KU Football Recycle: Ed Warinner, Brandon Blaney and Xavier Rambo

WARINNER AND BLANEY
The big news last week was the promotion of two KU assistant coaches last week. Offensive coordinator Ed Warriner now has the title of associate head coach, while Brandon Blaney (tight ends and recruiting coordinator) added the new responsibility of assisting with the offensive line. Let's hope both of them received nice raises as well as they've both been getting the job done. We all know the instant success of Warinner, but don't forget to factor in Blaney's recruiting. He was the assistant recruiting coordinator from 2003-2005 before taking over the head job in 2006. Anyone following the Hawks is aware of the upward curve we've enjoyed in recruiting.

The Warinner move is interesting as well as it indicates that he is clearly Mark Mangino's top assistant. I still feel like Mangino has focused on building a legacy with this program and will complete his career at KU; however, it's always a good idea to have a succession plan in place.

RAMBO MOVING ON
There's no official report out yet, but a thread on the Gridiron board indicates that wide receiver Xavier Rambo will be transferring out of KU. Probably due to his unique name, I think a lot of Jayhawk fans had kept an eye on Rambo and were hoping to see him playing more last year, but sometimes these things just don't work out. All of the sudden KU has a lot of receivers on deck and you could hardly blame a young guy for wanting to move somewhere with a better chance for playing time. Here's a look at the KU wideouts:

ON THE ROSTER
10-Kerry Meier (SR) 6-3/220
80-Dezmon Briscoe (JR) 6-3/200
81-Jonathan Wilson (JR) 6-3/190
85-Roderick Harris, Jr. (JR or SO?) 6-2/200
09-Raimond Pendleton (SR) 5-11/190
89-Tertavian Ingram (JR) 6-0/195
18-Xavier Rambo (JR) 6-0/195
47-Matt Bouwie (JR) 5-11/170
27-Willie O'Quinn (SO) 6-0/190
19-Reece Petty (JR) 6-2/195

INCOMING
Bradley McDougald | 6-0/181/4.5 - ****
D.J. Beshears | 5-9/185 - ***
Erick McGriff | 6-4/190/4.6 - ***
Chris Omigie | 6-5/185 - ***

GRADUATING
88-Dexton Fields 6-0/210
13-Marcus Herford 6-3/210
02-Raymond Brown 6-3/205
04-Gary Green 5-9/175
37-Micah Brown 6-0/185

Comments

[moyae84]

Wasn't Rambo the recruit that didn't play football as a senior in high school because they dropped the program or he transferred?

As for WR on roster I think most are anticipating what Rod Harris can do. I don't remember hearing much about him from bowl practices but I think I recall that he was getting raved about last summer but was pretty raw.

With Beshears going to defense I think both Omigie and McGriff redshirt and McDougald gets spot duty as long as Patterson is still at CB.

What a stable of talent though!

[KU_Lew]

I could be wrong but I believe Rod Harris will be a sophomore next year. I believe he came in as a sophomore (only 1 yr of JUCO ball) and then red-shirted last year.

[DJ Goodwin]

You know, Rod Harris might be an '08 redshirt. He did come in as a sophomore and yes, I saw him in an August practice and he looked pretty talented.

I forgot about Beshears being sort of the DB trade once McDougald came on board. Either way, you've got to like the future of the WR unit. 2010 could be a little raw as Briscoe will likely go since The Reesing will graduate. That'll be J. Wilson's time to shine.

I do remember the story about the high school that was shutting down football. Seems like it affected two KU recruits, but I'm going to need some help from the audience sorting that one out.

[CW]

I don't know which recruits it effected, but Xavier Rambo wasn't one of them. He played for South Oak Cliff (Dallas) and that program is still churning out Div. I talent annually. I'll keep looking to see who, if anyone, was affected by a program closing.