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Dark clouds are gathering at Kansas, and not only because the blundering Jayhawks were outscored their last two games by the shocking total of 100 points.
First-year head coach Turner Gill has struggled. And unrest is growing over the five-year, $10 million contract given him by former athletic director Lew Perkins.
Perkins, who forced out former football coach Mark Mangino for alleged verbal and physical abuse of players, was himself driven into early retirement for mismanagement and lack of oversight.
In the meantime, a federal criminal probe continues into a ticket scam allegedly run by several of Perkins' former assistants and on Tuesday, in a separate action, Perkins was charged with two ethics complaints by the state of Kansas.
For many boosters and big-time donors, the guaranteed $10 million deal given to someone who had no experience as a major college head coach is just one more example of fiscal irresponsibility on the part of Perkins, who walked away with a $2 million bonus after stepping down a year early.
In their first six games under Gill, Perkins' major hire, the Jayhawks are 2-4 overall and 0-2 in the Big 12 and have had three of their worst defeats ever. The season began with a stunning 6-3 loss to North Dakota State. That was followed by a seemingly redemptive 28-25 upset of then-nationally ranked Georgia Tech.
But their last two games, against Baylor and archrival Kansas State, they were humiliated 55-7 and 59-7.
That's a 100-point margin against a pair of unranked conference rivals that have little chance of going to a major bowl.
Gill insists that all he needs is time.
''It really is not as bad as somewhat the score states,'' said Gill, who was at Buffalo when Perkins hired him. ''I'm not trying to disregard the play and where we're at this point in time. We all came in here as a staff to build a program, to build a winning program. How long that takes to get it done, I don't have that secret magic wand. But I do believe it will get done. We will be successful here.''
This Saturday night the Jayhawks host Texas A&M (3-3, 0-2), a team on a three-game losing streak.
And whether it's fair or not, there seems little doubt that rising resentment toward Perkins is reflecting back on Gill, who was making $450,000 at Buffalo.
Adding to fans' angst is what's happening all around Kansas. The reduction next year from 12 conference schools to 10 means the Jayhawks will now have to play Texas, Oklahoma and the other powerful teams in the south every year instead of on a rotating basis.
Both the Jayhawks' archrivals are pointed upward. Bill Snyder has Kansas State (5-1) on the verge of getting ranked and No. 18 Missouri (6-0) is in great shape under coach Gary Pinkel.
Gill says he's not reading newspapers or listening to sports commentators and cautions his players to do their best to avoid outside ''distractions.''
''Hopefully, our fans and our people continue to support us in a good way. I understand it's definitely rough and it's frustrating - a little bit embarrassing as the things that have occurred,'' he said. ''I understand that.
''But we're here to build a winning program.''
