Mangino: KU can make run in North

Gordon, Jayhawks' impact senior class must 'step up' in 2005

The most-asked question of the summer was fired at Kansas University football coach Mark Mangino a thousand different ways.

Mangino was prepared to answer it, eventually.

“A lot of people have asked me about the Big 12 North,” Mangino said. “I think everyone is getting better in the North, but why shouldn’t we throw our hat in the ring and compete? I think there’s no reason why we can’t make a run at it.”

Mangino bubbles with optimism most of the time, but his rhetorical question is valid. With no team emerging in the North last season, and none seeing its situation improve drastically in the offseason, no team can be counted out in the race, KU included.

Some pundits disagree, many picking KU last in the weak division. One national columnist said Kansas was the only school with no shot at winning the North.

One thing is certain: It’s an intriguing season for Kansas and the Mark Mangino era. Columnists have wondered whether the fourth-year coach was on the hot seat. With an impact senior class, Mangino realizes it’s time to turn progress into victories, though he avoids rigid expectations.

“You can’t really say that something will make you or break you,” Mangino said. “If you get into that, you’re setting your program up for failure.”

Mangino definitely has Kansas going in the right direction. But the 2005 Jayhawks have question marks, ranging from offensive efficiency to depth to their ability to survive the toughest conference schedule in the Big 12 North.

“It’s our turn to step up,” junior Charles Gordon said. “We have to come together as an offense, defense and special teams to show people how good we are.”

And yet, so much of the success hinges on the strategy of where to play Gordon, an electric playmaker who is the team’s best cornerback, best punt returner and possibly the best wide receiver as well.

Gordon seems to keep the balance so heavy on his side. He primarily played offense in 2003, and it flourished. He was a full-time cornerback on KU’s 2004 defense, and it flourished.

It’s odd, really, that such a jack-of-all-trades can cause a headache for a coaching staff trying to figure out how to utilize him.

“Every once in awhile, you run into one of those gems,” Mangino said. “You recruit a gem that you knew had talent but you weren’t so sure how talented he really would be.”

Gordon, it appears, primarily will play cornerback again, after leading the nation with seven interceptions last season. His picks helped Kansas muster 27 takeaways in 11 games, tops in the Big 12 Conference.

But last year’s problems bled through with turnover margin. The No. 1 defense in the conference in terms of takeaways was answered by the seventh-best offense in giveaways with 23.

That made KU a middle-of-the-road team in turnover margin – and Mangino understands it needs to be addressed if KU wants to prove the critics wrong and make a run at the North.

“The defensive unit needs to continue to get takeaways,” Mangino said. “If you’re getting takeaways and your offense takes care of the ball, you have a chance of being a pretty good football team.”