Assistant to leave for Miami

D-coordinator Young takes on 'new challenge'

No point in sugar-coating it: The Kansas University football program suffered a monumental loss when defensive coordinator Bill Young decided to accept a job offer for the same position at the University of Miami, pending completion of formalities.

Faster and bigger defenses throughout the nation didn’t perform nearly as well as KU’s did under the guidance of Young, too humble to embrace “genius” and “guru” labels that usually get pinned on coordinators as successful as Young.

The defense must replace not only James McClinton and Aqib Talib, it must replace Young – its brain and its leader. Mark Mangino’s most important recruiting job of the offseason will involve landing an assistant coach who can approach bringing as much to the defense as did Young.

– Tom Keegan

With a blanket of snow covering Lawrence on Thursday, Kansas University defensive coordinator Bill Young was dreaming of the sunshine.

“I like palm trees and beaches,” Young said.

He’ll get his share now.

Young confirmed to the Journal-World on Wednesday afternoon that he is in line to become the new defensive coordinator at Miami. The deal is not done, as an official announcement is awaiting the processing of paperwork and may take a few days.

But Young’s successful six-year tenure as defensive coordinator of the Jayhawks, which saw KU’s defense soar to unprecedented heights, is all but over now.

Once the deal is official, Young will be in sunny South Florida, taking over a once-proud Miami defense that’s fallen on hard times.

“It’s a new challenge,” Young said. “Sometimes as a coach, you need that.”

Young knows challenges. He was hired by coach Mark Mangino at Kansas in 2002 and given a cupboard that was pretty much bare. After two rough seasons defensively, the Jayhawks became respectable 2004 and dangerous in 2005.

The ’05 team ranked third in Division I-A in rush defense, a big reason the Jayhawks went 7-5 and won the Fort Worth Bowl over Houston.

Injuries decimated KU’s defense in 2006, but it was better than ever in ’07. Kansas ranked eighth nationally in run defense, ninth in pass defense and fourth in scoring defense, allowing just 16.4 points per game.

The defense was overshadowed by KU’s exciting offense, but it made the final statement of a magical 12-1 season. In a 24-21 victory over Virginia Tech in the Orange Bowl earlier this month – coincidentally in Miami – KU’s defense led the way with timely playmaking that stopped any Virginia Tech rally.

Young stressed that he’s leaving a great job at Kansas.

“It was a wonderful time,” Young said. “It’s been a great six years.”

Young, 61, has coached football for 39 years, making stops at many of the best college programs in the nation. He’s been defensive coordinator at Ohio State, Oklahoma and Southern California, and was coaching the defensive line of the NFL’s Detroit Lions before joining Mangino’s first staff in 2002.

Now he’s in line to join a Miami program that has five national championships, the latest in 2001.

The Hurricanes, under first-year coach Randy Shannon, finished 5-7 in 2007 and struggled defensively at times. They gave up 40-plus points in blowout losses to Oklahoma, Virginia and Virginia Tech.

Miami lost its last four games of the season, and defensive coordinator Tim Walton was let go after the disappointing conclusion. He eventually landed at Memphis.

It now appears that Shannon has Walton’s replacement, barring an unforeseen roadblock while the i’s are dotted and the t’s are crossed in the next few days.

It’s a challenge Young said he’s excited about.

“It’s a great opportunity,” Young said, “to coach a program that has won several national titles.”