After coming to Kansas a highly hyped HC, Turner Gill proceeded to have back-to-back poor seasons. That is why after only two years he was replaced, this time by a HC with even more hype surrounding him. Charlie Weis, of New England Patriots (and later Notre Dame) fame is now the man calling the shots. Will he be able to do with Kansas what he never could with Notre Dame... win?
Since Todd Reesing, the Jayhawks have been in search for their next QB. It looks like they may have found that guys in BYU transfer, Jake Heaps, but he is ineligible until next season. That means this year will be a stop gap, and that role will be filled by Weis protege, Dayne Crist. Yes, that Dayne Crist from Notre Dame. Crist joins Kansas for his SR season, and will try and demonstrate some of the magic that made him such a hyped prospect coming out of high school. Unfortunately, with less talent around him in Kansas than at Notre Dame, I think this will be difficult. The Jayhawks will rely this season on JR James Sims to lead this team at RB, but that won't begin until week 4, as Sims has to sit for the first 3 on suspension. As for receiving weapons, Crist will have the undersized SR Daymond Patterson and the Notre Dame transfer, Mike Ragone at his disposal. Patterson has shown spark, but Ragone is entirely unproven. Both of these guys will really need to step up their play to try and help Crist out. Up front, the o-line has a couple of players worth following, including SR OG Duane Zlatnik and SR OT Tanner Hawkinson. Zlatnik is an underrated player, and Hawkinson is the team's leader. Both should help this line improve over their dismal performance a year ago.
Defensively, this team has no where to go but up. Last year Kansas had one of the worst defenses in the FBS. SR DE Toben Opurum is in his second year at the position, and after showing promise a year ago, he will need to really help this team manufacture a pass rush. Last year he accounted for 40% of the team's sack production (4 of 10). This year, he needs to help elevate the game of those around him. At linebacker, the team needs for JR MLB Darius Willis to live up to the billing he had when he transferred to Kansas from Buffalo. Last year he simply did not. Adding the speed of SR OLB Tunde Bakare and returning JR OLB Huldon Tharpe should also help. The secondary is another unit that absolutely has to improve this season. The star of this unit is SR S Bradley McDougald. Since moving back to safety from wide receiver, McDougald has emerged as a play maker. He will need to get even better this year, and like Opurum, will need to help elevate the play of the rest of his unit if Kansas is to stay in games this year.
In 2012, Kansas was 2-10. They went out and hired Charlie Weis to right the ship. Weis is known as an offensive guru, especially in his time in the NFL. His last HC job in college did not go as well as expected though, and many were disappointed in his performance as OC for the Florida Gators a year ago. He will now have the chance to prove he is in fact as smart an offensive mind as he is thought to be. It won't be easy though. This Jayhawks team has a long way to go.
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