Kansas football: Who would you rather? Head coach edition

For the next three weeks, we will be producing a “who would you rather?” segment on every Wednesday  and will focus on Kansas football.

This series will begin with past Kansas football head coaches. The primary goal will be to identify who you would rather hire, fire, or designate as a future interim option.

Obviously, this will be intended to create discussion and debate in reference to the benefits and downfalls of each coach within the history of the Kansas football program. With this initial installment, we will keep it more recent in an effort to make it easier for our younger readers.

To begin this article, we will start with the most recent, and current, head coach of the Jayhawks football program.

David Beaty (HC 2015-Present)

Beaty’s record to date with Kansas is 4-34 and coming off of a victory against Central Michigan, his status in most fans eyes may be as high as it has been in three years.

His offensive style is primarily an air-raid, spread system and focuses a lot on quick passes getting offensive specialists in open space. While this scheme has proven to be very productive in college football, Beaty’s rendition has been lacking in the first three seasons under his tutorship. An underwhelming group of quarterbacks and offensive lineman have largely depleted what this offense was meant to be.

Mark Mangino (HC 2002-09)

Mangino’s tenure with Kansas is largely remembered in a positive light by fans. He was the most successful head coach for the Jayhawks in decades and had recruited plenty of talent that would go on to test the NFL waters.

His coaching style, much like Beaty’s, called for a quick passing game and an open concept. Mangino’s ability to recruit and find players to fit his system was a large perk to his success. The talent on the roster could be shifted, at times, to positions that better matched their skill-set to a slot within the scheme. The most memorable position switch would be when Kerry Meier would transition to wide receiver from the quarterback position, opening a spot for fan-favorite Todd Reesing to take over at the helm and lead the team to two Bowl appearances.

The end of the Mangino Era came swiftly following allegations from former Kansas players that the coach was violent and overly aggressive towards his players. In December of 2009, the school reached an agreement on a buyout with Mangino, who would then announce his resignation.

Mangino’s tenure with Kansas concluded with a 50-48 record.

Glen Mason (HC 1988-96)

This one may be slightly harder for the younger crowd to relate to, but he’s certainly a better option than Charlie Weis for this exercise, so we’ll just go with it here.

Mason, most recently the head coach for Minnesota until 2006, began his Kansas career with a measly eight wins in his first three seasons, but rebounded and ended with a record of 47-54-1 as a Jayhawk.

His coaching style was fairly balanced as a head coach, having been both a defensive and offensive assistant at previous landing spots. During his tenure, Mason took Kansas to two Aloha Bowl appearances and won both contests.

Alright KU fans, who would you rather hire, fire, and place in the wings for an interim option? Respond in the comment section or on social media!

As always, Rock Chalk Jayhawk!