Photo courtesy of the Star-Telegram
I have been doing some thinking about this Campo hire. While I have no clue if he is going to do anything for this team, I have determined that I absolutely love it. He is a perfect match for Weis. Exactly what he was looking for. Campo will be an extension of Weis himself (except on the defensive side).
Campo is a football veteran. A football junkie. He’s the kind of guy that has survived and continued to coach for a very long time at every level of the game. Like Weis, he will probably have his own “decided schematic advantage” over most coaches he faces.
He’s also old. Some would say washed up. There are questions about how well he can relate to recruits. How well he can adapt his style to the college game — a place where he will have far less time to prepare his players for a game.
In other words, he is exactly like Weis.
If you have read this blog for a while, you might remember that I wanted Zenger to hire someone safe. I even said that I wanted him to hire “our Bill Snyder.” A relatively unknown up-and-comer sounded about right. Someone that would grind and put in the work to get us back on the map. Probably not quickly. And certainly not with fire in a bottle.
Instead, Zenger went all-in. He threw caution to the wind and chased a monster name. To steal another K-State reference, he hired Bob Huggins, not Bill Snyder. At the time, the Wildcats were desperate to be relevant in basketball. It isn’t all that much different here with our beloved football program.
I don’t know about you, but if there is one place I’m fine with gimmicks, it’s Kansas football. We are rarely going to be able to stack up to many Big 12 schools when it comes to pure talent. We must thus find our competitive advantage elsewhere. Whether we like it or not, we are the Boise State to the Oklahoma. We need the statue of liberty, the hook and lateral, and all the other fun gadgets to win games against Goliath.
The Weis hire is a gadget play. Same with Campo. They are incredibly high risk (both in the competitive sense and the pocket book), but they’re also incredibly high reward. Sometimes the gadget plays work. Sometimes they dig you an even deeper hole.
After much reflection, I’m really happy with Zenger’s play call. Also happy Weis is willing to be as bold as his boss. If anything, we have a relevant football program that people are really interested in talking about.
I just hope the play works.
