Kansas offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki said Thursday that there has been no discussion about moving quarterback Jason Bean to wide receiver.
Kotelnicki, speaking after the third day of spring practice, acknowledged the Jayhawks will try to do whatever they can to get Bean, or any other player, on the field if the coaching staff believes he can make an impact at a different position.
But as far as a full-time move goes, Kotelnicki said that topic hasn’t been broached.
“We haven’t had that conversation,” Kotelnicki said. “We have some growth that’s going to occur in the receiver room right now. … That group has a lot of competition.”
Bean, who transferred to Kansas from North Texas prior to last season, started the first nine games before he was unable to play against Texas on Nov. 13.
Jalon Daniels started that game and led the Jayhawks to a surprising 57-56 overtime win, and he retained the starting role for the next two games, losses to TCU and West Virginia.
The two players are still competing to start at quarterback in the fall, and no decision on their role is likely to be made until the beginning of the season nears.
Bean is one of the fastest players on the Jayhawks — when asked Thursday, he said he’d finish first if the entire team lined up to run a 40-yard dash — and with the loss of Kwamie Lassiter II, who was a senior last season, they are left with a crop of unproven wide receivers.
“There’s a lot of competition in that room and they’re embracing it, and I’m excited for their growth,” Kotelnicki said. “So, before you start kind of talking about moving guys around, you want to see how well you can develop what you currently have, and I’m excited about that room and that competition that we’ll have because I think they’ll surprise some people next year. That’s what I hope to get out of that group.”
Bean completed 56 percent of his passes for 1,252 yards, six touchdowns and six interceptions last season, and he ran 92 times for 400 yards and two touchdowns. Daniels, meanwhile, completed 69.2 percent of his passes — on 65 fewer attempts — for 860 yards, seven touchdowns and three interceptions.
By moving Bean, who will be a redshirt senior in the fall, Kansas would be left with Daniels, who will be a junior; Ben Easters, who will be a redshirt freshman; and Jordan Preston, a Lawrence native who will be a redshirt junior, as its quarterbacks until fall camp begins. It is also adding Ethan Vasko, a recruit from Chesapeake, Virginia, who is graduating from high school this spring, during the summer.
“I’m just excited at any chance I get to get on the field,” Bean said. “However they use me, I’m willing to do it and willing to do it 100 percent. I’m happy at the position of quarterback, and I think I’m just trying to continue to better myself each day and help this team win.”