It’s fourth and short, and the kicker’s leg is warm and ready to boot the 40-something field goal. But the coach waves off the special teams and puts it in the hands of his quarterback, who hands it off to the fullback, who gets stopped short of the first down.

The fans in the stands turn to each other. The father of 2.2 children talks to his television. The message boards light up with fresh material. They all utter the same refrain that has become so popular into today’s society that demands instant gratification.

“Fire the coach!”

The team recovers from the failed first-down attempt and wins the game, but a week later, a breakdown in coverage results in an easy touchdown and a seven-point deficit.

“Fire the coach!”

And so it goes in football stadiums across America.

Except here. Nobody is allowed to say, “Fire the coach!” anymore with any credibility. Mark Mangino won’t have to spend the $50,000 bonus he earned Wednesday to fire-proof his ears. The Associated Press, choosing from a field of 119 Division 1-A football coaches, named Mangino its Coach of the Year for 2007.

And get this: Mangino actually is spending the days leading up to the Orange Bowl, played Jan. 3 in Miami, preparing his team for the game. That’s not a given anymore. The proliferation of bowl games means a coach’s job isn’t necessarily safe just because his team has made it to one of them. The one-sided nature of coaches’ contracts means many of them desert their teams for another job, thus diluting the importance of bowl games everywhere.

If the coach isn’t getting fired by his school, it seems, he’s looking to fire his school to fatten his wallet and his ego.

And then there is Mangino, saw in hand, contract secure, eyes trained on the same goal as those of Virginia Tech coach Frank Beamer, winning the Orange Bowl.

This is Beamer’s 21st year as coach of the Hokies. He found a school where he fits and has grown the program into a national force with staying power.

Mangino seems far more likely to follow that path than to play the coaching gypsy. His family has deep Kansas ties, and that can’t ever be overlooked. He keeps things pretty simple: work and family.

Sure, the Penn State job would seem to have a romantic appeal to Mangino. He’s from western Pennsylvania, and his late father played football there, even played for Joe Paterno on the freshman team.

The line of suitors will be long for that job, when it opens, and might even have Rutgers’ Greg Schiano standing in it.

And then there is the matter of when that job will open. Paterno has 371 career victories, and Florida State’s Bobby Bowden has 373. They both appear determined to stay on the job for one more year after the other guy retires. By the time that duel ends, Mangino already will have established himself as the most high-profile football coach in Kansas history.

Mangino was the perfect guy at the perfect time to build a Kansas football program from the ashes. There will be more bumps in the road for him at KU, starting with next year’s much tougher schedule.

Just remember, when his team has a bad day, the three-word refrain no longer is an option. No more, “Fire the coach!”