Last December, former Buffalo head coach Turner Gill took a flight to Lawrence, Kan. and marked the beginning of a rebuilding phase for UB football.
Right now, if Gill, now the head coach at Kansas, and the duo of Dorothy and Toto could switch places, Gill would certainly click his coaching shoes together three times and make a wish.
Buffalo's ongoing rebuilding project coincides with Kansas' own period of adjustment. The Bulls, who have been outscored 87-14 in their last two games, have looked worse as the season has progressed.
Meanwhile, in Kansas' last three games, the Jayhawks were outscored 159-24. On top of that, Kansas started the season with a loss against North Dakota State, a Division 1-FCS team that won three games in 2009.
I have a feeling we're not in Buffalo anymore, Turner.
Rebuilding a football program and rising it from the bottom of conference standings is a tough task for any coach at any program. We are seeing that right here in Buffalo, where head coach Jeff Quinn is installing a complex system that players have struggled to execute efficiently.
Although everything pointed toward the Kansas job as a high paying position at a BCS school, the job also came with many cons. Gill is seeing those right now.
Kansas football had its best run in 2007, when the team went 12-1 and won the Orange Bowl over Virginia Tech. The team went to the Insight Bowl in '08 and started 5-0 in '09, but it subsequently lost its last seven games that year.
In addition to the on-field struggles that culminated in that 5-7 season, the University of Kansas initiated an internal investigation regarding head coach Mark Mangino's treatment of players. Mangino was alleged to have committed violent acts against his players and was fired in early December of '09, leaving the job vacant for Gill to fill.
Fast forward to the halfway mark of the 2010 football season, and Kansas is 2-5, struggling in all aspects of the game and losing fans quickly. Jayhawks fans, like Buffalo followers, all have their attention on basketball season. Others are already asking for a new head football coach.
Just like Gill, Kansas fans may be regretting previous decisions made; though Mangino was a PR nightmare, he achieved the success that fans are now longing for their football team to regain.
Back in Buffalo, fans are also questioning their first year head coach. Fans are skeptical of Quinn's rotations at quarterback and running back, and they wonder if they will witness the explosive offense they were promised.
Overall, fans possess quick fuses, especially after they have felt success for the first time in a long time, a la Kansas and Buffalo fans.
At the same time, these fans need to realize that both coaches are working in unfavorable positions. Neither team has the offensive players needed to score points in bunches, leaving both Quinn and Gill scrambling on the recruiting trail to find their guys.
Football games have been ugly this season. This past weekend, Kansas and Buffalo were home teams and were outscored by a combined 87-10, leaving Memorial Stadium and UB Stadium empty by halftime.
For these coaches, these are necessary steps to improve their teams in the future.
Remember Gill's first season as Buffalo's head coach. The Bulls went 2-10 and had five losses of 30 or more points. Fans weren't thinking about that season of incompetence when Gill was raising the MAC Championship trophy two years later.
