Mark Mangino Mark Thomas Mangino ( August 26 , 1956 ) is an American football coach . He is an assistant head coach at Youngstown State . Before his joining Youngstown . Mangino was the the head coach of the Kansas Jayhawks college football team from 2002 to 2009 . In 2007 , Mangino received several National Coach of the Year honors after leading the Jayhawks to their first 12 - win season in school history . Prior to coaching the Jayhawks , Mangino held assistant - coach positions at other universities , including Kansas State and Oklahoma . On December 3 , 2009 , amid increasing public pressure on the university due to allegations of chronic and harsh mistreatment of his student - players , Mangino and the University of Kansas agreed on a monetary settlement in exchange for his immediate resignation as Jayhawks head coach . Early life . Mangino was born and raised in New Castle , Pennsylvania . After high school , he was offered a football scholarship at Youngstown State . Mangino played semi - pro baseball in western Pennsylvania until he became an EMT . In his late 20 ' s he returned to Youngstown State to receive his degree . Coaching career . Early positions . Mangino graduated from Youngstown State University in 1987 , serving as an assistant coach there in his last two years under then - head coach Jim Tressel . He also coached at Lincoln High School in Ellwood City , Pennsylvania and at Geneva College , before being hired as an assistant coach at Kansas State University in 1991 . Prior to the 1999 season , Mangino left Kansas State to take an assistant position at the University of Oklahoma . While there , he served as the offensive coordinator for the team that beat Florida State for the 2000 national championship . Following that season , he was awarded the Frank Broyles Award as the nation ' s top assistant coach . Kansas . Mangino was hired as Kansas head football coach in December 2001 . The program had not posted a winning season in any of the 6 seasons prior to his arrival . In 2003 , his second season at KU , Mangino led the Jayhawks to an appearance in the 2003 Tangerine Bowl ( now known as the Champs Sports Bowl ) . This was the first bowl appearance for Kansas since 1995 . In 2005 , his fourth season at KU , the team finished the regular season 6 – 5 , to post its first winning record under Mangino , and went on to the Fort Worth Bowl , its second bowl game in three seasons . Among the Jayhawks ' wins was a 40 - 15 victory over Nebraska , breaking a losing streak that had begun in 1969 , which was the second - longest such streak of consecutive losses in NCAA history . The same year Mangino also built a defense that ranked 11th nationally ( based on yards allowed per game ) and featured third - team All - America n and Big 12 Conference Defensive Player of the Year linebacker Nick Reid . The 2005 team also ranked 6th nationally in total punts . In 2007 , Mangino coached the Jayhawks to a 12 - 1 record and the 2008 Orange Bowl ( their first ever BCS appearance ) . Mangino ' s defense was ranked 12th in the nation , and 4th in scoring defense . On the other side of the ball , the Jayhawks finished 2nd in scoring offense . Following the win against the Iowa State Cyclones , Mark Mangino became the first KU football coach with a winning career record since Jack Mitchell in 1966 . While at Kansas , Mangino led the Jayhawks to 19 consecutive weeks ranked in the AP and / or USA Today polls ( 2007 – 08 ) , 20 consecutive wins in a 2 year period for the first time in school history , set home attendance average records in each of the last 4 seasons ( 2004 – 2008 ) , led KU to its first appearance in national polls since 1996 and to the school ’ s highest ranking ever at # 2 , produced the top 3 total offense seasons in school history , the top two passing seasons and two of the top three scoring seasons and won three Bowl games — the same number they had won in their 102 - year history combined prior to his arrival . With 50 victories , Mangino has the second - most victories in Kansas coaching history . 2007 Coach of the Year awards . For his accomplishments in 2007 , he was named the 2007 National Coach of the Year by the Associated Press , ESPN / ABC , The Sporting News , Football Writers Association , Walter Camp Football Foundation , National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association , American Football Coaches Association , the Maxwell Football Club ( George Munger Award ) , and he has been named the Woody Hayes National Coach of the Year . He was named the Big 12 Coach of the Year by the Big 12 Coaches and Big 12 Co - Coach of the Year by the Associated Press . Upon winning these Coach of the Year awards , he became the only NCAA coach in history to win both the Frank Broyles Award as the nation ' s top assistant coach and all the major National Coach of the Year awards . Player successes . Mangino has coached numerous players who have won honors including Heisman Trophy winner Jason White , Heisman runners - up Josh Heupel and Michael Bishop , and Outland Trophy winner Jammal Brown . Mangino has coached 32 NFL players , 73 All - Big 12 players , and two players named " Big 12 Offensive Newcomer of the Year . " Over 20 of his former players are now coaching . " Character First " . Mangino implemented many programs while at Kansas , but none more beneficial than the " Character First " program . Designed by Dr . Frank DeSalvo , the university ' s Dean of Students ( and a clinical social worker ) , the program featured : ( 1 ) players ' community service in local nursing homes , Big Brothers / Big Sisters , and Boys and Girls Clubs of America ; ( 2 ) players ' visits to local schools ; ( 3 ) lectures from law enforcement officials about issues that lead to trouble for some student - athletes ( e . g . , drugs , crime , rape ) ; and , ( 4 ) motivational / inspirational guest speakers ( e . g . , retired NBA player Danny Manning , who helped the men ' s basketball program win 2 national championships — 1 as a student - athlete in 1988 , the other as an assistant coach under Bill Self in 2008 ) . Advanced cardiac screenings . Under the guidance of Mangino , Kansas was one of the first college football programs to do advanced cardiac screenings on its players to detect life threatening conditions , Controversy . Lincoln High controversy . After going 1 - 9 in his first season as the head coach of Lincoln High in Ellwood City , PA , a group of parents went to the school board and demanded his firing because of his " language , and harsh approach to people " . The board elected not to fire Mangino , but he left the school after only one year and did not complete the year as a teacher . High school referee incident . On September 21 , 2002 , Coach Mangino yelled at the officiating crew assigned to the Lawrence High School – Olathe East football game in which Mangino ' s son , Tommy , was playing . Mangino apparently became angry after referees failed to call what he believed was a late hit on Tommy , the LHS quarterback . LHS officials took undisclosed action against Mangino after the game for violating a Kansas High School rule barring abuse of game officials by coaches , players and fans . 2004 Kansas – Texas game . In 2004 , Mangino paid a $ 5 , 000 fine for suggesting that officials acted with favoritism in a questionable offensive pass interference call that affected the outcome of a game against Texas . Mangino implied that money and a BCS berth for the Big 12 Conference influenced the officials to make a call in favor of Texas . He and athletic director Lew Perkins issued public apologies the day after the incident . NCAA penalties and probation . In 2005 , the university self - reported to the NCAA that five major rules violations — including academic fraud — had been committed by some of the football team ' s student - athletes . In 2006 , these major violations , along with four others that has allegedly occurred in other KU sports programs , contributed to the NCAA charging the athletics department with one of its gravest accusations , in modern times : displaying a " lack of institutional control " ( i . e . , the NCAA ' s thinly - vailed conclusion that the athletic department allows a corrupt environment in which NCAA rules are violated on a regular basis , with impunity ) . A graduate assistant was found to have supplied answers for some of the correspondence courses taken by some prospective recruits from junior colleges . As a result , the football program ' s ability to recruit players transferring in from junior college was reduced for two years ; and , the program lost two scholarships for each of the 2007 and 2008 seasons . Raimond Pendleton incident . During the first game of the 2007 season ( a blowout victory over Central Michigan University ) , KU ' s Raimond Pendleton ran a CMU punt back 77 yards for a touchdown ; but , as he approached the endzone , it was clear that he intentionally slowed down before reaching the endzone in order to jump into it in an overly celebratory or gloating fashion . The officials threw a penalty flag for " excessive celebration " , and gave the Jayhawks a 15 - yard , " unsportsmanlike conduct " penalty ( meaning that KU would have to kick off 15 yards closer to their own endzone , than if they had not been penalized ) . When Pendleton returned to the KU sideline , an irate Mangino took Pendleton aside and gave him an expletive - laden tongue - lashing . The incident was caught on video , and transmitted by local TV stations in the Topeka and Kansas City areas , eventually finding an even wider audience after a copy of it was uploaded to YouTube . Pendleton afterward downplayed the incident , saying that he deserved it . Internal investigations . A separate investigation was conducted in 2007 , related to Mangino ' s repeated parking tickets on campus , plus the alleged verbal abuse and general , negative behavior toward some of the campus staff issuing those tickets . In November 2009 , the recurring issue of Mangino ' s chronic , alleged misconduct towards his players became the subject of an internal investigation by the University of Kansas Athletic Department . He was formally accused of boorish and violent actions ( e . g . , grabbing players in anger / frustration , verbal abuse , etc . ) . National sports media coverage of this increased already - mounting public pressure on the university to terminate Mangino ' s employment . After a prolonged period of negotiations , the university and Mangino ' s attorneys agreed on the buy - out amount that was large enough to secure his quiet resignation in December 2009 . Head coaching record . " Sources " : Note : Π While officially recognized as 2007 divisional co - champions by the Big 12 , the Jayhawks lost the head - to - head tie - breaker to Missouri , giving the Tigers the championship game berth . Record against conference opponents . < / div >