[h=2]Controversy[
edit][/h][h=3]Lincoln High controversy[
edit][/h]After going 1-9 in his first season as the head coach of Lincoln High School in
Ellwood City, Pennsylvania, a group of parents went to the school board and demanded his firing because of his "language, and harsh approach to people". The board elected not to fire Mangino, but he left the school after only one year and did not complete the year as a teacher.[SUP]
[17][/SUP]
[h=3]High school referee incident[
edit][/h]On September 21, 2002, Mangino yelled at the officiating crew assigned to the
Lawrence High School–
Olathe East football game in which Mangino's son, Tommy, was playing. Mangino apparently became angry after referees failed to call what he believed was a late hit on Tommy, the Lawrence High quarterback.
Lawrence High School officials took undisclosed action against Mangino after the game for violating a Kansas High School rule barring abuse of game officials by coaches, players and fans.[SUP]
[18][/SUP]
[h=3]2004 Kansas–Texas game[
edit][/h]In 2004, Mangino paid a
$5,000 fine for suggesting that officials acted with favoritism in a questionable offensive
pass interference call that affected the outcome of a game against
Texas. Mangino implied that money and a
BCS berth for the
Big 12 Conference influenced the officials to make a call in favor of Texas.[SUP]
[19][/SUP] He and athletic director
Lew Perkins issued public apologies the day after the incident.
[h=3]NCAA penalties and probation[
edit][/h]In 2005, the university self-reported to the NCAA that five major rules violations—including academic fraud—had been committed by some of the football team's student-athletes. In 2006, these major violations, along with four others that has allegedly occurred in other KU sports programs, contributed to the NCAA charging the athletics department displaying a "lack of institutional control". A graduate assistant was found to have supplied answers for some of the correspondence courses taken by some prospective recruits from junior colleges. As a result, the football program's ability to recruit players transferring in from junior college was reduced for two years; and, the program lost two scholarships for each of the 2007 and 2008 seasons.
[h=3]Raimond Pendleton incident[
edit][/h]During the first game of the 2007 season in which the
University of Kansas beat
Central Michigan University, KU's Raimond Pendleton ran a CMU punt back 77 yards for a touchdown; but, as he approached the endzone, he slowed down in order to jump into it in a dramatic fashion. The officials threw a penalty flag for "excessive celebration", and gave the Jayhawks a 15-yard, "unsportsmanlike conduct" penalty that forced KU to kick off 15 yards closer to their own endzone. When Pendleton returned to the sideline, an irate Mangino took Pendleton aside and gave him an expletive-laden tongue-lashing. The incident was caught on video, and transmitted by local TV stations in the Topeka and Kansas City areas, eventually finding a wider audience after a copy of it was uploaded to YouTube. Pendleton afterward downplayed the incident, saying that he deserved it.
[h=3]Internal investigations[
edit][/h]A separate investigation was conducted in 2007, related to Mangino's repeated parking tickets on campus and alleged verbal abuse and negative behavior toward campus staff issuing those tickets.[SUP]
[20][/SUP] In November 2009, the recurring issue of Mangino's chronic, alleged misconduct towards his players became the subject of an internal investigation by the University of Kansas Athletic Department. He was formally accused of boorish and violent actions.[SUP]
[21][/SUP] National sports media coverage of this increased already-mounting public pressure on the university to terminate Mangino's employment. After a prolonged period of negotiations, the university and Mangino's attorneys agreed on the buy-out amount that was large enough to secure his quiet resignation in December 2009.
