LAWRENCE, Kan. — Coaching vacancies allow a program to define itself, and that time has come for Kansas.

With Mark Mangino’s resignation Thursday, the Jayhawks have gone shopping, and the quality of the candidates will say plenty about how the program is viewed in the coaching world.
It’s fair to say the position is much more attractive than when Mangino took over after the 2001 season because of what he accomplished, proving the program could achieve a momentous season with the Orange Bowl triumph two years ago, and because of the investment in football by athletic director Lew Perkins.
Mangino has pulled down a $2.3 million salary, which ranked him among the nation’s top-20 highest-paid coaches. Kansas has opened a $31 million football facility. The program approaches 40,000 in season-ticket sales and filled Memorial Stadium for every home game this season.
“I think it’s a great job,” Perkins said. “I think we have some of the finest facilities in the country and a great nucleus coming back next year. I think this is a very attractive job.”
So, does Perkins have a list?
“My wife gives me a grocery list all the time and I lose it,” Perkins said.
But Perkins doesn’t need a list, said Kansas women’s basketball coach Bonnie Henrickson, the highest-profile coach Perkins has hired in his six years in Lawrence.
“He knows everybody, at every level,” said Henrickson, who had not been connected with Perkins before she was hired.
The candidate pool figures to reflect the current Big 12 head-coaching lineup. About half arrived from head-coaching stints at smaller-budget programs. The other half were coordinators at national championship-level programs who had no head-coaching experience.
Sorting potential candidates by groups, head coaches who might be interested include some of the most successful in Conference USA, such as Southern Mississippi’s Larry Fedora, Houston’s Kevin Sumlin and East Carolina’s Skip Holtz.
Fedora is a former assistant at Oklahoma State and Sumlin at Oklahoma, which speaks to an essential requirement of the new coach — familiarity with the prospect landscape in Texas and Oklahoma.
Mangino had that experience as an assistant at Oklahoma and a recruiting coordinator at Kansas State.
Holtz was a Perkins head-coaching hire at Connecticut.
Buffalo’s Turner Gill, who has a daughter at Kansas, might also be interested. Earlier this week, Gill told reporters in Buffalo that he hadn’t been contacted by any school.
“I think there are only a few schools where I would be interested, and if they’re interested in me I would evaluate it and go from there,” Gill said.
Would Stanford’s Jim Harbaugh be a candidate? His in-home visit Wednesday with Liberty High standout Marcus Lucas created a fuss. Harbaugh’s wife is from the Kansas City area. But Harbaugh, who turned the Cardinal into a Pacific-10 contender this season, is a long shot.
Another head coach who could gain traction is the person Perkins hired at Connecticut to replace Holtz, Randy Edsall. He and Harbaugh have been linked to the opening at Notre Dame.
Among assistants, Oklahoma defensive coordinator Brent Venables, a Salina, Kan., native, figures to enter the speculation.
Florida defensive coordinator Charlie Strong is believed to be the leading candidate at Louisville, but a source earlier in the week said he would be interested in Kansas. According to reports, Strong is scheduled to meet with Louisville officials after Saturday’s SEC championship game. Sumlin also has been tied to the Louisville opening.
One assistant who will always be associated with his alma mater is Nolan Cromwell, Texas A&M’s offensive coordinator for the past two years.
Cromwell is a former Kansas quarterback great who has spent the majority of his coaching career in the NFL. He spoke to Kansas officials about the opening in 2001. So did Strong, who interviewed in Lawrence.
Another category of possible candidates is former coaches. Two are one year removed from the SEC: Phil Fulmer, who won a national championship at Tennessee, and Tommy Tuberville, formerly of Auburn.
Last week, an agent who represents college coaches said don’t be surprised if NFL coaches look more closely at campus openings, with a possible NFL lockout looming in 2011.
Perkins said he didn’t have a timetable for finding a new coach.
“I’d like to have it done today,” he said. “But we just have to work very hard to get this done.”