Kansas football: Four wins would be a great start to the Les Miles era
Kansas football has a long way to go under head coach Les Miles, but four wins in his first season would be a good start.
At just about any other program in the country, a four-win season would be an utter disappointment, and it should be. Coaches get paid millions of dollars and football programs receive ridiculous amounts of funding, so fans have the right to expect a decent team. But this isn’t just any team, it’s Kansas football.
To put things into perspective, the Jayhawks won 33 games between 2005 and 2008. Including the three wins this season, the Jayhawks have won a total of 21 games since 2008, that’s an average of fewer than two wins per season over the last 11 years.
To say the standards are low for Kansas football would be an understatement. Winning six games would be a groundbreaking accomplishment for the program that hasn’t seen more than three wins in a season since 2008. That’s why getting just four wins this year would be so big for Les Miles.
In just his first season on the job, Les Miles could not only lead the Jayhawks to their most wins in a decade but also build a foundation for the future. He’s already made one move that has and will pay dividends, and that’s promoting offensive coordinator Brent Dearmon.
Dearmon must be in the Kansas football program’s future, he’s got a great track record and his promotion has already brought success on the field.
Getting that fourth win of the season isn’t going to be easy though. The Jayhawks travel to Oklahoma State and Iowa State before coming back to Lawrence and finishing the season off against Baylor at David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium. The Cowboys and Bears are both ranked, and the Cyclones are no slouch either with elite quarterback Brock Purdy.
The Jayhawks will be heavy underdogs in all three games, but that’s nothing new as Kansas hasn’t been favored a single time this season against Big 12 opponents.
At the very least, even if Kansas loses out, the Jayhawks still had a decent year that they can build on. Dearmon will be back next year with a full offseason to work with the offense. Kansas football also has a good recruiting group coming in. The class is ranked number 31 in the nation by Rivals, but that number will probably fluctuate quite a bit.
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These last three games will say a lot about this team and its direction, win or lose. It’s a tired phrase, but it still fits: The Jayhawks have Miles to go, but one win out of these last three games would be a big boost for Kansas football fans and the program itself. It may only result in a four-win season, but that’s good enough for the Jayhawks (for now).