TOPEKA (KSNT) - The 2008 Orange Bowl-winning coach, Mark Mangino, is already in KU football's history books, but now he'll be in those of the state of Kansas as well.
Mangino is among 12 inductees selected for the 2024 Kansas Sports Hall of Fame class, who will be honored at the ceremony in October. The former KU head coach led the Jayhawks from 2002 to 2009, winning three of four bowl games and posting an all-time best 12-win season along the way.
'I'm thankful for anything in life," Mangino said of the selection. "When it comes to football, it's a tough business but it's a great business. I'm pleased that they called me. When you work hard somewhere you always like that people appreciate your work. I'm happy about it, I'm excited about it."
Mangino coached multiple future NFL players, like Aquib Talib, in his time at KU and racked up several Coach of the Year honors following the 2007-08 Orange Bowl season.
However, when asked about his favorite memory from his time with the Jayhawks, Mangino said it had to be rebuilding the program. KU football had six consecutive losing seasons before Mangino's arrival.
"We were able to build it up and we were making steady progress there," Mangino said. "And of course everybody talks about the Orange Bowl season which was a great season with great players and they did so many great things, but we had a lot of great players before we went to the Orange Bowl. Guys that built the foundation so that those guys could play at the next level."
As someone who's familiar with program turnarounds, Mangino had nothing but admiration and excitement about what athletics director Travis Goff and Lance Leipold are doing with KU football now.
He'll be inducted into the Kansas Sports Hall of Fame on Oct. 13 in Topeka.
