Inductees
Mark Mangino
In seven years as head football coach at the University of Kansas (KU), 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," and Coach Mangino's four bowl games in a six-year span, represent one-third of KU's bowl appearances.
Prior to Mangino's arrival in Lawrence, KU experienced six consecutive losing seasons. Already, Mangino has compiled 45 wins, the third-highest victory total in school history, and has led KU to more bowl games than any previous Jayhawks coach. His 3-1 bowl-game record gives him the most bowl wins in school history.
His players have been recognized on the field of play and in the classroom, with 73 earning All-Big 12 honors, and 45 being named to the Academic All-Big 12 First Team.
Under Mangino's 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, his 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 honors.
Prior to Mangino's arrival in Lawrence, he was one of the primary architects in re-building programs at the University of Oklahoma (OU, 1999-2001) and Kansas State University (K-State, 1991-98). As assistant head coach and offensive coordinator under Bob Stoops at OU, Mangino and the Sooners' 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 is the recipient of the 2000 Frank Broyles Award, given to the top assistant coach in college football. He earned that honor in the second of his three seasons at OU.
Throughout his career, Mangino has been associated with highly successful football programs, and has been a key ingredient in building that success. 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 the season ranked number-one nationally and beat Florida State in the Orange Bowl to win the national title.
At K-State, Mangino served as recruiting coordinator and running game coordinator. In 1998, he was appointed assistant head coach. The season prior to his arrival in Manhattan, the Wildcats posted a 5-6 record. Over the next eight years, K-State went 71-23-1 with six consecutive nine-plus win seasons and played in six successive bowl games.
During Mangino's 11 seasons on the K-State and OU coaching staffs, the Wildcats and Sooners went a combined 101-30-1 and were ranked in the Top 25 during 8 of those campaigns.
Prior to Mangino's stint at K-State, he 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 (a 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 University, including one under Jim Tressel, the current head coach at Ohio State. Mangino also spent four seasons as an assistant coach at his alma mater, New Castle (Pa.) High School.
Mangino and his wife, Mary Jane, have a daughter, Samantha, a KU graduate, 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, KS. Samantha and David are the parents of Mangino's granddaughter, Gabriella. Coach Mangino and his wife are deeply involved in the community, donating time and resources to a number of organizations.
