Mangino speaks out on returning to coaching

Posted by Matt Tait October 20, 2011 at 2:21 p.m.

http://www2.kusports.com/photos/2007/nov/24/136315/

Congrats to Bill Reiter, of FOXSports.com, who landed the much-coveted interview with former KU coach Mark Mangino this week.

Mangino, out of coaching since being forced to resign at Kansas following the 2009 season, has been quiet about all things coaching since leaving Lawrence and moving to Florida with his wife.

Although the former KU leader has been spotted on various sidelines in friendship and consulting roles during the past couple of seasons, he's said nothing publicly about his desire to return until today.

In Reiter's column, which can be found here, Mangino talks about how much he misses coaching and how he's ready to get back in the game.

For those who know the man, this is hardly a surprise. If anything, the fact that he was able to stay away for so long is the surprise.

Although he defends the way he ran the KU program — and let's not forget that the guy was in charge during some of KU's most successful years — Mangino says he learned some things from how it all went down and vows that there are things he would do differently. Admirable, no doubt, but also necessary. No athletic director in the country would hire Mangino without hearing those words.

That brings us to Reiter's most interesting point, one that surely will draw mixed reviews from KU fans.

Although Turner Gill is only in his second year at Kansas, Reiter says it's time for the Jayhawks to bring Mangino back.

What's more, he says it's time for KU to do it before K-State does.

It's a good read, with some great comments from the former KU coach. Where it goes from here is anyone's guess.