Rumor Hill: KU Football Talks Swirl On Mt. Oread

According to several sources, former University of Illinois recruiting coordinator Reggie Mitchell is set to join Turner Gill's new coaching staff at the University of Kansas.

Mitchell is a renowned recruiter in Chicago and St. Louis and helped Illinois reel in a top 30 recruiting class three of his first four years of the program.

As of now, Kansas' football coaching staff includes Turner Gill (head coach), Chuck Long (offensive coordinator), Carl Torbush (defensive coordinator), Aaron Stamn (tight ends/special teams coordinator), and David Beaty (wide receivers coach). 

Watch for, a peer of mine tells me, at least two more names, Darrell Wyatt (wide receivers) and Tony Samuel (defensive line), to pop up a lot throughout the week until Gill's self-imposed staff deadline of December the 29th.

Also, several stories from oreadboomkings.com hold potentially good news for the University of Kansas football program.

First of all, runningback Jocques Crawford, defensive tackle Travis Stephens, and linebacker Vernon Brooks, all of whom quit the team within the past season, are looking to rejoin the Jayhawks and reportedly like Turner Gill as a head coach.

Crawford reportedly would have to rejoin the team as a walk-on due to his dismissal at the beginning of the year through which he still used the second half of his two-year scholarship.  The troubled runningback's interest has apparently waned significantly.

However, should Stephens or Brooks rejoin (on scholarship), they would be classified as seniors.

Speaking of returning, word amongst my peers is that there is a medical redshirt available to both defensive end Maxwell Onyegbule and linebacker/running back Angus Quigley. 

Oreadboomkings.com confirmed that Onyegbule and Quigley are candidates for a sixth season due to a season after their original, voluntary redshirt year in which they were injured for more than 80 percent of the practice schedule, I believe.

Quigley has been a running back, a wide receiver, a running back again, and now a linebacker in five seasons for the Jayhawks.  He may want to return to his natural running back position, but the most opportunities for Quigley seem to be as a linebacker.

Quigley is reportedly interested in accepting a sixth year, but there is no word yet on Onyegbule.  Either would be a big help to a young defense should they return, and Onyegbule could find a way to extend his career after college with a little added success.

Speaking of position switches, the same website tells that Daymond Patterson plans to return to the offensive side of the football.  The switch would come as no surprise, for Patterson has been fairly open about being uncomfortable on defense.

His father has told one of my most reliable sources that should Mangino had returned, Patterson, a junior, would have transferred schools due to this positional (and potentially other) disagreements with the former head coach.

Yet again, oreadboomking.com has cited that while Rivals.com four-star recruits (Kansas' only three current commits) wideout Keeston Terry, defensive end Geneo Grissom, and JuCo transfer cornerback Dave Clark are all retaining their verbal commitment to Kansas while taking their other visits.

Keeston Terry's potential coach David Beaty was retained by Turner Gill for a short while, but was recently released.  As the former wide receivers coach and the man behind the bulk of Terry's recruitment, this could greatly impact the Kansas City wide receiver's decision in a negative way.

Bill Miller had a large hand in Grissom's recruitment, but he has been approached and received favorably by Carl Torbush.  Grissom still plans to visit LSU and is also being recruited by Kansas State where both Clint Bowen and Miller, the former Kansas defensive coordinators, both may be heading.

All three would be an immense help to Kansas in the very near future, but Dave Clark may be the most vital.  JuCo products haven't regularly panned out in former head coach Mark Mangino's system, but it's Turner Gill's regime here now. 

Clark is 6'2", strong, and runs a 4.4 forty.  The physical tools are all there to have an immediate impact as a starter at a position the Hawks badly need help with.

Next, Rivals.com has reported that not only has the University of Kansas received a verbal commitment from two-star defensive back Ray Mitchell, but have also already inked junior college dual-threat quarterback Quinn Mecham from Ephraim, Utah.

Redshirt sophomore Kale Pick and redshirt freshmen Jordan Webb and Christian Matthews will all be in competition for the job as well. 

Due to the installation of a new offensive system, there will likely be no favorite.  It should be noted, though, that Pick has the only division one football experience and has abilities very similar to those of Gill, a former Nebraska signal-caller great, himself.

Also, interestingly enough, the last time there was a head coaching change within the Kansas football program, it was a junior college quarterback that opened the new tenure.

That was Bill Whittemore out of Fort Scott Community college who struggled in his first season, but in his and Mangino's second go-round, he led the Hawks to a Tangerine Bowl berth.

Finally, Dezmon Briscoe is being labeled by walterfootball.com as a prospective fourth to fifth round draft choice right below quality wideouts like Shay Hodge and Mike Williams.

Hodge and Briscoe are of similar weight and speed.  However, Briscoe is two inches taller—with a bigger wing span—has good special teams and big play abilities and has produced roughly 125 percent of Hodge's stats in just three years at Kansas as opposed to Hodge's four at Ole Miss (three as a starter).

I don't care if Briscoe's stats are a little inflated or not.  We've seen him make plays forever now and some team will give him a chance.  He may never be a star in the NFL, but for the right team, he could be a steal.

I think he goes high in the fourth to the middle of the third round, especially if he can shave his forty time down a tad more.

Thanks once more to oreadboomkings.fantake.com for intriguing, inside Kansas Football information.  Also, thanks to C.W. O'Brien for his valuable assistance with this article.