Former Kansas football coach David Beaty has been hired as the wide receivers coach of the USFL’s Houston Gamblers, a team that will begin play in the nascent league next month.
Beaty, who coached the Jayhawks from 2015-18, will return to coaching for the first time since he [reached a $2.55 million settlement][1] in his lawsuit over his disputed firing by the university in June 2020.
He sued Kansas in March 2019 and alleged that athletic director Jeff Long and the athletics department “concocted” reasons to retroactively fire him for cause, which would have allowed it to avoid paying his $3 million contract buyout once he was fired in November 2018.
In October, the Independent Accountability Resolution Process (IARP), which reviews cases involving infractions in Division I athletics, [cleared Beaty of any wrongdoing][2] at Kansas.
Beaty was offered an opportunity to serve as an offensive analyst at Texas for then-coach Tom Herman in 2019 but it was [rescinded shortly thereafter][3]. He argued as part of his lawsuit that he was unable to obtain a job elsewhere because of the litigation.
The USFL, based on the league from the 1980s, is the latest attempt to launch a spring football league that could serve as a developmental opportunity for players. The Gamblers will be coached by former Arizona, Texas A&M and Houston coach Kevin Sumlin. Free State High grad Bryce Torneden, a safety at Kansas from 2016-19, is on the roster of the Pittsburgh Maulers.
[1]: http://www2.kusports.com/news/2020/jun/05/ku-reaches-255-million-settlement-former-football-/
[2]: http://www2.kusports.com/news/2021/oct/14/former-ku-football-coach-david-beaty-cleared-ncaa-/
[3]: https://www.kansascity.com/sports/college/big-12/university-of-kansas/article242019246.html
