Last year when David Beaty started the Kansas blast some wondered if it was a one-year thing. But Beaty said on signing day back in February the plan was to go to every Kansas high school once again.
This morning the Kansas coaches hit the road with the goal of continuing relationships they have built since arriving a season ago.
Last year the Jayhawks offered more recruits in Kansas than any other school. So far in the 2017 class they are doing the same.
“We’re going to hit the Kansas Blast again and looking forward to it,” said Kenny Perry who took over the recruiting coordinator duties. “This time we might add an extra day to go into Kansas City on the Kansas side and one on the Missouri side. We’re going to go into Wichita for a day and then we’re going to use two days to go hit all of the other areas in Kansas.”
Last year Beaty told his coaches he wanted them to step foot in every high school in Kansas. He even joked after the Kansas Blast some coaches went into schools that didn’t play football. They didn’t want to leave any stone unturned.
The Kansas Blast is just one way they have tried to repair relationships with local coaches. Last summer they held a two-day team camp that attracted over 1000 players to campus. Many of them were from local teams.
The last two coaching clinics have attracted well over 100 coaches each time. This year the clinic featured Jon Holmes (Bishop Miege), Brandon Clark (Derby), Joel Applebee (Mill Valley) and Derick Hammes (Rossville) all coaches who led their team to Kansas state titles. This year they also attracted Greg Oder (Blue Springs South) and Ryan Schartz (Fort Osage) who won state titles from Kansas City side of Missouri.
“With our coach’s clinic we have had coaches from a lot of areas in Kansas and Kansas City,” Perry said. “We have had speakers from a lot of the state champions in the area along with Oklahoma and Texas. Our clinics have gone from 25 to 30 coaches to all over 100. That is big.”
Kansas coaches will visit over 300 local schools in four days
From 6A to eight man football Kansas coaches are expected to be in every school that plays football Monday through Thursday:
Zach Yenser: Northwest Kansas
Clint Bowen: Lawrence, Kansas City
Tony Phillips: Central Kansas, Wichita
Joe DeForest: North Central Kansas, Salina area
Rob Likens: Southeast Kansas
Todd Bradford: Flint Hills, Junction City, Manhattan
Michael Slater: Southwest Kansas
Tony Hull: Kansas City, Lawrence
Kenny Perry: Wichita
