Friday night, at a Football in February event in Kansas City, Kan., Kansas University football coach David Beaty told reporters and KU supporters that he was all but done hiring for the open positions on his coaching staff.
Saturday, the Journal-World learned the name of one strong candidate, if not the favorite, to fill one of the two remaining vacancies.
Sources close to the football program indicated that Rice defensive-line coach Michael Slater could join the KU staff any day.
Slater, a native of Dickinson, Texas, who coached high school football at two Houston powerhouses for 12 seasons before joining the Owls, began his coaching career in 1993 as a student assistant at Texas State, where he also played college football.
Slater’s résumé includes more than a dozen years working exclusively with defensive linemen and a trio of NFL Draft picks, including former Rice standout Christian Covington, who was selected in the sixth round by the Houston Texans in 2015.
During his time as a grad assistant at Rice, Slater also coached future pros Cheta Ozougwu and Scott Solomon.
During the 2014 season, Rice set a school record with 39 sacks, and during Slater’s first three years with the program the Owls’ D-linemen recorded 72 of the team’s 87 sacks.
Slater, if hired, becomes the latest new coach to have strong recruiting ties in Houston, a theme that seems to be of growing importance for Beaty’s staff.
“Michael has strong ties in the city of Houston that have been built up over 12 years of coaching at the high school level, which is an invaluable asset in recruiting,” said Rice coach David Bailiff upon promoting Slater from grad assistant to full-time assistant in 2012.
Slater’s addition would bring Beaty one coach shy of fielding a full staff. He remains in the process of trying to nail down a running-backs coach and said Friday that a hire for that position could be made by Monday.
