Kansas University football coach Mark Mangino is set to pull off his biggest recruiting coup of the winter today when he, offensive line coach Ed Warinner and receivers coach Tyrone Dixon visit running back Gary Green II in San Antonio.

Green, the son of the former Kansas City Chiefs Pro Bowl defensive back, has told everyone — except Mangino — that he’s coming to Kansas.

“I’m excited,” Green said. “I can’t wait for Sunday to come so I can give the word. The only thing in the way now is for my parents to visit with coach Mangino, coach Warinner and coach Dixon when they come Sunday.”

Green already has made up his mind about Mangino and the Jayhawks after making campus visits to Pittsburgh, KU, Wisconsin and UCLA. He said he canceled a Jan. 16 visit to Texas Tech, which had offered him a scholarship along with the aforementioned schools.

“I know what I want to do,” Green said. “I don’t think coach Mangino will come down here and mess it up.”

Green’s father, Gary, an All-American from Baylor who played nine seasons in the NFL, will meet Mangino before his son makes an oral commitment.

“I want to have a chance to meet coach Mangino and make sure everything is exactly like he says it is,” the elder Green said. “We’ll have an opportunity to ask questions and get answers. And if Gary still wants to go to Kansas, that’s what we’re going to do.”

It’s possible, but highly unlikely, that KU’s coaches won’t make a good impression on the four-time Pro Bowler.

Green and Dixon already have met. In fact, they’re best friends.

Gary Green II, right, carries the ball for James Madison High. The San Antonio standout is expected to make an oral commitment to Kansas University today when coach Mark Mangino makes an in-home visit.

“I call him uncle Tyrone,” Gary Green II said of his godfather.

Old friends

Gary Green met Dixon in 1990 when they were both helping Cleveland coach Bud Carson at the Browns training camp.

Dixon, who was an assistant at Akron at the time, made stops at Temple, James Madison University, Houston (twice), Cincinnati and the San Diego Chargers before landing in Lawrence in 2002. But he never lost touch with Green, who now teaches speech and is an assistant football coach and head track coach at James Madison High in San Antonio.

“He’s a great guy,” Green said of Dixon. “He loves me and my son so much that if Kansas wasn’t right for Gary, he would say so.”

It was Warinner who was KU’s lead recruiter for the all-city and all-district running back, and Gary Green II insisted that the well-traveled Dixon wasn’t the deciding factor.

Gary Green II celebrates a touchdown. Green, who is expected to make an oral commitment to KU today, scored 23 rushing touchdowns in 2003 for James Madison High in San Antonio.

“Honestly, it wasn’t,” he said. “It’s a positive, but it wasn’t a big factor. Even though he’s there, there’s no guarantee he’ll be there for a long time.”

Making a choice

If Dixon wasn’t a factor, why would a running back with 4.4 speed in the 40-yard dash and plenty of other options pick Kansas over more established programs?

Green visited four schools in four weeks, starting with Pitt Nov. 28. He was in Lawrence the following week. And after meeting the coaches, hanging out with receiver Charles Gordon — his campus host — and touring the Anderson Strength and Conditioning Center and other facilities, he thought he had found a winner.

But his father, who went through the recruiting process after a standout career at San Antonio’s Sam Houston High in 1973, told his son to make all his visits to the schools he had an interest in before deciding.

The younger Green did — almost. Visits to Wisconsin and UCLA followed in successive weeks, but the travel-weary teen had seen enough. He canceled his trip to Lubbock, Texas.

“If UCLA can’t change my mind, nothing will,” he said.

It was an odd twist that the son’s choice would come down to UCLA and Kansas because the father spent his pro career with Kansas City (1977-83) and the Los Angeles Rams (1984-85).

Unfortunately for the Bruins, the elder Green preferred Kansas City.

“He said it was a good place to visit, but not to live,” Gary Green II said of his father’s advice on L.A. “It was fun out there, but I don’t think it’s the right place for me. Kansas is.”

The father approved of the son’s choice, at least from a geographical standpoint.

“It’s a beautiful part of the country,” he said. “I love the people there.”

The road ahead

Gary Green II also liked Kansas because the Jayhawks’ offense is similar to the system in which he was a three-year starter for James Madison High.

He also liked the fact that Mangino has played freshmen in key roles in the coach’s first two seasons in Lawrence. In fact, running back Clark Green started as a red-shirt freshman two years ago, and true freshman John Randle was Clark Green’s backup in 2003. Gary Green II wasn’t daunted by the prospect of competing for playing time against established players.

“I think I’ll be ready by the time I get there,” Green said. “I want to play as a freshman, and I think I can. I think I’ll have the opportunity. There’s nothing wrong with red-shirting, but I want to have the chance to prove myself before that decision is made. John and Clark will be back, so I’ll have to work for a position. I don’t have a problem with that. I have to trust the KU coaches. They said they think I can make an impact. Hopefully, they won’t steer me wrong. I don’t think uncle Tyrone would do that.”

James Madison head coach Jim Streety — whose team was 8-3 last fall — had no doubts Green had the potential to be a good Division I college player, but he said the 5-foot-9, 170-pounder would have to get stronger to take the pounding of a Big 12 Conference season.

“I think a lot of it will depend on if he gets a little growth and adds weight,” Streety said. “I think as he matures, that’s going to happen because he’s a very hard worker in the weight room. He’s going to add bulk, and that’s really the only question because he has tremendous ability. He has all the tools in terms of speed, quickness and agility.”

Green rushed for 1,767 yards and 21 touchdowns as a junior and also caught 21 passes for 347 yards and a TD. He also returned two kickoffs and one punt for scores.

As a senior, he rushed for 1,721 yards and 23 touchdowns, caught 11 passes for 191 yards and a TD and also scored on a punt return.

Streety said Green’s return totals weren’t spectacular because many teams kicked away from him.

“Coach Mangino and his staff did a great job recruiting,” said recruiting analyst Jon Kirby of rivals.com. “They beat out some great football teams for this guy. He’s a heck of a running back, and he can do so many things.”

Green also played defensive back, where his position coach happened to be a certain former NFL player.

“He shows a lot of leadership,” Streety said. “He’s a team player. He’s as hard a worker as anybody we have, and he’s a good student. If it doesn’t work out for him as a running back, I think everybody knows he’s a good cornerback.”