Thursday, January 17, 2008
The Kansas football team lost just once all season long. The week after its Orange Bowl victory, it lost three times.
Junior cornerback Aqib Talib and junior offensive tackle Anthony Collins announced that they would forgo their senior seasons to enter the NFL Draft, and wide receivers coach Tim Beck officially took over as Nebraska’s running backs coach.
The departures of the two juniors should not come as much of a surprise considering Talib and Collins have held starting jobs at Kansas since their freshman seasons and both earned All-American status this season. Talib recorded 66 tackles and five interceptions in 2007 and finished the season with one of his finest performances as a Jayhawk, winning the Orange Bowl MVP award for his 60-yard interception return for a touchdown.
“I talked to my family and coach Mangino and we all decided that if I wanted to get better, it was time to take it to the next level,” Talib said in a press release. “We had an excellent season and this is how I want to go out. It was a quick decision.”
ESPN draft analyst Mel Kiper Jr. and the Web site nfldraftcountdown.com have listed Talib as a possible first-round selection, but his official draft-status inquiry netted a second-round estimate. In a statement released Jan. 7 when Talib made his official announcement, Kansas coach Mark Mangino said he supported Talib’s decision to leave campus for the NFL.
“Aqib has had a great career here at Kansas and he has had a big impact on your program,” Mangino said in the press release. “I wish him the same kind of success at the next level that he had here in our program.”
Collins, a 6-foot-5, 310-pound, first team All-America selection, anchored a Kansas offensive line that paved the way for the Jayhawks’ formidable run game. Collins officially declared his intention to bypass his senior season the day after Talib’s announcement. Collins said he and Talib, who roomed together as freshmen at Kansas, agreed from day one that they would make the move to the NFL at the same time.
Beck, who has coached Kansas’ wide receivers for the past three seasons, attended the same high school as Nebraska coach Bo Pelini. Rumors of Beck’s move to Nebraska had been swirling since Pelini took over at Nebraska in early December.
Beck’s most important contribution to the Kansas program may have been his recruiting ties. He coached at R.L. Turner High in Carrollton, Texas, from 1999 to 2001, and at Summit High in Mansfield, Texas, from 2002 to 2004. The Jayhawks’ 2007 roster had 27 players from Texas, nearly as many as from Kansas (30).
— Edited by Elizabeth Cattell
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