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LAWRENCE — Kansas athletic director Lew Perkins' search for the next KU football coach is not limited to up-and-comers in the profession.
The Eagle learned Monday that Ole Miss coach Houston Nutt is on Perkins' list and that Perkins and Nutt have already talked about the job.
Nutt, 52, would be a big-fish hire for Kansas. In 10 years at Arkansas and two at Ole Miss, Nutt has compiled an overall record of 92-56 and a Southeastern Conference record of 51-45. His teams have beaten SEC West power LSU three years in a row, including a top-ranked Tigers team in 2007.
He has been selected SEC coach of the year three times (2001, 2006 and 2008). Nutt has taken the Rebels to back-to-back Cotton Bowl berths, and he has been well-compensated, making a salary of $2.5 million (former KU coach Mark Mangino made $2.3).
Perkins appears to be moving quickly in his pursuit of the Jayhawks' next coach after agreeing to a monetary settlement with Mangino, who resigned on Thursday.
University of Buffalo athletic director Warde Manuel told The Eagle on Sunday that Perkins made a courtesy call to Buffalo on Friday to inform the school of his interest in interviewing Buffalo coach Turner Gill.
Athletic directors are not required to make a courtesy call before contacting another school's coach.
Perkins is reportedly in New York today attending the National Football Foundation's annual awards luncheon, where KU quarterback Todd Reesing is up for a scholar-athlete trophy. Reports out of Buffalo indicate that Perkins is expected to speak with Gill while there. Gill has a 20-30 record in four seasons at Buffalo.
While the 47-year-old Gill has had one breakthrough season in the Mid-American Conference, leading the Bulls to the 2008 MAC title, the 52-year-old Nutt is a proven commodity in the country's most competitive conference.
Gill has Texas roots — he grew up in Fort Worth — and played quarterback at Nebraska from 1980-83 and coached as an assistant there from 1992-2004. Gill's daughter, Jordan, is a KU student.
Nutt has Big 12 ties as well; he was a backup quarterback at Oklahoma State from 1979-81 and worked as a graduate assistant under Jimmy Johnson. Nutt became friends with current KU coach Bill Self, then a basketball player at Oklahoma State.
Nutt also has a connection to KU redshirt freshman quarterback Kale Pick, who committed to Nutt when he was at Arkansas. But when Nutt left for Ole Miss, Pick switched his commitment to KU. Pick is the frontrunner to replace Reesing next fall.
Throughout his career, Nutt has had to build contacts in Texas and Oklahoma, two key states for the Jayhawks in recruiting.
Warinner interviews with Akron — Kansas offensive coordinator Ed Warinner interviewed Monday for the vacant Akron head coaching position, a source told The Eagle.
Warinner, one of three finalists this season for the American Football Coaches Association's national assistant coach of the year award, has coached the KU offense to the top three total yardage seasons in school history in three years on the job.
Warinner and Akron make sense for each other. Warinner is a native of nearby Strasburg, Ohio, who attended nearby Mount Union College from 1979-83. He served as an Akron assistant coach in 1984 while working on his master's degree, which he received in 1985. Throughout his career, Warinner has maintained deep recruiting ties in Ohio.
