Kansas football: Holding out on David Beaty was hardly worth it

Kansas football and former head coach David Beaty have reached a settlement, and nobody really won.

Kansas football has been locked in a battle with former head coach David Beaty for over a year; however, an end to the dispute was announced yesterday. Kansas ended up paying Beaty 2.55 million dollars of the three million that he was owed, which reinforces the fact that Kansas Athletics should have just paid Beaty his buyout to begin with.

Here’s the brief version of how we got to this point:

Beaty was fired by athletic director Jeff Long, and Kansas agreed to pay him his $3 million dollar buyout. A short time later, Kansas alleged that Beaty had committed some low level violations, which meant that he wouldn’t receive his $3 million.

There were a number of other strange developments throughout the legal process, including Long not being able to recall any of the coaches he interviewed to replace Beaty, which lends to the idea that Long had always planned to fire Beaty and replace him with Miles.

A long legal battle ensued, and in the end, Kansas ended up paying 85 percent of what they initially owed anyway. Legal fees, working hours, and the loss of reputation will surely make up that $450,000 that Kansas saved. In short, holding out on Beaty did absolutely nothing to help the program.

Here is Kansas Athletics’ full statement:

"“Today, Kansas Athletics entered into a $2.55 million financial settlement with former head football coach David Beaty, ending all litigation and disputes. Despite the settlement, the University maintains that the facts and principles behind its position remain intact. For the betterment of KU, and driven by a willingness to move forward during a time of uncertainty in college athletics, the University has now put this matter behind us. All funds to be paid as part of the settlement will come from the original amount placed in escrow during the 2018-2019 fiscal year following Beaty’s separation from KU.”"

There’s no question that Beaty deserved to be fired after going 6-42 after four seasons, but not paying him what he was owed was the wrong move. About the only good thing is that this is over now, and both parties can go their separate ways.