As football season kicks off tomorrow at Memorial Stadium, it will also mark the beginning of many other things. There will be overpriced hot dogs and a flood of t-shirt sales, as well as tailgate parties and waving the wheat. But tomorrow is different than most years. Tomorrow Turner Gill will start his legacy at Kansas.

Whether it is fair or not, today’s sporting age is one that demands instant success and isn’t very patient when losing persists. An example lies in the Kansas City Royals’ firing of Trey Hillman. Granted, the Royals haven’t been good in a long long time, and it might be a while before they start winning, but he was only given 2 1/5 seasons as a coach before he was fired. I don’t mind Kansas City doing whatever they can to try to mix things up and win a few ball games. I’m just saying that the message in sports today seems to be win early or don’t stick around.

Gill will be coaching a lot of players recruited by former coach Mark Mangino, however most fans don’t this into consideration. Some will dismiss his coaching abilities if his first season isn’t as successful as they thought it would be.

I’m not saying that the Jayhawks won’t be successful this year, and I, like thousands of other fans, will be in the stands cheering them on every game. I’m just saying that fans shouldn’t point the finger at Gill and denounce him as a coach if the team’s record doesn’t match fans’ expectations in his first year.

Not to compare Gill to Mangino, but in 2002 when Mangino came on the scene, KU finished with a 2-10 record. Nonetheless, we all remember in 2008 when the Jayhawks had their magical run and won the Orange Bowl. I’m sure that there were people in Mangino’s first year thinking that the two-win team was a joke and wondering if Mangino was a fool. However, success came later. I’m not trying to debate Mangino’s coaching abilities, but judging a coach in his first year strictly by wins and losses seems ludicrous.

Gill isn’t the only one in this situation, however. Coaches across the nation who take a head coaching job at a high-profile team will be under a microscope as well. Brian Kelly will try to bring Notre Dame football back to the glory days, and Derek Dooley will be taking the reins at Tennessee from Lane Kiffin, who will be face pressure of his own at Southern California.

Only time will tell if Gill can put Kansas football back on the map for good and accomplish what he says he came here to do.

“I did not come here to use it as a stepping stone to a football dynasty,” he said when he was first unveiled as Kansas’ new coach, “but rather to create a football dynasty here at KU. Rock Chalk Jayhawk.”

— Edited by Joel Petterson