So now, all Mark Mangino has to do is take Kansas, a program that went 3-8 last season and has had six straight losing years, and transform it into a national title team. Do that and Hollywood will be tripping over itself to get the rights to the Jayhawk coach's life story. Sound crazy? Maybe, but if Mark "Bear" Mangino's history tells you anything, it's never underestimate the guy's will.

When the 45-year-old former Oklahoma offensive coordinator was named as Kansas' new football coach, the local media spent more time yapping about Mangino's waistline than his background or track record. That's a pity. Because you could go to any neighborhood gym and find a guy with an eight pack, but the kind of persistence Mangino has shown, the kind required to uplift a doormat like KU, is rare.

		This will be a tough job for Mark Mangino. I'm not sure how much talent he's got at Kansas this year. But Mangino was a part of Kansas State for eight years and when he came in with Bill Snyder, they faced a similar situation. They had good offense, defense and special teams and they were able to schedule right and turn that Wildcats' program around. So, Mangino's got the plans. Now, he needs to apply the same tactics at Kansas. He's a very likeable guy and a great coach. In terms of Xs and Os, he's got good offensive and defensive concepts. I think he'll do a great job with special teams as well. The future is bright for KU.

"There isn't a greater success story that I've ever seen," says Ohio State coach Jim Tressel, Mangino's old mentor at Youngstown State.

Magino got college start at Youngstown, where he worked as a volunteer student coach, but he wasn't any pimply-faced frat boy. He was 30 with a wife and two kids. He went to class in the morning, spent the afternoons at football practice and then did his night job, sometimes a midnight-to-8 a.m. shift, as a first-reponse medic on the Pennslyvania Turnpike just so he could feed his family.

It was Mangino's job to provide aid to accident victims. Some nights Mangino was able to save lives. Other nights, he arrived on the scene only to find out he was a moment too late and the victim had died.

He spent a half-dozen years juggling to make it as a college coach while moonlighting on the Turnpike. He toiled at Geneva (Pa.) College and then at a local high school, coaching Ellwood City. Then, in 1991 he got his big break: either a graduate assistant job at Pittsburgh working for Paul Hackett or at Kansas State under Bill Snyder. Never mind that both jobs only paid about eight grand a year, Mangino was at a crossroad. Friends told him go with the school that gives you the most reponsibility. That was K-State. So what if the Wildcats had spent the better part of the 21st Century as the Washington Generals of college football. Mangino, the grandson of an immigrant who had come to America in the '20s as a stowaway on a ship from Naples, put everything into a U-Haul and headed west.

In his seven years at K-State, Magino's stock soared almost as quickly as the Wildcats did. "This is a guy who is all about doing the work," says Jayhawk offensive-line coach Ken Conatser, one of Mangino's mentors from the Youngstown days. "Anything this guy accomplishes, he's earned."

Two years ago, as Oklahoma was on its national title run, Mangino -- the Sooners offensive coordinator -- was honored with Broyles Award as the nation's top assistant. Now, Mangino inherits a program that had zero momentum, which considering it's in the Big 12, football's most competitive conference, means it really had been going backwards.

	Mark Mangino plans on installing a winning attitude at Kansas.

"This is the kind of job a lot of guys usually only get for three years before they get fired," says Texas coach Mack Brown.

Conatser says Mangino is the ideal man for this job. "He has the right focus," says the 61-year-old Conatser. "They needed a guy who puts football and his players above everyone else and he does."

The Kansas program has been down for so long isn't just a lack of talent in Lawrence, but worse, a lack of confidence. "The first day I meet them," Mangino said, "I walked in the meeting room and found a bunch of players who didn't feel good about themselves."

Mangino's Rx was obvious -- flip that attitude as quickly as possible.

"I said to them 'You had no choice in who was going to be your coach,' but I chose you,'" Mangino says.

Time and a unbending plan are critical. Mangino crafted his system from working under Tressel, Snyder and OU's Bob Stoops. The keys were motivation and discipline.

"I think some of (the players) were concerned that I was going to come in there and run a program of attrition, where we try to run everybody off and get all new players," Mangino said. "That's not my philosophy.

"What we're doing is raising the bar very high and asking those kids to meet those standards."

Right away, he proved that his bar wouldn't be lowered. Just two weeks after taking over, he booted starting QB Mario Kinsey for violating team rules. A run-pass threat, Kinsey has legit skills. He also had several run-ins with the law (a marijuana possession charge and was also found guilty of snatching a purse.)

Senior LB Leo Etienne says it's good for the program. "It's something we really want, something we really need." Not that all the Jayhawks have embraced it. Nine KU players have bolted the program since the end of spring ball.

Etienne sas he can describe the new Jayhawk boss in three words: "Intensity. Intensity. Intensity."

Everything is more intense. Even Mangino. In his days at OU, he was engaging, funny and open -- always seemed ready with a quote, a sportswriter's dream. These days, he seems more curt. He doesn't discuss injuries or personnel matters. Some in the media think (OK, fear) that he has taken a page from the tight-lipped Snyder, widely considered the least media-friendly coach in college football.

Maybe. A few writers in the midwest say they've already had dust-ups with Mangino and have been chastised for trying to pry too much. Truth is, that's not something Mangino has to worry about. He really doesn't have time. But having been a part of the K-State miracle and the Sooner revival, he probably knows this better than anybody. "I've discovered when you take on these Renaissance programs, it's not for the faint of heart," Mangino said. "A lot of weight is on your shoulders."

All puns aside, Bear Mangino never has had any problem pulling his own weight.

Bruce Feldman covers college football for ESPN The Magazine. He can be reached at bruce.feldman@espnmag.com.