Coaching Search 2014: There’s a new No. 1 on the updated percentage wheel

By Matt Tait     Dec 2, 2014

Kansas University wide receivers coach David Beaty, right, delivers instructions to KU wideout D.J. Beshears on April 18 at the KU practice field. Beaty rejoined the Jayhawks’ staff after serving as offensive coordinator at Rice last season.

When Charlie Weis was fired on Sept. 28 and this whole Kansas University football coaching search first got rolling — the third such endeavor by KU since 2009 — there was one name that I always used to answer the question, “So who’s gonna be the next coach?”

It might be time to put that name back at the top of the list.

Based on what I learned from a handful of conversations I had throughout the day Tuesday, I’m elevating Texas A&M assistant coach David Beaty to the No. 1 spot in my percentage wheel.

Here’s a look:

**1. David Beaty – 37%
2. Clint Bowen – 25%
3. Other – 16%
4. Justin Fuente – 10%

5. Tim Beck – 7%
6. Ed Warinner – 5%**

Former Kansas receivers coach David Beaty, right, will return to the KU coaching staff in 2011.

As you already know — and many of you have so kindly pointed out — this does not mean Beaty is absolutely the guy or even in the lead or anything like that. The percentage wheel merely keeps tabs on what I think might happen and it’s sounding a little more likely by the day that Beaty could be the guy the Jayhawks wind up with as the 38th head coach in program history.

If that’s the case, the Jayhawks certainly would be making a solid hire.

I knew Beaty briefly during both of his stints as the KU wide receivers coach — once under Mark Mangino (2008-09) and again in 2011 under Turner Gill — and I liked everything about the guy.

He’s a good guy. He’s genuine. There’s not an ounce of phoniness to him and he has incredible people skills, with the ability to relate to people from all walks of life, from a 16-year-old three-star recruit to a 72-year-old millionaire donor and everyone in between. He’s one of those guys who seems to call everyone “partner” and finds a way to make them like it when he does. Some might even say he’s the Texas version of Bill Self, personality-wise at least.

His recruiting ties throughout Texas are already well documented — he’s a native of Garland, Texas and worked at four different Texas high schools from 1994-2005 — but it’s probably worth noting that he has the deepest ties in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, which has been a hotbed for Kansas during the past decade and definitely will continue to be so into the future.

Beaty owns a highly intense personality, one that’s rooted in down-home goodness and having fun. That’s not to say he’s a pushover. Not by any means. In fact, his receivers at Kansas always talked about how demanding he was and that he emphasized that they do all of the little things right — particularly with regard to blocking — and often did not accept anything less than perfection. At the same time, he respected them enough to make them feel appreciated and knew how to reward their solid efforts.

A lot has been made about Beaty being “the next Art Briles,” but that’s a lot of pressure to put on one guy given the fact that many believe Briles is as good as they come in the college football coaching profession these days. The reason that probably comes up so often is because Beaty was a successful high school coach in Texas and followed that success to the college ranks, where he’s done well both as a position coach and a recruiter.

One former Big 12 assistant I spoke to about Beaty said he believed without hesitation that Beaty was ready to make the leap to the head coach’s office and added that if that’s who the Jayhawks end up hiring they will have made a very quality hire.

In 2010, Beaty was the offensive coordinator at Rice and he held the co-offensive coordinator title during his second stint at Kansas under Gill while coaching wide receivers at both schools. He’s been the A&M receivers coach for three years and is in his second season as A&M’s recruiting coordinator.

It’s possible there was some hope early on that KU might be able to convince Beaty to come to Lawrence as the offensive coordinator, but I’m betting A&M would step up and battle to keep him if that were the only offer on the table. If KU offers him the head coaching job, there’s probably not much Kevin Sumlin could do to make A&M sound more appealing than that.

**• As you can see, I’ve also added former Nebraska offensive coordinator Tim Beck** to the percentage wheel after being told not to sleep on the guy during this search and removed Matt Wells from the list.

**• As for the one removal,** I didn’t hear much, good or bad, when asking around about Wells on Tuesday and I also noticed that Jon Kirby over at JayhawkSlant.com was planning to remove him from his board.

**• I don’t think Clint Bowen is done at this point.** That’s why he’s still in the No. 2 spot on the percentage wheel. But his best shot right now seems to be if one or two other guys pass or remove themselves from contention. Let’s say Beaty elects to stay at A&M (perhaps with a raise and a new title) and Fuente waits for a better job to come open to make his leap. If that were to happen, I think Bowen would be the guy.

**• There’s always the chance that someone new could enter the picture** and that’s why I’ve got “Other” up there so high still. All of that 11th hour talk that I heard on Sunday was pretty interesting.

**• It’s still early, but this thing seems to be moving pretty quickly.** That makes sense because of all of that prep time Sheahon Zenger, Chuck Neinas and company had as the season played out and, it also makes sense because KU would be smart to move as fast as possible given the fact that big-time jobs Florida, Michigan and Nebraska are all open at the same time and what goes on there and the trickle-down effect that would follow could impact Kansas if they wait around too long.

Stay tuned…

PREV POST

Frankamp headed to Wichita State

NEXT POST

45622Coaching Search 2014: There’s a new No. 1 on the updated percentage wheel

Author Photo

Written By Matt Tait

A native of Colorado, Matt moved to Lawrence in 1988 and has been in town ever since. He graduated from Lawrence High in 1996 and the University of Kansas in 2000 with a degree in Journalism. After covering KU sports for the University Daily Kansan and Rivals.com, Matt joined the World Company (and later Ogden Publications) in 2001 and has held several positions with the paper and KUsports.com in the past 20+ years. He became the Journal-World Sports Editor in 2018. Throughout his career, Matt has won several local and national awards from both the Associated Press Sports Editors and the Kansas Press Association. In 2021, he was named the Kansas Sportswriter of the Year by the National Sports Media Association. Matt lives in Lawrence with his wife, Allison, and two daughters, Kate and Molly. When he's not covering KU sports, he likes to spend his time playing basketball and golf, listening to and writing music and traveling the world with friends and family.