A native Kansan who's done well for himself. Mark Mangino is truly a class act. If only he could find a different baseball team to root for than the Cleveland Indians. Just kidding, Bear. The fact they moved on goes with life in the coaching profession.
Opportunities come along and coaches leave.
In this case, they were hooking on with the hottest coaching prospect in America, for a program steeped in tradition and supported handsomely by a huge fan base. Sure, I can also understand why some were upset by their departure. There's always doubt whether a program can maintain its success after losing one top-flight assistant, let alone several. Also, there was the disappointing finish to what had been a marvelous '98 season. It included postseason defeats in the Big 12 championship game and the Alamo Bowl, where tempers flared at halftime between a few players and at least one outgoing coach.