Beaty says difference is 'night and day' compared to last spring
Over the last 5-10 years spring football games have been built up like they should mean something. But they really don’t. It should be used by family and friends, alumni and fans, as a day to get out and watch football in April.
Most any coach would tell you they just want to get through the game without any injuries. Yesterday the quarterbacks and first-string offensive players weren’t allowed to be tackled at Oklahoma’s spring game. David Shaw, Stanford’s head coach, didn’t even let star running back Christian McCaffrey participate in the spring game except for fielding punts.
The same goes for David Beaty but he has two more practices to worry about the players staying healthy. The Jayhawks will hold two more practices before the spring is officially a wrap.
I still remember that KU spring game in 2007. They were installing a new offense with offensive coordinator Ed Warinner. They were changing the way plays were signaled in and going with a no-huddle, speed-it-up, spread approach. The two quarterbacks Kerry Meier and Todd Reesing were a combined 23-of-47. The offense left people in doubt leaving Memorial Stadium what it would look like next fall. The defense gave up close to six yards a rush in the spring game.
Well we all know how it ended. The Jayhawks went 12-1 and beat Virginia Tech in the Orange Bowl. The offense in 2007 was the most prolific in school history. The defense finished eighth in the nation in rushing defense and was the best in the Big 12 in total defense.
It is difficult to gauge anything from a spring game or scrimmage. The players all know each other. Heck, sometimes the defensive players know what the play call is because they have been practicing against it all spring.
Based off the things the offense has worked on in practice this spring they showed little of it in the spring scrimmage. Beaty kept it vanilla. I don’t expect the offensive scheme to look like what they showed yesterday.
When asked about the difference between the team now compared to last spring Beaty said it is a big difference. He credited Je’Ney Jackson with improving the team’s lifting numbers. Beaty said some of the numbers have tripled in what players can lift compared to a season ago.
“Year one to year two, night and day in terms of just how we practice, how we look, how we're conducting our business in spring,” Beaty said. “Some of the development that Coach Jackson has created in that weight room has been something that has been -- I mean, I've been so pleased with his group and what they've done. Just some of the numbers that they've produced has been great.”
Last spring the Jayhawks had trouble fielding a second team offensive and defensive line. This year they could go up to three deep in spots on both lines. They are building depth across the roster as Beaty heads into year two.
When Beaty took over as the head coach the sentiment with most any fan who follows KU football was Beaty would need four to five years to get everything going in the right direction. There is no reason those expectations should change. It will still take time. What you hope to see is progress each and every season.
Just don’t use a spring scrimmage to form your opinion because they rarely ever tell the story.
