With the clock ticking on the contact period prior to the signing of the 2016 recruiting class, Kansas coach David Beaty climbed aboard a plane in California with assistants Clint Bowen and Kenny Perry. Shortly before takeoff on a flight bound for Florida, Beaty got a text. Running backs coach and recruiting coordinator Reggie Mitchell, a holdover from the Charlie Weis staff, was probably heading to Arkansas. So Beaty poked his head into the cockpit and requested a new destination.
“Drop this thing down in New Orleans,” Beaty said. “We’ve got to get us a running backs coach.