Campo hired to coach defense at Kansas

Campo hired to coach defense at Kansas

Published Jan. 13, 2012 2:18 p.m. ET

LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) -- First-year Kansas coach Charlie Weis has wasted no time in overhauling his staff. And he has added some star power, too.

Veteran NFL and college coach Dave Campo was hired as the Jayhawks' new defensive coordinator on Friday, less than a week after he left the Dallas Cowboys. Campo will also coach the Kansas defensive backs.

Campo is a former head coach of the Dallas Cowboys (2000-02), and he spent the past four seasons coaching the secondary in Dallas. He was also a defensive coordinator for the Cleveland Browns, along with a stop in Jacksonville.

Campo spent the first 18 years of his coaching career in college, including two years under Jimmy Johnson at Miami that included a national championship (1987). He followed Johnson to Dallas, where he helped win six division titles and three Super Bowls.

The Jayhawks were just 2-10 last season, and 5-19 in two seasons under Turner Gill. He was fired after the season and replaced with Weis, the former Notre Dame coach and longtime NFL assistant who spent last season as Florida's offensive coordinator.

Weis made it clear during his introductory news conference that running backs coach Reggie Mitchell would have a job on his staff and he also kept Buddy Wyatt as defensive line coach.

But he's been quickly filling the other jobs.

Ron Powlus, who served as his director of player development and later quarterbacks coach at Notre Dame, will take over the same role at Kansas. The former Fighting Irish quarterback has spent the past two seasons coaching quarterbacks and running the passing game at Akron.

Tim Grunhard, who played for Notre Dame before an 11-year career with the Kansas City Chiefs, will coach the offensive line. Former Akron coach and Irish assistant Rob Ianello will coach the Jayhawks' wide receivers and coordinate recruiting.

Other hires include Clint Bowen as a special teams coordinator and defensive assistant, and Jeff Blasko as assistant special teams coordinator and tight ends coach.

Since Weis was hired, two high-profile quarterbacks have transferred to Kansas: Dayne Crist is coming from Notre Dame and Jake Heaps is coming from BYU. Crist was coached by Weis at Notre Dame and is eligible to play this season.

Sophomore quarterback Jordan Webb struggled with consistency last season, completing 63 percent of his passes for 1,884 yards with 13 touchdowns and 12 interceptions.

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