Here is the problem with Beaty, He was a cheap hire, to move the program forward. In hopes to separate it from the woes of years past. In the hopes that it would accomplish a couple things, make people forget about those woes, and manage to at least gain a tiny amount of success. These things they wanted to do quietly and cheaply, and picked the safe option when it came to a coach, someone who they did not have a lot of confidence in getting them very far, but hoped to get by for a few years.
These things they did not accomplish, for a couple reasons, Beaty did not last long enough to garner any confidence in the program or how it is managed, and he did not establish enough success for the program to build on.
During his career and looking at this year it may look like he improved as the years have passed, if you look at the on field production and wins vs losses you might have a valid argument. But you have to look at the overall condition of the program. They currently have their best and most experienced team under Beaty, thus they are losing a fairly large number of players after this year. Their recruiting has been terrible and getting worse each year under Beaty. They have a total of 1 recruit signed for next year. So with all the gains he has made it appears he was going to make a meteoric fall in the next couple years, even lower than they are already. The lack of success and fickle fan base has garnered no support which not only has stalled any hope of facility upgrades but has put a huge damper on recruiting and coach hires.
It appears Beaty may have hit his max potential this year. Can they get something better? I am sure they can, but it is going to be a difficult climb and it is going to take not only a special coach but possibly a succession of special coaches and a long haul to get there. With a supportive fan base and a supportive administration along the way, something I am not sure Kansas has.
Kansas Is in worse shape than I think Iowa State has ever been in for this reason. During the tough years we still had great fan support and that kept the program going. Kansas lacks this.
From the point our administration switched gears and started supporting the program, it has taken many years and several coaches and Hundreds of millions of dollars in facility upgrades to get to where we are today. And at this point we are still a building program.
Along the way the fan support has always been there, something that has helped us fill the stadium, raise money, lure recruits, impress coaches, and put Ames on the college football map.
