Kansas University was seeking a new head football coach after the athletic board and Jack Mitchell reached an agreement on the settlement of a 10-year-contract that had been due to expire on June 30, 1971. Mitchell was to be paid $14,000 a year through 1970, for a total of $56,000. He would also be paid through June 30, 1967, at his current $20,300-a-year salary. Mitchell said he was departing due to differences with athletic director Wade Stinson and Chancellor Clarke Wescoe.