Kansas football’s 2017 campaign wrapped up on Saturday. The Jayhawks finished the year at 1-11 and went winless in conference play.
Well, another season of crappy play by the Kansas football team has come and gone. By this point, KU fans were just ready for the football season to be over with and for basketball to become the permanent top priority (as it always is).
Heading into 2017, there was a little bit of optimism for the Kansas Jayhawks on the gridiron. They had surprised nearly everyone in 2016 with their upset over the Texas Longhorns in Lawrence late in the season.
Fans hoped that the Jayhawks would build off that surprising win, but that did not happen. Kansas won its first game of the season (a blowout win over Southeast Missouri), but then dropped their final 11 games, most being gross games to watch. Two of those losses came to MAC schools, which is simply unacceptable for a school in a Power Five Conference.
David Beaty led this program to yet another disappointing campaign and it was reported late on Saturday that he’d be returning to KU for another season. The decision is one that Kansas fans aren’t going to be happy about, but it takes time to rebuild a program, so that’s probably why Beaty is still the head coach of the Jayhawks.
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There were several games this season where it looked like Beaty’s guys had quit on him and that was depressing to see happen. It’s great that Beaty is a nice guy, but “nice guys” aren’t always the best options to have as coaches. Harsh, but true.
So, what’s next for Kansas football? Well, they need to hit recruiting hard this spring. If Beaty can prove that he’s a good recruiter and bring in some solid players, perhaps things will turn around for this program down the road. It won’t happen overnight though.
KU needs to get a decent quarterback too, as it was obvious that Peyton Bender and Carter Stanley were not the answers in Lawrence. If the Jayhawks want to make a splash at all next season, getting a better quarterback is one of the first steps.
Another bad season is in the books for the Kansas Jayhawks football team, but hopefully this program will turn around someday and this won’t be “just a basketball school”. We’ve seen the Jayhawks excel in football before (a decade ago… Sheesh, seems just like yesterday) and if they could get back to that mark again, that’d sure be glorious.
Buckle in for the offseason KU football fans! This program still has a lot of work to do.