Venables back in the KU coaching derby
Published: 11/28/2011 8:23 AM
Last Modified: 11/28/2011 8:23 AM
It's Bedlam week. So, naturally, we begin with the one thing that can overshadow OU vs. OSU for the Big 12 championship – coaching possibilities.
Specifically, Brent Venables possibilities. Brent Venables-to-Kansas possibilities.
Bob Stoops' faithful lieutenant has to leave the nest one of these years, doesn't he? Will it be this one? Will he take over the Jayhawks now that Turner Gill is gone? Recall that Venables' name came up there in 2009 before then-KU AD Lew Perkins hired Gill to replace Mark Mangino.
The Topeka Capital-Journal listed 10 candidates, beginning with the guy everyone seems to think KU should zero in on – Mike Leach. Venables is there, too.
"He is a native Kansan who spent five years as an assistant at K-State," wrote Austin Meek/Jayson Jenks, "and he knows as well as anyone that an OU assistant can build a winning program in Lawrence."
That, I guess, is why Meek and Jenks also listed Leach, Mike Stoops and Kevin Sumlin as candidates.
J.B. Bauersfeld with Topeka's WIBW-TV listed just three names – Baylor defensive coordinator Phil Bennett, former South Florida head man Jim Leavitt and Venables. Recall that Leavitt and Bennett are former K-State defensive coordinators.
Blair Kerkhoff included five names in his Kansas City Star write-up –Leach, Leavitt, Sumlin, Southern Miss coach Larry Fedora and Florida State defensive coordinator Mark Stoops.
Matt Tait of the Lawrence Journal World labeled Leach the "favorite" in the KU derby. His "strong contenders" were Mark Stoops, Leavitt and Fedora. The "up-and-comers" included Boise State's Chris Petersen, Air Force coach Troy Calhoun, Northern Illinois coach Dave Doeren and Sumlin.
Then there were "the assistants" -- Venables and Alabama defensive coordinator Kirby Smart.
"Long considered one of the top assistant coaches in the college game, the Salina native who played at Kansas State and later coached under Bill Snyder at his alma mater has deep roots in the Midwest," Tait wrote. "His intelligent, energetic and charismatic qualities make him a master recruiter and the kind of coach players go the extra mile for. Venables has a great eye for talent and has been instrumental in Bob Stoops' success at OU since 1999."
Tait also reminded: "Talking him into a rebuilding project at KU could be tough considering some think he's waiting to take over at either Oklahoma or Kansas State one day."
-- Guerin Emig
Written by
Guerin Emig
Sports Writer
