There’s rather sobering news coming out of Lawrence, Kan., this morning as “health reasons” have suddenly and abruptly left the Kansas Jayhawks with a significant hole on its coaching staff.
The school announced Tuesday that coordinator/linebackers coach Carl Torbush “is retiring from the University of Kansas and college football.” The release states that Torbush was recently diagnosed with a low-grade form of prostate cancer and will undergo surgery in the near future.
Thankfully, the release notes, a full recovery is expected.
Head coach Turner Gill will address the media this afternoon, at which point it’s expected he’ll reveal his plans for the position going forward -- whether someone already on his staff will take over as coordinator or if external candidates will be considered. Given the narrow window between now and the start of the season, however, the former will likely be the case.
Torbush was entering his second year as the Jayhawks’ coordinator before the diagnosis forced him out of the coaching game altogether, Torbush had been the head coach at North Carolina (1998-2000) as well as a coordinator at UNC (1988-98), Alabama (2001-02), Texas A&M (2003-2005) and Mississippi State (2009).
Our thoughts and best wishes go out to Coach Torbush as he wages his battle against this insidious disease.