Halfway into his first year as Kansas's head coach, Les Miles has fired his offensive coordinator.
Kansas announced Sunday Les Koenning has been relieved of duties effective immediately. Brent Dearmon will be promoted to replace Koenning.
“I would like to thank Coach Koenning for his contributions to Kansas Football,” said Miles. “This was a difficult decision, but it is in the best interest of our football program both now and in the future. There is still a lot of football left to play this season and I want to put our players in the best position to be successful, which is why I am making the change now.”
“Brent is one of the brightest individuals I have encountered in all of my years coaching. His experience as a record-setting coach and quarterback at the collegiate level will benefit our offense immediately. I believe our players will be naturally drawn to Brent’s leadership and coaching ability. I have the utmost trust in his ability to lead young men and this move puts our players in the best position to be successful moving forward.”
Dearmon joined the KU staff from Bethel University, an NAIA school in Tennessee. In one season as head coach, Dearmon led Bethel to a 10-0 mark while averaging 540.3 yards per game and 55 points per outing, the highest mark in all of college football.
Prior to Bethel, Dearmon spent three seasons as the offensive coordinator at Division II Arkansas Tech and two as an analyst on Gus Malzahn's staff at Auburn.
“I am humbled and grateful to Coach Miles for giving me this opportunity to be the offensive coordinator at the University of Kansas,” said Dearmon. “I am excited to get to work right away with the staff and players, and invest in their future both on and off the field. There are a lot of talented young men on this team and it’s up to us as an offensive staff to have them prepared each and every week, and that will be our number one priority.”
The decision comes a day after Kansas dropped a 45-20 decision to No. 6 Oklahoma. The 2-4 Jayhawks have actually seen their offensive output jump tremendously from 2018 to 2019, going from 107th nationally in yards per play to 56th. KU's scoring was up modestly under Koenning, improving from 106th to 101st.
Kansas still owes Koenning $1 million, according to Jesse Newell of the Kansas City Star.
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