Heading into Year 2 in charge of the Kansas football program, David Beaty brings with him an 0-12 career record that no coach would enjoy having.
But Beaty never has tried to dodge the facts nor has he sought sympathy for what can only be described as a tough 2015 season.
Monday, speaking at Big 12 media days for the second year in a row, Beaty expressed his disappointment for the way his first year as the leader of the Jayhawks went and emphasized yet again that he did not hurt for himself.
“You know, my biggest ache was for our fans, our coaches and our players,” Beaty said. “Because they deserve more. They really do.
“The Jayhawk Nation deserves better than what we were able to give ’em and what they’ve gotten in the recent past. We were doing foundation work, and it’s hard, but it’s necessary.”
To that end, the Jayhawks had to start from zero and build up. That meant getting rid of some personnel, changing the way practices are run, elevating the expectations, both personal and athletic, on and off the field, and Beaty said from the beginning that he would not deviate from that plan.
“We could have probably cut some corners and maybe taken a few guys that might have got us one or two (wins). But at the end of the day it wouldn’t have been worth it because our foundation is so important and we wanted to make sure it was something that was going to be long-lasting.”
With the foundation set — and, perhaps more appropriately, his one shot at setting it now in the past — Beaty realizes what must come next.
“Our deal now is we gotta win games,” he said. “That’s why we’re here, so we have to win football games and we are completely and totaled focused on the most important game in the history of our program, which is the next one, Rhode Island (Sept. 3 at Memorial Stadium). I don’t know who we play next. I don’t care. We are focused on Rhode Island and that’s the most important game that we have ever played in our lives. We are focused on that and after that it will go to the next one.”
