Barfknecht: KU feels impact of coach

The Kansas football team has taken a quick liking to the gospel of life espoused by first-year coach Turner Gill.

“I love him,” Jayhawk senior offensive tackle Brad Thorson said. “He's truly a mentor to me in what I want to become as a man. He's unbelievable.”

Gill's belief in the power of positive thinking and his impact on the lives of those around him are no surprise to Nebraska fans, who remember him first as a star quarterback in the early 1980s and then as a Husker assistant coach.

Yet for KU players who spent time under former coach Mark Mangino — ousted after last season as much as anything for being an ill-tempered bully — the culture change has been dizzying.

“It's a little different,” Thorson said, grinning as his understatement sunk in. “But we take to change pretty quickly around here. The person Coach Gill is, everyone wants to emulate him. So it comes easily.”

Gill's positive nature has been tested ahead of Saturday's opener against North Dakota State.

Jeff Spikes, a two-year starter on the offensive line, suffered a season-ending injury during the summer. Huldon Tharp, a starting linebacker, and Rell Lewis, the No. 2 tailback, are out for the season with leg injuries suffered in fall camp. Four others in line for playing time were dismissed for academic or disciplinary reasons.

Yet Gill carries on with his chin up.

“Coach Gill is positive the whole day through,” Thorson said. “He has unbelievable energy, and it rubs off on us.''

This is an athletic department that needs all of the good feelings it can get after the 2009-10 season.

First, there was an on-campus altercation between the football team and the men's basketball team. Then the football team, after a 5-0 start and a No. 17 national ranking, lost its final seven games and Mangino lost his job.

Up next was a ticketing scandal that led to multiple athletic department firings and major national embarrassment.

“This had to be like the worst year in Kansas ever,” KU senior cornerback Chris Harris said. “We're ready to start the season and get the past season out of the way.”

Providing extra motivation, Harris said, is the way several games got away a year ago.

“It was so tough because we felt like we were so close to winning so many games,” he said. “It would have been different if we were getting blown out every game.

“Against Nebraska, we were right there and we messed up. And Kansas State, too. Those games hurt the most. I've never been a part of losing seven games in a row. I'm just ready to get a win.”

That should come Saturday. But in the following two games — Georgia Tech at home and at Southern Mississippi — the Jayhawks likely will be underdogs.

Not a problem, Harris said, with Gill in charge.

“It's cool knowing you have a coach who has been in our shoes and played in big games,” he said. “Our coach knows how to win.

“He told me I need to lead. He has put a lot of stuff on my back already. He's had a big influence on me. He's more of a teacher-type person. Coach Mangino was more ‘I'll tell you once and you've got to figure it out.'”

Kansas' chances to reach a bowl game in Gill's first season look more negative than positive.

Along with the seven season-ending injuries and dismissals, KU lost three of the most dynamic offensive players in school history with the departures of quarterback Todd Reesing and receivers Dezmon Briscoe and Kerry Meier.

The new quarterback, sophomore Kale Pick, has a grand total of five college pass attempts and 14 rushes.

In a cold-blooded analysis, it's hard to project KU better than 5-7.

But my sense is that the warm-blooded side of all who are acquainted with Gill will root for his style of management and leadership to prosper.

Read the next quote, and it appears the foundation has been laid.

“He actually calls us his sons,” Thorson said, almost gasping. “And when he says it, he means it. That's powerful stuff. We're willing to go lay it on the line for him.”

Contact the writer:

444-1024, lee.barfknecht@owh.com

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