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View Full Version : Weight issues are root of Mangino's problems



KCL
11-18-2009, 12:39 PM
He is a big guy..I always wondered how the hell he could take standing during a game.


By JASON WHITLOCK
The Kansas City Star

http://www.kansascity.com/182/story/1577294.html

It’s the weight. That’s why Mark Mangino’s job is in jeopardy. That’s why Lew Perkins held a paper-trail meeting with Kansas football players Monday night.

If this is the end for Mark Mangino’s head-coaching career at Kansas — and it should be — his inability to deal with his weight problem is the cause.

This column is not an attempt to shame, embarrass or ridicule Mangino. As you know, I’m overweight. I’m a shade over 6 feet tall and this morning, I weighed 325 pounds. (Oh, that hurt to write.) I’ve been heavier. Much.

I can relate to Mangino’s struggle. He’s three or four inches shorter than me, and he weighs anywhere from 450 to 500 pounds. He’s a public figure in a demanding, high-stress job.

The weight and the stress form a perfect recipe for depression. They can put your mind in a very negative place. They can make you moody and volatile.

Football is a violent game, oftentimes coached by grown men who strain to control their emotions. For every Bill Snyder, there are a handful of Mike Stoops, especially among assistants.

We’ve known since his arrival at Kansas that Mangino labors to contain his temper. He berated refs at his son’s high school football game. We’ve watched him verbally undress his players on the sideline. We’ve seen assistant coaches bolt the program and heard the behind-the-scenes stories about the abuse they endured from their head coach.

In more than seven years of covering Mangino’s Jayhawks, I’ve never heard anyone associated with the program describe him as “happy.”

Mangino coaches from an angry place. It’s not surprising, to me, given his weight problem.


You might be inclined to dismiss the alleged complaints of a few current and former Jayhawks who grumble that Mangino is physically and verbally abusive to his players. You might think it’s no big deal that a coach yells, cusses and puts his hands on his players.

It’s not that big a deal when the coach loves his players as hard as he pushes them. That’s what’s missing in the Mangino equation. Where’s the love?

Beyond X’s and O’s, good coaching is a transference of energy. It takes a massive amount of energy to impact 100 boys on a college campus. At his age (53) and weight, Mangino cannot sustain the necessary energy level to positively influence his players. His team is being engulfed by his negative energy, a dark spirit driven by his excess weight.

The signs of this can be seen on and off the field.

A loss to Texas on Saturday will be KU’s sixth straight. And the promised “historic” season has turned into a nightmare primarily because Mangino’s prized offense lost its swagger.

Part of the rift between the football and basketball players was a byproduct of Mangino’s players mirroring their coach’s mentality about the basketball program. Despite a $2 million-a-year contract and a $33 million football facility, Mangino has always felt undervalued and unappreciated at Kansas.

Relieving Mangino of his coaching responsibilities at this moment would be the humane thing to do for his health and a blessing for his career.

Two years ago, Mangino peaked, carrying the Jayhawks to 12-1, an Orange Bowl victory and a top-10 ranking. He didn’t get one job offer. It was the weight.

If he spent two years away from football addressing his weight problem, applied for a job at 270 pounds, he would be a can’t-miss BCS candidate. Heck, he would be a terrific choice to coach in the NFL.

Every problem he experienced at Kansas could be blamed on his weight.

I’d love for Mangino and Perkins to reach an amicable, fair settlement. It would not be good for Mangino or Kansas for Mangino to return next year. He can’t recruit this offseason with everyone knowing he’s in a likely one-and-done situation.

“I may have lost some people around here, but it’s not the players,” Mangino said Tuesday.

Mangino asked the media to interpret that comment. It sounds like an admission that he doesn’t have the support of his administration. KU has a new AD and chancellor since Mangino arrived. In many respects, Mangino’s demise at KU is/was inevitable.

He’s working for an athletics director (Perkins) who has personal, intimate knowledge of how weight affects job performance. Perkins once weighed more than 400 pounds. It’s unfortunate that Mangino did not turn Perkins into his strongest ally when it came to battling weight.

We know Perkins is a formidable foe.

NightTrainLayne
11-18-2009, 12:56 PM
He has recruiting trouble too.

Last year he was having trouble locating a Kansas City recruit's house, and had to stop and ask for directions to I-435. When he asked the gas station attendent, "How do I get to 435?" the attendant could only answer. ...


















"Eat more salad."

slim
11-18-2009, 01:39 PM
He's not fat, he's just big-boned.

KyleOrtonArmySoldier#128
11-18-2009, 01:43 PM
Cowherd was talking about this all day. It's sad because I really liked that guy and Todd Reesing as well. I think Todd will be a very high draft pick.

CoachChaz
11-18-2009, 02:00 PM
He's not fat, he's just big-boned.

Those must be Tyrannosaurus bones he has in his ass

OrangeHoof
11-18-2009, 04:53 PM
I don't agree that weight is the cause of his anger. How often have you seen obese people discribed as "pleasant" or even "jolly"? I think Whitlock is confusing two issues. Bobby Knight had anger problems and he wasn't overweight until lately. Rick Majerus had weight problems but was not known as particularly mean or angry. Frank Layden doubled as coach and comedian with a huge weight problem.

Yes Mangino (or "Jabba The Hut Hut" as I call him) is a walking advertisement for physical unfitness and it must be really hard to tell a kid "we need you to play 10 pounds lighter" when he's walking around looking like that. Most ADs throughout the country probably turned him down because they don't want to see him croak face-first on the field like umpire John McSherry did back in the '90s. I know if I were his boss that would be my greatest fear.

But I think Whitlock is off-base to say the weight is what makes him angry. In fact, overeating can be a form of frustration release. I agree that he needs to focus on getting his weight under control (but so does Whitlock at 325) and if that means time away from football, so be it. However, obesity and happiness are not mutually exclusive and I think most of you know people where this is true. Treating the anger is a 100% different topic.

GEM
11-18-2009, 05:02 PM
Oh my goodness...he raised a voice and pointed his finger into one of his player's chests. God forbid. :rolleyes:

Overtime
11-18-2009, 07:17 PM
I really don't know what to think about all this. If Kansas fires him (which it is widely speculated that they will) who do you bring in to replace him that can get this program on the track it was on 2 years ago when it went 12-1 and won the Orange Bowl?

I'd rather not go back to 4 and 5 win seasons on a continual basis.


Cowherd was talking about this all day. It's sad because I really liked that guy and Todd Reesing as well. I think Todd will be a very high draft pick.

I see Todd Reesing as a mid 2nd high 3rd round pick, but he's going to need a lot of work if he makes it into the pro's. He's got tunnel vision pretty badly, and stares down receivers, good strong arm, decent accuracy, he might fit into a pro-style offense somewhere.


Oh my goodness...he raised a voice and pointed his finger into one of his player's chests. God forbid. :rolleyes:

as Dan Hawkins would say "It's Division 1 Football!" :lol:

buy ya, some of the players are a bunch of pansy candy asses, which explains why we're 5-5 and about to be 5-6 after Texas gets through sticking their cleats so far up our asses Saturday that the laces come out our nostrils.

Suck it up and drive on and quit yer damn crying or get the hell off the team and go play for Hawaii.

Slick
11-18-2009, 09:10 PM
I am surprised he hasn't stroked out on the sidelines already.

BroncoAV06
11-20-2009, 08:27 PM
He'll send you back to your hood to be shot by your homies! Dawg.

MOtorboat
11-21-2009, 12:55 AM
I see Todd Reesing as a mid 2nd high 3rd round pick, but he's going to need a lot of work if he makes it into the pro's. He's got tunnel vision pretty badly, and stares down receivers, good strong arm, decent accuracy, he might fit into a pro-style offense somewhere.

LMAO!

That, right there, is just priceless.

A second or third rounder?

Most draft services don't even see him getting drafted. That's just hilarious.

MOtorboat
11-21-2009, 12:58 AM
Mangino is being investigated for HITTING players, not putting a finger in their chest. There is a difference.

He's also being investigated internally for conduct detrimental to the organization, stemming from 22 parking violations and him basically pulling the "do you know who I am" card with campus police.

However, it has nothing to do with his weight. It has to do with him, and his attitude. Whitlock is a moron.

Nomad
11-21-2009, 07:28 AM
Just think of what the media would be like during the Bear Byrant days at Texas A&M......the coach was the definition of a hardass!! My HC coach use to grab us by the facemask and throw us to the ground, punch us in the helmet. Today's age is soft!!

Whitlock may want to think about getting into a PT regime before calling out another!!

OrangeHoof
11-21-2009, 01:23 PM
Parking violations? What does Mangino need to park in - a loading dock?

MOtorboat
11-21-2009, 01:47 PM
Parking violations? What does Mangino need to park in - a loading dock?

Apparently.

He apparently felt the need to park in a specific spot even though he wasn't supposed to, and then yelled and screamed at the head of campus security in the parking lot one day. An internal investigation into this incident and his parking violations has stemmed the media fervor here in KC.

Most KU fans don't even know football is still playing, they are all focused on basketball already.

Devilspawn
11-21-2009, 01:54 PM
He's Bobby Knight, if Knight ate Rosie O'Donnell.

(this never gets old) He's got more chins than a Chinese phonebook.

Even his chins have chins.

He's got more crack than Harlem.

He needs a boomerang to put his belt on. yadada yadada POW!

The last time he saw a breast was in a bucket of KFC. Extra crispay!

Now we know what's eating Gilbert Grape.

Everytime he puts on a red shirt all the kids go "HEY KOOLAID!"

Thank you, Dave Chappelle. :D

OrangeHoof
11-21-2009, 02:23 PM
I have this vision of Mangino needing a forklift to get him onto the field.

KCL
11-21-2009, 02:27 PM
Mangino is being investigated for HITTING players, not putting a finger in their chest. There is a difference.

He's also being investigated internally for conduct detrimental to the organization, stemming from 22 parking violations and him basically pulling the "do you know who I am" card with campus police.

However, it has nothing to do with his weight. It has to do with him, and his attitude. Whitlock is a moron.

I agree with you on Whitlock..as far as him hitting players (if it's true) something should be done about that...if an NFL coach hit a player he'd be fined,suspended or hit back or all three.

OrangeHoof
11-21-2009, 04:04 PM
I agree with you on Whitlock..as far as him hitting players (if it's true) something should be done about that...if an NFL coach hit a player he'd be fined,suspended or hit back or all three.

Of course, hitting and threatening assistant coaches in the NFL is just fine however. :rolleyes:

KCL
11-21-2009, 06:05 PM
Of course, hitting and threatening assistant coaches in the NFL is just fine however. :rolleyes:

Is that we're talking about here? I don't think anyone thinks that's ok
either.