The final play of Kansas’ Liberty Bowl loss to Arkansas, and the lasting image from the end of KU’s season, featured quarterback Jason Bean, the longtime Jayhawks starter-turned-backup who shepherded the team through a four-game stretch with Jalon Daniels injured, taking a handoff on a trick play and sailing a decisive pass over the head of Lawrence Arnold.
“We know how the bowl game ended, OK,” head coach Lance Leipold said last week. “… Face it, he was planning on leaving. He could have packed up, left town. He came right back, he wanted to come back and be part of this program, wanted to play and get better. His growth and maturity and leadership (have taken) leaps and bounds from January to where we’re at now.”
The praise for Bean — who, indeed, could easily have taken his five years of collegiate experience and 13 Power 5 starts elsewhere — didn’t stop there. Leipold called his development at KU “a great story, one I’ll always remember,” and quarterbacks coach Jim Zebrowski said that in his three decades of coaching, “all the guys, he might have made the most progress.”
The general consensus is that Bean has built even further on his exceptional speed while becoming a more polished passer and more confident team leader. Zebrowski noted that without the pressure of being a starter, a player like Bean can sometimes learn things he might not have been able to before.
“It is a great example of somebody who’s just getting better every day,” offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki said.
Kansas quarterback Jason Bean (9) runs the ball against Texas Tech defensive back Rayshad Williams (0) during the first half of an NCAA college football game, Saturday, Nov. 12, 2022, in Lubbock, Texas. (AP Photo/Justin Rex)
The question is where Bean actually fits in this year. He took a huge chunk of first-team reps during fall camp as Daniels sat out with back tightness, and said at media day he’s been focusing on “mastering the offense” and “building that supreme confidence in myself,” and therefore “making sure that I know the offense so much that I can help the younger guys be as confident as I am.”
Even an offense with as many wrinkles as Kotelnicki’s, though, can only get the backup quarterback on the field so often. (Even if that backup quarterback has shone so frequently and has been in college football long enough that a former North Texas teammate, Jalen Guyton, is entering his fifth NFL season.) Especially when freshman walk-on Cole Ballard is now the apparent third-string quarterback and would be next line under center if Bean became unavailable.
One thing that helps both Bean and Daniels feel more comfortable in their positions in the quarterback room is the shared history between them. It keeps them grounded through, as Bean puts it, “the hard workouts and the easy workouts, and the big wins and the big losses.”
“I feel like Jason is a lifelong friend, outside of just being quarterbacks at the University of Kansas,” Daniels said.
Added Bean: “It’s only grown ever since I first got here and met him. I feel like it’s only going to continue to grow the more that we go through these ups and downs. I feel like that’s just what has made us come closer together.”
Kansas quarterbacks Jalon Daniels (6) and Jason Bean (9) run through drills during practice at David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium on Thursday, March 30, 2023.
Injured Kansas quarterback Jalon Daniels (6) celebrates with quarterback Jason Bean (9) after Bean ran for a touchdown during the first half of an NCAA college football game against Oklahoma State Saturday, Nov. 5, 2022, in Lawrence.
Chance Parker/Journal-World photo
Chance Parker/Journal-World photo
AP Photo/Charlie Riedel