How the Kansas coaches pulled a shocker in less than eight hours

For Kansas football fans February 4th, 2017 will be a day talked about for a long time. When it comes to getting football commitments it is the biggest day in KU recruiting history, or at least since we have been tracking recruiting since 1998.

In an eight-hour span David Beaty and his staff secured commitments from six players.

One was Clayton Tune, a quarterback from Texas the coaches have been targeting for five months. He was the top quarterback on their board.

Then fireworks exploded from recruits in Louisiana. Five of the top 30 prospects from Louisiana gave verbal commitments to the Jayhawks. Three of them are rated in the top six in a state loaded with high school football talent.

Devonta Jason and Ja’Marr Chase are receivers ranked in the Rivals 250. They are among the top seven players in Louisiana. Corione Harris is a tall, cover corner rated as the nation’s eight best prospect at his position. Aaron Brule is a physical safety who delivers big blows to ball carriers on film. Brule is rated the second-best safety in Louisiana.

The first player to get the commitment train started was Anthony Williams a speedster from Landry-Walker. Williams has been clocked in the sub 4.3 range at different camps.

The offers lists combined include Alabama, LSU, Oklahoma, Florida, Georgia, TCU, UCLA, Tennessee, Ole Miss, Texas A&M, Auburn, Arkansas, West Virginia, and many others.

Reading message boards around the country one of the biggest questions opposing fans are asking….Why Kansas?

The Jayhawks are coming off a 2-10 season. But they played the second most freshmen in the country. They ended the season with momentum including a win over Texas, had a lead on Iowa State in the fourth quarter, and a competitive game with in-state rival Kansas State.

But it goes deeper than that. Recruits don’t always look at winning. They look at what the future may hold. They look at the make-up of coaching staff. They look at facilities.

Just over a year ago Kansas head coach David Beaty hired Tony Hull as his running backs coach. Most Kansas fans had never heard much about Hull. He was a high school coach who built Warren Easton High School in New Orleans into a state-title contender. Before that he was an engineer at NASA. He left his job at NASA to join the high school ranks taking a big pay-cut.

Before Saturday Hull had already lured five recruits from Louisiana. One of them is Mike Lee, a four-star recruit from Landry-Walker in New Orleans. This season as a true freshman Lee had 77 tackles and made several Freshmen All-American lists.

“He was a freshman All-American,” said Devonta Jason, who is the nation’s eight-rated receiver. “Watching him (Lee) make the plays he did as a freshman and getting the playing time he did stood out to me a lot.”

Then there is the family atmosphere all of the recruits talked about after their visits. Harris has known Hull for a long time going back to youth football.

“I have known coach Hull since he coached at Warren Easton,” Corione Harris said. “He knew me back when I was playing little league football. He is an awesome man. He has a great personality and always wants what is the best for the kids. That has always stuck out to me and he treats me like he is a father.”

Jason said he felt at home hanging around the Kansas coaches.

“The people they have on their staff really caught my attention,” Jason said. “They make you feel like family. They made me feel comfortable. Even though I’m 15 hours away from home I feel comfortable.”

Last summer the Kansas administration raised money to upgrade the Anderson Family Football Complex. They renovated the locker rooms, meetings rooms, and the player’s lounge. They spent millions to do what Beaty called “needing some new toys.” The latest upgrade installed last month included digital screens above the lockers. Kansas is the only school in the country to install the latest technology.

“I saw a video of the locker rooms on Twitter,” Ja’Marr Chase said. “But when you see it in person it is even better.”

The last commitment came from Aaron Brule 30 minutes before midnight. It gave the Jayhawks six total commitments, putting them among the nation’s top five recruiting classes for 2018.

There are fans of different teams predicting the Jayhawks won’t hold on to the new commitments. Recruiting is a strange game and there is a lot of time left until signing day. But remember, nobody thought Kansas would get them in the first place.

For one weekend the Kansas staff shocked the recruiting world. When you land six players in one day it isn’t a fluke.