Mark Mangino

Position: Head Coach Experience: 8th Season Alma Mater: Youngstown State, 1987

In seven years at the University of Kansas, head coach Mark Mangino has taken the Jayhawks to heights never reached before in the program's history. Last season's trip to the Insight Bowl helped the Jayhawks set even more program firsts.

Among a number of accomplishments the 2007 consensus national coach of the year has guided the Jayhawks to:

• Four bowl games in a six-year span (2003-present). That represents one-third of KU's bowl appearances in just six years (eight bowl games in the previous 56 years since KU's first bowl game in 1948).

• Bowl games in consecutive years (2007 and 2008) for the first time in school history.

• Three consecutive bowl victories for the first time in school history.

• Eight wins in consecutive seasons for the first time since 1908 and 1909.

• Twenty wins in a two-year period, the most in consecutive years in school history (won 18 in 2006-07 and 1904-05).

• Six wins in four straight seasons (2005-08) for the first time since 1903-06.

• Combined 33-17 record in the last four years for the most wins in a four-year period.

• Set home attendance average records in each of the last four seasons.

• Returned to the national polls in 2007, the Jayhawks' first ranking since 1996.

• Were ranked in a school-record 19 consecutive Associated Press polls from 2007 through half of 2008.

Mangino did all of this after taking over a program which had not posted a winning record in any of the six seasons prior to his arrival. Already he has become the third-winningest coach in school history with 45 victories, including 33 in the last four years. He has led KU to more bowl games (four) than any previous Jayhawk coach, while his 3-1 bowl-game mark gives him the most bowl wins at the school.

His players have been recognized not only on the field of play with 73 earning All-Big 12 honors, but 45 Jayhawks have been named to the Academic All-Big 12 First Team as well. In 2007 KU had two players earn First Team and one Second Team All-America honors by the Associated Press. After that season, four Jayhawks were drafted by NFL teams.

Under his guidance, KU has produced the top three total offense seasons in school history, the top two passing seasons and two of the top three scoring seasons. Defensively, Mangino's teams have produced the top three rushing defenses in school history. In addition the 2007 team led the nation in turnover margin at plus 1.62 per game.

In 2008 10 Jayhawks were named to All-Big 12 teams, including first-team selection Darrell Stuckey and second-team picks Dezmon Briscoe and James Holt. Twelve players earned Academic All-Big 12 recognition and several players were named to national award watch lists with many named as semifinalists or finalists for those awards.

In 2007, KU was among the national leaders in most statistical categories en route to producing a school-record 12 wins, a share of the Big 12 North Division title and its final highest national ranking since 1968. KU finished the year ranked seventh nationally, after reaching the second spot in the polls late in the season.

With Mangino at the helm in 2007, KU played in a January bowl game for the first time since 1969, posted an 11-game winning streak, defeated a top-five team (No. 5 Virginia Tech) for the first time in 13 seasons and recorded the first one-loss season for KU since 1947.

After that season Mangino was recognized as the consensus national coach of the year, while three Jayhawks earned All-America honors and 14 earned All-Big 12 accolades.

In 2006, he led the Jayhawks to bowl-eligibility for the second-straight year after the team posted a 6-6 overall record -- the first time since 1994-95 that the team was eligible to participate in a bowl contest in back-to-back years.

Kansas ended the regular-season as one of the hottest teams in the Big 12, claiming victories in three of its final four games of the year, including a 39-20 rout of in-state rival Kansas State. KU's three-game win streak over Colorado, Iowa State and Kansas State marked the first time in school history that the Jayhawks had won three consecutive Big 12 contests. Two KU players, Jon Cornish and Aqib Talib, earned All-Big 12 First Team honors following the season. Cornish led the Big 12 with 1,457 rushing yards and averaged a school-record 5.8 yards per carry. Talib led the nation in passes defended with an average of 2.80 break-ups per game and tied for the Big 12 lead with six interceptions.

During the 2005 season, Mangino led the Jayhawks to their first bowl victory since 1995 as the team defeated Houston 42-13 in the Fort Worth Bowl. By appearing in the 2005 bowl game, Mangino became the only coach in KU history to direct his team to a pair of bowl contests in a three-year span.

Mangino's 2005 squad also posted a perfect 6-0 record at KU's Memorial Stadium - the team's first undefeated/untied season at home since 1951. In fact, KU fans backed Mangino and his team like never before. An average of 43,675 fans showed up per game - then an all-time Memorial Stadium record. He also guided the team to its first win over Nebraska since 1968, snapping a 36-game Cornhusker win streak. In addition, Mangino's club won its third consecutive game against border rival Missouri.

He coached the 2005 Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year in senior linebacker Nick Reid, who became the first Kansas player to ever earn the honor. Three of his athletes -- Reid, senior defensive end Charlton Keith and junior all-purpose player Charles Gordon, were each named All-Big 12 First Team following that season.

In 2004, Mangino guided a relatively inexperienced club to a 4-7 record, despite a schedule that included six games against opponents that were ranked among the Top 25 during the 2004 season. Only two NCAA teams played more regular-season games against opponents ranked in the Top 25.

For the first time since the 1989 season, Kansas was victorious against both of its biggest rivals -- Missouri and Kansas State. The Jayhawks snapped K-State's 11-game win-streak in the series by defeating the Wildcats 31-28 on Oct. 9 in Lawrence, and later tamed the Tigers 31-14 on Nov. 9 in Columbia, Mo.

Mangino coached his first All-American at Kansas as sophomore cornerback Charles Gordon was named All-America Third Team by the Associated Press. After recruiting Gordon to Lawrence as a wide receiver, Mangino made the bold move to switch him to the defensive side of the ball where Gordon tied for the NCAA lead with seven interceptions and broke-up a Big 12-best 15 passes.

It was easy for KU fans to see that Mangino's decision to bolster the defense was a wise move. As a team, the Jayhawks recorded 19 interceptions in 2004, the most since the 1987 club had 23. In addition, eight different Jayhawks had at least one interception, and Gordon's seven picks marked the third-best single-season total in school history and the most by one KU player since 1951.

Furthermore, the revamped secondary allowed the Jayhawk rush defense to surrender an average of just 117.6 yards per game on the ground -- the third-best average in school history and the best since 1961.

In 2003, Mangino led the Jayhawks to their first bowl appearance since 1995 when the team was selected to participate in the Mazda Tangerine Bowl. His 2003 team, which finished the season 6-7 overall, collected more victories than any KU squad since the 1995 Jayhawks ended the year with a 10-2 record. Mangino's exciting brand of offense set 12 different single-season school records including most points (384), most first downs (286), most touchdown passes (25) and most yards gained (5,479).

A dynamic recruiter, Mangino has seen two of his signees named Big 12 Offensive Newcomer of the Year during his tenure at KU -- quarterback Bill Whittemore in 2002 and center Joe Vaughn in 2003.

Prior to his arrival in Lawrence, Mangino was one of the primary architects in the rebuilding process at both Oklahoma (1999-2001) and Kansas State (1991-98). As assistant head coach and offensive coordinator under Bob Stoops at OU, Mangino and the Sooner staff took a program that was 5-6 in 1998 and carved out seasons of 7-5 (1999), 13-0 (2000) and 10-2 (2001).

Mangino was the recipient of the 2000 Frank Broyles Award as the top assistant coach in college football in the second of his three seasons as assistant head coach/offensive coordinator and offensive line coach at Oklahoma.

Throughout his career, Mangino has been associated with football programs which have experienced phenomenal success and has been a key ingredient in building that success during that time. He has been in a leadership role with teams that have qualified for bowl games in 12 of the last 15 years, including the 2000 season when the Sooners won the Big 12 Conference championship, finished ranked number one nationally and beat Florida State in the Orange Bowl to win the national title.

During its run to the national championship in 2000, Mangino's Sooner offense ranked seventh nationally in scoring (39.0) and 13th in pass offense (294.7). In addition, OU averaged more than 427 yards per game in total offense for the second consecutive season. Under the influence of Mangino as offensive coordinator, the Sooners ranked second in the conference in pass offense at the conclusion of both the 2000 and 2001 seasons.

During his three years on the Sooner staff, the OU offense scored 31 or more points in 26 of 37 games and produced 40 or more points 14 times. The Sooners averaged 34.1 points per game during those three seasons.

At Kansas State, Mangino served as recruiting coordinator, running game coordinator and, in 1998, was appointed assistant head coach. The season prior to his arrival in Manhattan, the Wildcats posted a 5-6 record. Over the next eight seasons, K-State went 71-23-1 with six consecutive nine-plus win seasons and played in six straight bowl games.

Overall, Kansas State and Oklahoma were a combined 101-30-1 and ranked in the top 25 nationally in eight of 11 seasons during Mangino's involvement on the coaching staffs.

Prior to his stint at Kansas State, Mangino worked one season as head football coach at Ellwood City (Pa.) High School. He spent three seasons (1987-89) as offensive line coach and as offensive coordinator at Geneva (Pa.) College, where he helped that program to its three best seasons (combined 24-9) in modern school history. The 1987 Geneva squad reached the NAIA national semifinals.

Mangino also coached two seasons (1985-86) at Youngstown State, including one under current Ohio State head coach Jim Tressel. He was an assistant coach at his alma mater, New Castle (Pa.) High School, for four seasons.

Mangino and his wife, Mary Jane, have a daughter, Samantha, a graduate of the University of Kansas, and a son, Tommy, who is a graduate assistant with the KU football program. Tommy and his wife Danielle, as well as Samantha and her husband, David Hardy, reside in Lawrence. Samantha and David are the parents of Mangino's granddaughter, Gabriella.

Both Coach Mangino and his wife Mary Jane are very involved in the community donating time and resources to a number of organizations.