David Beaty still contemplating KU’s quarterback race

By Benton Smith     Aug 19, 2016

John Young
Kansas sophomore quarterback Ryan Willis throws passes during practice on Thursday, Aug. 4, 2016.

One of these days Kansas football coach David Beaty will be ready to name a starting quarterback. Friday just wasn’t that day.

“We won’t make that decision until we feel good about it,” Beaty said while addressing the media shortly after KU’s 17th preseason practice. “So it could be all the way up to game time (Sept. 3 versus Rhode Island). It could be next week. It could be tomorrow. Just depends on when I feel like it’s time to make that decision.”

The second-year head coach, who works directly with the quarterbacks, said his decision would be easier if the Jayhawks didn’t have options at the position, “but those dudes are really talented, and they can throw it.”

The two leading candidates to win the job, of course, are sophomore Ryan Willis and red-shirt junior Montell Cozart, both of whom started for Kansas during Beaty’s first season. The head coach said the quarterbacks, as camp progresses, show a better understanding of how to attack the defense through recognizing coverages.

For now, at least, Beaty wants to continue evaluating them at practices.

LM Otero
Texas A&M's Johnny Manziel (2) finds running room as Oklahoma's Javon Harris (30) and Chuka Ndulue (98) give chase in the first half of the Cotton Bowl NCAA college football game Friday, Jan. 4, 2013, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/LM Otero)

“We’re not completely finished with all our situations,” he said of throwing different scenarios at the offense to see how the players respond. “So once we get through those we’ll have a little bit more of a composite look, which will help us. But I will be in zero hurry.”

Asked about the areas where he wants to see improvements from Willis and Cozart, Beaty said leadership would be a “huge” factor in the QB race. The coach examines their body language, facial expressions and “all the things that talk without talking,” while also monitoring how each quarterback manages the team on the sidelines and everything else that comes with occupying the spotlight on a football roster.

“They all need to do a better job of understanding the leadership piece of that position and they’re young guys for the most part — Montell’s the one that’s got the most snaps under his belt,” Beaty clarified. “The thing we really have to do as a quarterback right now in our program is we have to have a guy, whoever it is in there, who can control that team and do a good job of managing that team.”

Strange as it may sound, given the 2012 Heisman Trophy winner’s struggles with sobriety and sticking around the NFL since becoming a college football sensation at Texas A & M, Johnny Manziel is a player Beaty cites when asking KU’s quarterbacks to do more as leaders. So now the Jayhawks can ask themselves: What would Johnny Football do?

Willis joked: “Your mind says, ‘Not the off-the-field stuff.'”

Kansas quarterback Todd Reesing pitches the football to Jake Sharp against Texas Tech at Jones AT&T Stadium in Lubbock, Texas, Saturday, Oct. 31, 2009.

Beaty coached the Aggies’ receivers when Manziel’s wizardry made him one of the most popular college athletes in the nation. He called Manziel “as good as I’ve seen anywhere” in terms of sideline demeanor and controlling a team.

“We’ve used a couple of examples with him constantly,” Beaty shared, “on how he has overcome a personal mistake and come back the next play and was able to re-focus and get back to the task at hand. He was phenomenal at that.”

Also a receivers coach at KU during Todd Reesing’s heyday, Beaty said the former star QB never changed his demeanor, either.

“We could be down three touchdowns,” Beaty recalled, “and he’d be telling Kerry (Meier), ‘Hey, listen, you’re gonna hitch-and-go here. And I’m gonna put you over on this, Dez (Briscoe).’ He’d be over there drawing things up in the dirt and you’re like, ‘Hey, hang on just a second. Can we just run our regular offense and it’ll work?’ But (Reesing) was an ultra competitor and he thought about the game so much, so deep.”

Willis said of late Beaty has harped on handling prosperity and energy levels. While the sophomore and Cozart go through the peaks and valleys of the QB competition, Willis added, they’ve tried to focus on their mannerisms and leadership skills.

“The team goes as you go, so if you’re showing bad body language something else could happen elsewhere,” Willis said. “A left tackle could be like, ‘Oh, crap. What’s wrong with him?’ It all starts at quarterback. We’ve gotta handle ourselves the correct way. And I think as a quarterback room we have been lately.”

Armstrong back practicing

After missing a bulk of KU’s camp practices with an unspecified leg injury, sophomore defensive end Dorance Armstrong Jr. has returned to normal football activities this week.

“He’s actually been out there for a couple of days now,” Beaty said after Armstrong practiced Friday morning, wearing a supportive brace on his right leg. “I think today was his first full-padded day, but he’s been moving around pretty good for the entirety of the week. So it’s good to see him back out there.”

Armstrong, a 6-foot-4, 241-pound defensive end from Houston, started the final five games as a true freshman in 2015, and finished the season with five tackles for loss and 3.5 sacks.

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