photo by: Nick Krug

Kansas quarterback Montell Cozart (2), who left the game after being injured during the third quarter, watches from the sidelines on Saturday, Oct. 3, 2015 at Jack Trice Stadium in Ames, Iowa.

Covering the Chicago Cubs as a traveling beat writer in 1990, I enjoyed listening to the late Don Zimmer’s tales about his baseball life. I’ll never forget the look on his face, eyes burning, cheeks seemingly puffing even larger than usual, when he shared horror stories from an ownership group of another organization for which he had worked.

One of the club officials told Zimmer to write down his statistical expectations for every player on a monthly basis, share those expectations with the player, and then have a monthly performance review sit-down with each player who fell short of expectations. It demonstrated beautifully that what works in the corporate world usually doesn’t have any application to sports.

Yet, just this once, I would like to see a slice of corporate structure used by the Kansas University football program to solve the issue of what to do with Montell Cozart, such a graceful athlete blessed with such a positive attitude.

Head coach David Beaty repeatedly has said that if Cozart is not playing quarterback, he is too good an athlete to be wasted standing next to Beaty on the sideline. Yet, it’s difficult to imagine Cozart won’t be doing just that when the season rolls around and Ryan Willis is at the controls of the offense because he throws way more accurate passes, especially on medium and long throws, than anyone in the program.

The most natural position shift for Cozart would seem to be wide receiver, a path taken by former Kansas quarterbacks Kerry Meier and Kale Pick. Yet, his size and speed also project well to safety. Cornerback and running back might be stretches, but are worth exploring as well.

My corporate plan for Cozart: It might be interesting to view Cozart as a job applicant and put him through a series of interviews, one for each position group, conducted by the coach in charge of that position.

Start with standard job-interview questions:

What do you see yourself doing five years from now? He might just say playing wide receiver in the NFL.

What position, other than quarterback, do you think you would enjoy playing the most? Why?

Then drill down with questions regarding how he thinks he might respond to getting lit up catching a pass over the middle. Ask him what he misses most and liked least about playing defense for Bishop Miege.

In each interview, show him film of a player with proper technique and one with shoddy fundamentals and ask him to critique both. Ask him what football player from each position has skills that remind him most of his own.

Let him practice one day at each position, instruct him and document how smoothly or clumsily he makes corrections. Then meet as a staff and discuss his pros and cons at each position. See which assistant coach wants him the most in his position group. Find out why. Is it because that coach is desperate for bodies, or did he hear and see something from Cozart that convinced him he can develop into a difference-maker with his remaining two seasons of eligibility?

Moving Cozart from quarterback is the aggressive move, and the Jayhawks still are early in a rebuilding phase. It’s no time to play it safe if the cost of doing so is turning a potential play-maker into a spectator. If Willis suffers an injury, the difference between Cozart filling in as opposed to either Deondre Ford or Carter Stanley taking over isn’t significant enough to leave Cozart on the sideline, just in case.

Looking ahead to 2017, Willis will be a junior, and Tyriek Starks, the raw, high-ceiling, dual-threat recruit from New Orleans, likely will be in his red-shirt freshman season, ready to serve as Willis’ backup, getting more reps in practice than any of the other reserves. By that season, the offensive line will be stronger and more experienced than any for KU since Mark Mangino’s recruits used up their eligibility. And Cozart will be in his second season at his new position, the one at which, if all goes well, he could develop into an NFL prospect.