Mark Mangino is starting to feel a tug to get back into coaching — and he’s not the only one who thinks that might be a good idea.

Since being fired by Kansas in 2009, Mangino has been tending to his wife, helping her through a bout with breast cancer. But she’s been nudging him to return to the game, and he’s been visiting NFL and college preseason camps to glean what he can, stopping at Ohio State for a couple of days this week.

“Now that she’s feeling better and is on the road to recovery, she said it’s about time you go find a job,” he said, chuckling. “She’s ready – and so am I.”

Mangino led the Jayhawks to an improbable 12-1 record and Orange Bowl victory in 2007. Before that, he was Oklahoma’s offensive coordinator during a national title run.

His trip to OSU has allowed him to renew friendships with Buckeyes head coach Urban Meyer and offensive line coach Ed Warinner, who was on Mangino’s staff at Kansas.

“I like what I see,” he said during a break in practice. “I see a lot of enthusiasm out here.”

Meyer has been bemoaning a lack of speed and play-makers, but Mangino isn’t buying it.

“It’s real early,” he said. “There’s no question they’re a team that needs to be developed to Urban’s standards. I think that’s what he’s trying to say – to his standards. And his standards are very, very high.

“There’s a lot of team speed out here. Maybe not what he had at the point when he had his really great teams at Florida, but not far off. Urban will continue to recruit those kinds of kids that can run really well. With their offense, they’re going to pose some problems in the Big Ten.”

Mangino, a former assistant under Jim Tressel at Youngstown State, expects the Buckeye passing game to be much improved with the growth of sophomore quarterback Braxton Miller.

“I think he’s the real deal,” Mangino said. “I look for him to have a tremendous season. He looks like a guy who’s developed and matured. He’s showing leadership qualities out here.

“The defense is very salty. The defensive front looks very good. The secondary, great speed. It looks like they have guys who can close on the ball quickly. The offensive line is big and physical. With Ed Warinner here, he’s such a technician. By the end of the year, that will be a strong suit on the ball club.”

A closer look: Taking a page from the NFL “Hard Knocks” series, ESPN has been granted full access to Ohio State during the first week of preseason camp and will feature the team in four half-hour shows that will air at 5 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, Aug. 14-17, on ESPNU.

Viewers can also get a behind-the-scenes glimpse of the Buckeyes in a five-part series on College Football Live on ESPN or ESPNU at 3:30 p.m. Aug. 20-24 and in a one-hour special on Aug. 22 at 7 p.m. on ESPN.

The network focused on Alabama and Oklahoma the last two years.