Through the Phog
Fansided

The impact of Kansas football OC Brent Dearmon’s departure

By Dillon Davis

LUBBOCK, TEXAS - DECEMBER 05: Head coach Les Miles of the Kansas Jayhawks looks on during the first half of the college football game against the Texas Tech Red Raiders at Jones AT&T Stadium on December 05, 2020 in Lubbock, Texas. (Photo by John E. Moore III/Getty Images)
LUBBOCK, TEXAS - DECEMBER 05: Head coach Les Miles of the Kansas Jayhawks looks on during the first half of the college football game against the Texas Tech Red Raiders at Jones AT&T Stadium on December 05, 2020 in Lubbock, Texas. (Photo by John E. Moore III/Getty Images) /
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Kansas football announced last week of offensive coordinator Brent Dearmon leaving the program came as a surprise, to say the least.

After two seasons with the Jayhawks, Dearmon is leaving to take the offensive coordinator position at Middle Tennessee State. Les Miles made a statement wishing him well and cited the move was for family reasons.

On the surface, this looks bad for Kansas for a couple of reasons.
First, Middle Tennessee State is in Conference USA. The fact that Dearmon took a lateral job – regardless of the reason – at a school in a much weaker conference than the Big 12 has certainly raised some eyebrows.

If he had left for a head coaching job that would be a different story, but he took the same job at a much smaller school and is likely being paid a lot less money to do so.

If the assumption is that Dearmon would like to one day be a head coach, like most college coaches do, does being the offensive coordinator at Middle Tennessee State help make that dream more of a reality than being the offensive coordinator at Kansas?

The thought by some, whether it is right or wrong, is that Dearmon saw Middle Tennessee State as a more attractive job and therefore that reflects poorly on Kansas. Though I’m not sure how their perception could get much worse considering they finished this past season winless.

The other reason why this looks bad on the outside looking in is that Les Miles will now be hiring his fourth offensive coordinator in just his third year as the head coach of the Jayhawks.

Miles’ initial hire, Chip Lindsey, took the head coaching job at Troy before even calling a play at Kansas. Les Koenning was fired less than three months into the 2019 season and that is when Dearmon took over. Now in less than two full years as offensive coordinator, Dearmon is gone too.

Two of the three departures were not Miles’ fault, but the fact that he is needing to hire his fourth man at the position comes off as though he can’t hire or retain coaching talent in Lawrence.

Dearmon leaving also puts the future progression of this Kansas offense in limbo.

The Kansas offense was horrid last year under Dearmon, ranking almost dead last in the FBS in points per game. However, the offensive line and quarterback situation were a big part of the problem.

Where Dearmon’s departure hurts the Jayhawks is the development of Jalon Daniels and the other young offensive players on the roster.

This coming spring and summer would have given Dearmon more time to fully implement his offense, unlike last year where that offseason development was cut short due to COVID-19. Fans were looking forward to progress from Daniels and this young group, but now that is in question with them having to learn a new system under a new offensive coordinator.

Dearmon’s departure has also been felt early on the recruiting trail.

Two of Kansas’ 2022 verbal commitments have already de-committed since the announcement. Three-star offensive lineman Brock Burns and three-star quarterback Austin Myers both announced they would be opening their recruitments.

Coach Miles has a big hire to make as he hopes to get things turned around heading into a critical third year as head coach. Look for that opening to be filled sometime this week.

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