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Colorado and former Kansas head coach Mark Mangino are in discussion to become the next Buffaloes head coach replacing Jon Embree who was fired by Colorado Sunday night.
According to Big Ten Network’s Tom Dienhart the school and Mangino are already having a second talk about the open position.
https://twitter.com/BTNTomDienhart/status/273791256096829442
Colorado began their coaching search right after the announcement of Embree’s firing, one that included an emotional and bizarre press conference. Soon after rumors began as to who would be the next coach for Colorado and according to athletic director Mike Bohn it was a current D-1 head coach. However, Mangino has been out of coaching since 2009 when he was unceremoniously fired by the Jayhawks after reports surfaced of him verbally abusing players.
With that said, Mangino does have experience turning around a struggling program. After taking over in Lawrence Mangino posted a 2-10 record in his first season but then went 48-38 the next six seasons that included three bowl wins in four appearances. His most successful season was in 2007 when he led the Jayhawks to a 12-1 record and an Orange Bowl victory over Virginia Tech.
Looking at all of the candidates that are out there Mangino has practically come out of nowhere to become the favorite for the position in Boulder. Many believed that Jeff Tedford would be the best fit at Colorado but his buyout from Cal, who fired him this year, includes a stipulation that would take his next job’s salary out of his buyout payment. There have been other names floated around but most of them would not necessarily consider Colorado due to the negativity around the program.
Regardless of who becomes the next head coach at Colorado, they will become one of the highest paid coaches in the Pac 12. Bohn said that the new head coach would make around $2.5 million, only Oregon’s Chip Kelly and Tedford made more than that this year according to released numbers. USC’s Lane Kiffin reportedly makes over $4 million a season but he has denied that figure and Stanford’s David Shaw’s salary has not been released. Colorado’s next coach’s salary will be a major bump from Embree’s $725,000 that he made this year in order to compete with the rest of the conference’s rate.
Is Mangino the right fit in Boulder? He does have experience turning around lackluster programs but I don’t see this as a good fit for Colorado. However, with what’s occurred in the last few days the job opening might not be that attractive to many unemployed coaches out there.
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David LaRose is one of the featured College Football writers for Rant Sports covering the Pac 12 and the University of Colorado. You can follow him on Twitter or check out his Facebook page.
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