In 2007, the University of Kansas shocked the college football world by running the table and going 11-0 and meeting another surprise team in the Big 12 Championship, the University of Missouri. The game unfortunately went Missouri's way, but weeks later, Kansas bounced back and defeated Virginia Tech in the FedEx Orange Bowl. One player from that team was Aqib Talib, multiple time Pro Bowler and Super Bowl champion with the Denver Broncos. This entertaining core of players was led by a fiery coach named Mark Mangino. Mangino would use his in-your-face intensity to motivate his players to a stunning 2007 season and received several national coach of the year honors in the process. During his eight seasons at Kansas, Mangino led the Jayhawks to five bowls. Before he was hired, Kansas was bowl eligible five times in the last 30 seasons. Many thought that the days of the Jayhawk football team being college football's laughingstock were through.

Unfortunately, two years after this monumental season, Mangino resigned after allegations of mistreatment and insensitive remarks to his players. This is where the University of Kansas went back to being the laughingstock of college football, but also the graveyard of coaching tenures and in some cases, careers.

TURNER GILL (5-19 OVERALL, 1-16 CONF.)

At Nebraska, before there was Tommie Frazier, Scott Frost and Eric Crouch, there was Turner Gill. Gill was the Cornhuskers' celebrated quarterback from 1980-1983, going 28-2 as starter and 20-0 in conference play. After stops at SMU and North Texas to start his coaching career, Gill would return to Nebraska and spend 12 seasons as an assistant. In fact, he coached Frazier and Crouch as the quarterback coach. After a season with the Green Bay Packers, Gill received his first head coaching opportunity at the University of Buffalo. Gill entered the program considered one of the worst in the nation. In his four seasons at Buffalo, Gill's record wasn't stellar (20-30, 14-18 in conf.), but he was considered a top coaching prospect for more established programs. Despite being passed over by Syracuse and Auburn, which upset alum Charles Barkley, Gill signed a contract to replace Mangino as Jayhawks head coach. Shockingly, after his second season in Lawrence, Gill was fired. I realize that he had a miserable record during that time, but two years is not enough time to turn a program around. Gill would become the head coach of Liberty in 2012, lasting till 2018 to tend to his wife's health. Early this year, he became the Exe. Director of Student-Athlete and Staff Development at the University of Arkansas.

CHARLIE WEIS (6-22, 1-18 Conf.)

I will start with Weis after Super Bowl XXXIX where the Patriots defeated the Eagles 24-21. After the game, Weis, the offensive coordinator and Romeo Crennel, the defensive coordinator of the Pats accepted head coaching positions elsewhere. Crennel went to the Browns while Weis headed to college football's "holy grail", the University of Notre Dame. Weis's tenure with the Irish started out great as the Irish went 19-4 with consecutive BCS berths in his first two seasons. In his last three seasons, he went 15-21. At Notre Dame, this is considered unacceptable as the program fired Weis. The program paid him $19 million of remaining money in his contract just for him to go away. After two years as offensive coordinator for the Kansas City Chiefs and the University of Florida, respectively, Weis was named the head coach at Kansas, succeeding Gill in 2011. His first two seasons were terrible, but the second season showed a little bit of improvement. His only conference victory was an upset victory over West Virginia that season. Just four games into his third season, Weis was fired by Kansas. He was paid $7 million to go away. Wow, $26 million by two schools just to leave. Not a bad chunk of change.

CLINT BOWEN (1-7 Overall and Conf.)

Bowen was the interim who replaced Weis and he didn't fare much better. Here is interesting about him. He is from Lawrence and expect for the years 1997, 2010 and 2011, Bowen has been on the Jayhawk staff at some capacity.

DAVID BEATY (6-42, 2-34 Conf.)

To be honest, I didn't know who David Beaty was before doing this. Beaty was an assistant coach for Texas A&M before becoming the head coach succeeding Weis. The Jayhawks went winless in his first season and won two games in his second. Yet that didn't stop the school from handing him an extension after his second season, despite winning only two games so far. This was more head-scratching than the Turner Gill firing. He would last two more seasons, before the administration decided not to bring him back for a fifth season. Beaty now works on the Texas Longhorns staff.

As you can see, Kansas has hired a rising prospect, a retread, and an unknown assistant to try to turn the fortunes around at Kansas and all, so far, have fell flat. Now they have a coach with a championship pedigree in Les Miles. The Jayhawks hope Miles could be the savior that can help Kansas become a winner in college football......or will he be just another victim?

(References: Wikipedia, SB Nation, College Football Reference, Kansas Football, SI, ESPN, The Kansas City Star)

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