Kansas shook up its athletic department in a massive way Monday by announcing the firing of athletic director Sheahon Zenger.

"Sheahon has been a loyal Jayhawk, and our athletics department has improved in many areas under his leadership. But athletics continues to face a number of challenges, and progress in key areas has been elusive," Kansas chancellor Douglas Girod said in an open letter to the school. "To achieve the level of success we need and expect, I have determined a change in leadership is necessary."

Zenger spent more than seven years at the helm of the Jayhawks' athletic department. Kansas brought home a Big 12 basketball championship in every year of his tenure, but the football program produced nothing more than futility over the same period.

Girod said football coach David Beaty will keep his job, though the firing of his superior will surely put him on notice. Beaty sports an ugly 3-33 record at Kansas as he prepares for his fourth season.