It took just six games into a reboot of Les Miles’ career for the Mad Hatter to reboot his coaching staff.
Kansas announced on Sunday evening that offensive coordinator Les Koenning had been let go as the Jayhawks enter their off week, promoting former Bethel University head coach Brent Dearmon to take over playcalling and coordinator duties the rest of the season.
“I would like to thank Coach Koenning for his contributions to Kansas Football,” said Miles in a statement. “This was a difficult decision, but it is in the best interest of our football program both now and in the future. There is still a lot of football left to play this season and I want to put our players in the best position to be successful, which is why I am making the change now.”
“Brent is one of the brightest individuals I have encountered in all of my years coaching. His experience as a record-setting coach and quarterback at the collegiate level will benefit our offense immediately. I believe our players will be naturally drawn to Brent’s leadership and coaching ability. I have the utmost trust in his ability to lead young men and this move puts our players in the best position to be successful moving forward.”
KU lost 45-20 to No. 6 Oklahoma on Saturday and have scored more than 24 points just once all season long, an out of character thumping of Boston College several weeks ago when they posted a 48-24 win.
Koenning had served as an offensive coordinator at UAB, Mississippi State, Texas A&M and Alabama over the years prior to joining Mikes’ staff in 2019.
At NAIA Bethel, Dearmon led the team to a 10-0 mark in his only season as a head coach. He also called plays for an offense that averaged 55 points per game, a mark that Kansas says was the highest scoring offense across all divisions of college football.
Obviously things will be a little different with this current Jayhawks group, both in terms of a talent on hand perspective and the defenses involved, which will include a trip to Texas after the off week.