It may have only been a matter of time before Mark Mangino returned to a big time college football sideline. A new year brings a new opportunity for the former Kansas head coach. Mangino has been named the new offensive coordinator at Iowa State. Mangino was the tight ends coach and recruiting coordinator for Youngstown State last season. The release by Iowa State lauds Mangino for his offensive wizardry at multiple schools.
“I am beyond thrilled to welcome Coach Mangino to the Cyclone football family,” Iowa State head coach Paul Rhoads said in a statement released by the university Monday afternoon. “He has an imaginative offensive mind, an ability to play to his players’ strengths, a track record of winning and a tremendous familiarity with the Big 12 Conference. In terms of calling plays and executing a game plan, he is top shelf. He has learned from a ‘Who’s Who’ of college coaches, effectively led his own championship program and is respected throughout the coaching ranks.”
Mangino was the head coach at Kansas from 2002 through 2009, building a record of 50-48 and leading Kansas to three bowl wins over that span. Mangino led Kansas to a top ten finish in the AP poll in 2007, climbing as high as second in the polls. It was offense that was the key to the turnaround at Kansas under Mangino, but the program lost momentum toward the end of his career, and he left the program under controversy with allegations of misconduct and various levels of abuse directed at players. Mangino negotiated a resignation from his job as head coach in December 2009.
Mangino will be tasked with turning around Iowa State’s offense. In 2013 the Cyclones ranked 8th in total offense, 9th in scoring, 8th in rushing offense and 7th in passing offense within the 10-member Big 12. Iowa State had 22 turnovers on offense this past season, but Mangino will have one of the Big 12’s top red zone offenses. Iowa State led the Big 12 in red zone scoring percentage, ending 39 red zone trips with 35 scores, including 24 touchdowns. the flip side to that is Iowa State made the second fewest trips to the red zone in 2013 with just Kansas having fewer red zone opportunities.