The Zeitgeist List · coaching

Mark Mangino

Followed Terry Allen. Mark Mangino raised Kansas from Regional Program III to National Program II.

50–48
2002–2009 · 1 stint
Kansas
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Career arc

His real stature score, season by season, across every program he’s coached — so a stretch that stays in one tier the whole way can still climb or sink on the line, not just flatten out. Node color marks the tier reached. Which program a stretch belongs to is carried by the shaded lane behind it.

Stature score reached, by season of his head-coaching careerKANSASNational Programrespectable, streakyRegional Programthe building-block levelKansas, 2002: 2-10, Regional Program IV2002Kansas, 2003: 6-7, Regional Program IV2003Kansas, 2004: 4-7, Regional Program III2004Kansas, 2005: 7-5, Regional Program III2005Kansas, 2006: 6-6, Regional Program II2006Kansas, 2007: 12-1, National Program II2007Kansas, 2008: 8-5, National Program II2008Kansas, 2009: 5-7, National Program II2009+15.0One point per coached season, in career order; dashed segments are program changes — spacing is not proportional to calendar time

Reached National Program in his 6th career season — faster than 12% of the 675 FBS coaches who have ever reached National Program (rank #580 of 675 by seasons-to-arrival).

Kansas, 8 seasons
+15.0
Regional Program IV → National Program II.

The big-game ledger

How he does in the games that matter most — rivalry record, performance broken out by real opponent tier, one-score games, and his toughest historical matchup.

8–8 against his rivals. Winless in 4 tries against Bob Stoops.

Rivalry record
8–8
50.0% · 2 rivals
One-score games
15–17
46.9% · margin ≤8
vs. Blue Blood or better
2–11
15.4%
Rivalry ledger
Missouri4–450%
Kansas State4–450%
The toughest matchup
vs. Bob Stoops0–4
4 meetings, 2004–2009
’04 L’05 L’08 L’09 L
0% win rate across a real, 4-meeting series — short of the bar this site uses before badging a series “Nemesis.” Shown here as the toughest matchup on record, not an algorithmic crown.
Performance by opponent class
Blue Blood
2–11 15.4%
Power Program
9–15 37.5%
National Program
8–11 42.1%
Regional Program
24–10 70.6%

Coaching career

2002–2009
Kansasbuilder
Regional Program III → National Program II
Mark Mangino raised Kansas from Regional Program III to National Program II.

4th-best Kansas tenure of 21 by the numbers.

Followed Terry Allen (1997–2001) · succeeded by Turner Gill (2010–2011).

11 NFL Draft picks: Nate Dwyer (2002), Justin Hartwig (2002), Adrian Jones (2004), David McMillan (2005), Aqib Talib (2008), Anthony Collins (2008), Derek Fine (2008), Marcus Henry (2008) + 3 more

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