LAWRENCE
More than 60 years before Kansas hired a former Texas high school football coach to repair a crumbling program, the school hired an actual high school coach. His name was Chuck Mather, and in January of 1954, then KU athletic director Dutch Lonborg was somewhat smitten. He plucked Mather from Massillion High School, a prep powerhouse in Ohio, and offered a three-year contract worth $9,500 annually — just $2,600 more than he was making in the high school ranks.
Mather was a young and enthusiastic presence. He came from a state that worshiped football, and he promised a new offensive look — he specialized in the Cleveland Browns’ version of the T-formation.