Three weeks after Kansas scored 48 points in a historic road win against Boston College, offensive coordinator Les Koenning has been fired.
First-year coach Les Miles on Sunday announced Koenning's dismissal, a day after the Jayhawks' 45-20 home loss to Oklahoma. Brent Dearmon, who had served as a senior offensive analyst for KU, has been promoted to offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach.
Kansas averaged only 17.8 points in its five games other than Boston College. The Jayhawks rank 101st nationally in scoring, 102nd in yards, 104th in passing and 116th in first downs per game.
"This was a difficult decision, but it is in the best interest of our football program both now and in the future," Miles said in a prepared statement. "There is still a lot of football left to play this season and I want to put our players in the best position to be successful, which is why I am making the change now."
He added of Dearmon: "Brent is one of the brightest individuals I have encountered in all of my years coaching. His experience as a record-setting coach and quarterback at the collegiate level will benefit our offense immediately. I believe our players will be naturally drawn to Brent's leadership and coaching ability."
Dearmon spent the 2018 season as head coach at Bethel University, an NAIA program. Bethel averaged 55 points and 540.3 yards per game. Dearmon also has been offensive coordinator at Division II Arkansas Tech, and spent two seasons as an analyst for Gus Malzahn at Auburn.
Koenning, who coached running backs at Southern Miss in 2018, has held coordinator posts at seven schools, including Alabama and Texas A&M, before joining the Kansas staff.
Kansas owes Koenning a total of $1 million for the remainder of this season and next season.
Kansas is off this week before visiting Texas on Oct. 19.