Nick KrugFormer Kansas football coach David Beaty has landed a new coaching gig with Florida Atlantic University, according to a report from FootballScoop.com.
The report indicates that Beaty will join FAU coach Tom Herman’s coaching staff and have “a prominent role in shaping the offense.” His specific title has not yet been announced.
The job will represent Beaty’s first full-time college coaching gig since 2018 when he coached his last game at Kansas at the end of a four-year stint that ended with just six wins in 48 games, four last-place finishes in the Big 12 Conference and two conference victories.
Beaty led Kansas to the following records: 0-12 in 2015, 2-10 in 2016, 1-11 in 2017 and 3-9 in 2018. He was fired with three games remaining in the 2018 season, paving the way for then-KU Athletic Director Jeff Long to hire Les Miles as his replacement.
The transition led to a messy 15 months, at the center of which was a lawsuit from Beaty, who accused KU of improperly firing him for cause and “concocting” alleged NCAA violations in order to withhold a $3 million buyout included in his contract.
After the long and public legal battle, KU settled with Beaty for $2.55 million in June of 2020.
Beaty said then that he had an opportunity to work for Herman when he was the head coach at Texas — and did, in fact, join the UT staff briefly at one point — but the legal issue, among other things, kept him from joining the Longhorns full-time.
Beaty and Herman worked together at Rice back in 2007, one year before he began a two-year stint under Kansas coach Mark Mangino’s staff as an assistant.
Beaty went back to Rice in 2010, came back to KU in 2011 and then was at Texas A&M from 2012-14 before being hired as the head coach by KU.
His only other job since leaving Kansas was as the co-offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach with the Houston Gamblers, a modern-day USFL team that plays its home games in Memphis.
The Gamblers are coached by Kevin Sumlin, who was Beaty’s boss at A&M.
In joining Herman at FAU, Beaty also is expected to reunite with former Kansas offensive coordinator Ed Warinner. ESPN’s Pete Thamel reported earlier this month that Herman planned to retain Warinner as his offensive line coach.
Beaty and Warinner worked together at KU in 2008 and 2009.
Beaty, 52, had kept a house in Lawrence for several years after leaving KU.
Herman was hired by FAU earlier this month as the replacement for fired FAU coach Willie Taggert. Herman coached in the NFL with the Bears in 2022 and did not coach in 2021 after being fired by Texas following the 2020 season.
