Since Mangino arrived, Kansas has been able to upgrade its football facilities far beyond what they had been.

"Mark did a great job," Perkins said. "He did some things that needed to be done and I think the university and our football program is much better today than it was the day he took the job."

Voted the nation's top assistant coach when he was with Oklahoma in 2000, Mangino came to Kansas in 2002 and inherited a program in shambles, one that had always taken a back seat to basketball. He was thought to be in trouble after the 2006 season. But in 2007 Todd Reesing established himself as one of the nation's top quarterbacks and the Jayhawks enjoyed their finest season in history.

Mangino was the consensus choice for national coach of the year and grateful fans and alumni poured in donations into the athletic department, triggering a wave of building projects designed to bring the facilities up to Big 12 standards.

In 2008, the Jayhawks followed up their big year with an 8-5 record and a victory in the Insight Bowl, the first time Kansas had even been to postseason games two years in a row, let alone won two straight. The 20 wins in two years also was a school record.

The 2009 season began with great promise, but Reesing and the rest of the team went into a slump and the Jayhawks were skidding when news broke that Perkins had told the players he was appointing someone to investigate allegations of verbal and emotional abuse by their coach.

A bear of a man who tips the scales at around 400 pounds, Mangino was often made fun of because of his girth. But he also won admirers for overcoming humble beginnings to rise to the top of a tough profession.

Throughout his tenure, Mangino was plagued by anger issues, starting when he was involved in an embarrassing row with officials while watching his son's high school game. Also, following a close loss to Texas, he accused officials of rigging the game so the Big 12 could get a second school into a BCS game and make more money. He issued an apology later that night.

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