Gordon clear choice for secondary

By By Daniel Berk (Contact)

Thursday, August 25, 2005

When a player has a season like the one junior cornerback Charles Gordon had last year, it makes it easy to decide who will control the secondary.

Gordon led the Big 12 Conference and tied for the national lead with seven interceptions last year and was named First-Team All Big 12 and Third-Team AP All-American.

Those accolades put Gordon in the national spotlight, and he was named a Preseason All-American this year. He’s also listed on several postseason award watch lists.

Kansas coach Mark Mangino said Gordon was a shy and reserved person, but he was still the leader of the secondary.

“He’s quiet, but it’s efficient,” Mangino said. “He’s not quiet on the field though. He’s a corner, but he’ll tell a safety where to line up. He’ll make the adjustments. Charles is the leader back there.”

Gordon will be joined at the cornerback position by senior Ronnie Amadi or senior Theo Baines.

Baines was projected to be the team’s starting cornerback, opposite Gordon, but has missed practice because of a nagging injury. Mangino said he was impressed with Amadi’s performance so far and has named him the starting cornerback for now.

Mangino is eager to get Baines back onto the field and contributing again, he said.

“He’s falling behind,” Mangino said. “Theo’s got to fight back and get healthy and compete for it again.”

Ronnie hasn’t been the only Amadi that has impressed Mangino in the preseason. He has also been pleased with Ronnie’s brother, Donnie.

Donnie, also a senior cornerback, will see play time this season. Mangino said he could see increased playing time if Gordon gets more repetitions at wide receiver.

The brothers’ work ethic has pleased Mangino, he said.

“When I got here four years ago, they would have had a rough time covering me,” Mangino said. “They never give up. They work hard. With the help of our coaching staff and our strength staff, they have made themselves good football players.”

The safety positions are projected to be filled by junior Jerome Kemp and senior Rodney Fowler.

Fowler played in all 11 games last season and made two starts. He had 25 tackles and had his best game against Iowa State, where he collected eight tackles. Mangino said he expected to see that kind of performance repeated this year.

“Rodney Fowler is coming on, and he’s a very intelligent player,” Mangino said. “He’s a guy that we’re expecting to have a big season.”

Kemp beat out freshman Aqib Talib, who took a redshirt last season, for the other safety position. Kemp played in all 11 games last season as a safety and also contributed on special teams.

Mangino said he was confident in the secondary and was hoping the backups would make significant contributions.

“We have four or five pretty good players and two swing players,” Mangino said. “The front line guys are going to be pretty strong.”

— Edited by Tricia Masenthin

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