice: straight from the south, where Bill Whittemore learned to play football.

Now home in Brentwood, Tenn., Whittemore’s travels to Lawrence are getting more and more rare. Most of his conversations with those from his Kansas University days are by telephone, like this one.

“I made it up there twice last year,” Whittemore said. “I’ll try to make it up there this year, but it’s tough with football on Friday nights.”

He’s back to his roots now. Whittemore got his first shot at what could be his future this fall – he’s an assistant football coach at his alma mater, Brentwood High, where he teaches the quarterbacks and defensive backs who one day hope to have some sort of success at the next level just like he did.

So many in KU’s growing football fan base dearly miss Bill Whittemore. He played in just 18 games at KU, but it came during a drastic makeover of the once-hopeless program. In 2002, he gave a dismal KU team a leader. In 2003, he captained the Jayhawk charge out of futility and into a bowl game.

Former Kansas University quarterback Bill Whittemore is surrounded by fans as Fox Sports Net attempts to interview him following a 2003 KU victory over Missouri. KU's offense in the post-Whittemore era has struggled, but the Brentwood, Tenn., native is confident KU can recover.

His eligibility expired after the Tangerine Bowl, and KU hasn’t found any offensive consistency since, especially at quarterback. Those struggles reached a devastating low in the last two weeks when the Jayhawks scored a combined six points in losses to Kansas State and Oklahoma.

Searching for reasons, Whittemore’s absence more and more is brought up among pundits and fans.

Whittemore doesn’t buy it. He follows his Jayhawks closely, and says with sincerity that KU is more than capable of zooming out of the dark tunnel unscathed – and with the personnel it currently has.

“I like coach (Nick) Quartaro and what he does,” he said. “I know he’s having a tough time right now, but he’ll work through it.”

‘On the same page’

Even today, with two years to reminisce, Whittemore isn’t sure how that 2003 offense clicked like it did – coming off the dismal ’02 season, full of new faces and mixed up old ones recruited by two different coaching regimes.

If he ever figures it out, the 2005 Jayhawks are all ears.

“I don’t know,” he said after thinking it over. “I had a great relationship with my receivers. I had linemen who stepped up real good. It’s hard to say what it really was. We were always on the same page. Everybody just did their job.”

Several starters on that team – like Mark Simmons, Clark Green and Bob Whitaker – still are around today. But after the first three games this year, all nonconference victories with 30-plus point scored, KU slowly started having troubles against Texas Tech. They got worse in a 12-3 loss to Kansas State, then hit rock-bottom in a 19-3 setback to Oklahoma.

Now, the offensive line isn’t grading out well. The quarterback isn’t efficient. The receivers aren’t running crisp routes. And the running game is getting keyed on to the point where failure is the only choice.

Whittemore, between his coaching duties and substitute teaching and staying in tip-top shape for his next professional opportunity, keeps in touch with many of the current players. He missed the nationally televised Oklahoma game to attend a wedding, but a look at the stat sheet was enough.

“It’s a fine line,” Whittemore said of the struggles. “Everybody’s just got to be on the same page. If one person screws up, the play is done.”

Finding his direction

Since leaving Lawrence, Whittemore’s had tryouts with the NFL’s Atlanta Falcons and New York Jets. He also spent last spring with the Nashville Kats of the Arena Football League, a more viewer-friendly football.

Former KU quarterback Bill Whittemore throws under protection by lineman Bob Whitaker (77) in a 2003 game. Whittemore led the 2003 Jayhawks to the Tangerine Bowl, but KU has struggled to keep its offense going after Whittemore's graduation.

“It was entertaining, I guess,” Whittemore said. “I never got on the field.”

Whittemore was a backup quarterback on the Kats, who finished 6-9-1.

“It’s quicker and just all pocket passing,” Whittemore said of the AFL. “I was never really a pocket passer.”

His agent, Tom Mills, is trying to find a spot for him on an NFL Europe team, though nothing’s been finalized. Whittemore’s itch for playing hasn’t stopped, so he’s continuing to pursue it.

But Whittemore sees his future in coaching football. After getting his feet wet with Brentwood High this fall, he’d soon like to catch on as a graduate assistant at a university – maybe even KU, if he’s wanted.

“I wouldn’t mind it,” he said.

The Jayhawks, meanwhile, have tried for 17 games to find their offensive identity without Whittemore, and will head today to Boulder, Colo., to take on the Colorado Buffalos with the hourglass of 2005 slowly running out.

Former Kansas University quarterback Bill Whittemore paces the sidelines in a 2003 game he sat out of because of an injury. Whittemore now is an assistant coach at Brentwood (Tenn.) High and looking to catch on to an NFL Europe team. He led KU's 2003 team to the Tangerine Bowl, one season after the Jayhawks finished 2-10.

It’s been two years since KU has traveled to Boulder, and the last time out was a classic clash. With Whittemore under center, KU scored five touchdowns in the first half but eventually fell in an overtime shootout, 50-47.

Still, it was the fifth straight week KU scored 35 points, something no other Jayhawk team ever has done in 115 years of football.

“I remember the shootout, for sure,” said Whittemore, who passed for 422 yards and had five total touchdowns that day. “A fun game, a great game. Disappointing game, but that was fun for us offensively, for sure. We had things clicking, and we were moving the ball.”

The teeter-totter since has shifted, and now the defense carries KU in its quest for another bowl.

Back home in Tennessee, Whittemore will be on the lookout for updates wherever he can get them. With Friday night football, no Saturday morning flights from Nashville to Kansas City and the likelihood of no more home night games for KU, Whittemore’s struggling to find an opportunity to see the Jayhawks play.

So instead, he’ll follow from afar, all the while failing to find a reason to give up hope in the offense he used to captain.

He asks KU fans to do the same.

“They’re still upbeat about everything,” Whittemore said. “They’re still battling.”