Amidst a losing season and allegations that he mistreated players, what choice did Mark Mangino have but to resign at Kansas?

Mangino accepted a buyout on Thursday to leave Kansas after eight seasons as the Jayhawks’ coach. He finishes with a 50-48 record, which ranks him only two victories shy of Kansas all-time coaching leader, A.R. “Bert” Kennedy, and led the Jayhawks to back-to-back bowls in 2007 and 2008. That’s a feat never accomplished before in school history.

But Mangino lost the ability to lead his program after several players came forward to complain about his misconduct. He’s been accused of grabbing and poking players, as well as verbally abusing them.

While none of the allegations have been proven yet, Kansas had little choice but to essentially force him out. It was going to be hard for him to get new recruits with this hanging over his head, especially given that the Jayhawks fell apart this year after a 5-0 start.

In the end, this was the only way that the situation was going to play out. Mangino still gets paid while Kansas can attempt to move forward without this hanging over the program’s head.

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