Ex KU Athletic Director Bohl on Mangino Firing, Gill Hiring

The architect of KU’s football renaissance was not Lew Perkins…

It was former athletic director Al Bohl. It was Bohl who the Topeka Capital-Journal described last summer as “the father of modern Kansas football, which is to say he is the father of good Kansas football.”

The Bohl accomplishments cited in support of that claim: 1) he opened up tailgating on the hill and 2) he hired recently run-off head football coach Mark Mangino.

Bohl’s take on the unraveling of Mangino?

“Well, I was disappointed that things weren’t able to be worked out because Mark did a great job turning the Kansas football program around,” Bohl says. “You know, I’m not there but (Mangino) was coach of the year just two years ago…”

As for Mangino being mean to players and parents, “You know, it’s a tough love kind of thing,” Bohl says. “There are a lot of cases where with coaches that are kind of tough on the players, if things don’t go well (on the field), that potential is always going to be there. And we’re living in a society where anybody can get on Twitter or Facebook and things can take on a life of their own. And I think that’s what happened with Mark.”

So did Mangino get a raw deal?

“Well, I remain disappointed, I was hoping it would have worked out and I don’t have all the facts,” Bohl says. “But I do know Mark Mangino did an excellent job of coaching and this is a tough business to be in.”

Bohl’s take on KU hiring Mid-American Conference coach Turner Gill?

“I really don’t know Turner Gill but I am very familiar with the