photo by: John Young

Kansas junior Montell Cozart (2) works out with quarterbacks Keaton Perry (8) and Tyriek Starks (18) during practice on Thursday, Aug. 4, 2016.

David Beaty made one thing abundantly clear to his offensive players in the months leading up to the first practice of preseason camp. Sure, the offseason strength and conditioning would do wonders for the Kansas football players’ development, but they better not slack off on their play books, either.

The Jayhawks needed to show up prepared to run any variation of every formation possible in order to get the most out of their reps and avoid spinning their wheels with reviews. Beaty and his staff installed his version of the Air Raid offense in the spring, so complete knowledge in August was the only option.

Even though KU’s defensive players made their counterparts work at the opening practice (see: an interception by senior safety Fish Smithson), Beaty could tell his retention recommendation didn’t fall on distracted ears.

“You can tell,” the coach added, “they’ve done a nice job this summer, making sure they go through their proper training.”

It also helped all involved with the struggling program that many of the coaches and players are entering their second season of working together. As Beaty liked to predict a year earlier, everything flowed much more smoothly as the Jayhawks, who went 0-12 in 2015, began August preparation for Year 2 under his leadership.

“It’s just amazing how much experience does for you. I mean, you have to make up for that lack of experience through energy, positivity, enthusiasm, effort and things like that,” Beaty said. “The good news is we get to go to school on a lot of things we’ve got to get better at.”

In reviewing the first day of preseason work — Friday’s practice was closed and Beaty only spoke to media on Thursday — the second-year coach threw praises toward quarterbacks Ryan Willis (sophomore), Montell Cozart (red-shirt junior), Carter Stanley (red-shirt freshman) and Keaton Perry (sophomore). Plus, Beaty deemed the performances of senior running back Ke’aun Kinner, junior receiver LaQuvionte Gonzalez, junior running back Denzell Evans and tight ends junior Ben Johnson and red-shirt freshman Jace Sternberger all noteworthy.

But an unexpected name also earned his approval. Beaty said true freshman receiver Evan Fairs clearly benefited from his summer work at KU.

“He’s got a lot of technique things he can clean up, but he’s a talented guy,” Beaty said of the 6-foot-3 freshman from Fulshear, Texas. “He’s a young dude, so I’m not anointing him — not at all. But he did some good things (Thursday). He’s got good hands, he’s long, he’s fast, he’s pretty savvy. He’s smarter than I thought with regard to picking up as much as he did.”

Freshman DB Lee possible contributor on defense

Freshman cornerback Mike Lee, who re-classified and graduated from Landry Walker High in New Orleans a year early, didn’t have the benefit of training in Lawrence this summer.

Lee, a four-star recruit according to Rivals, could have been getting ready for his senior prep season right now. Beaty complimented the 5-foot-11 corner for his attitude and skill set, adding he’s glad to have the youngster on board.

“We just worked,” Beaty said, regarding how Lee made it to KU ahead of schedule. “We’ve got a great staff that worked extremely hard at turning over every rock we can in the country. We’re very creative. We understand that for us to get better, we’ve got to develop and we’ve got to recruit better than what we got.”

Obviously, transitioning to college football can be difficult for any freshman, especially a year-early arrival hoping to play in the secondary in the Big 12. Still, Beaty wouldn’t rule out Lee making his way onto the field for the Jayhawks this season, and admitted Lee projects as a player who might possess more talent than some of his teammates.

“We will play the best guys. We don’t care how old they are,” the coach said. “Once they get here, I don’t even look at them like that anymore.”