Kansas University assistant football coach Rob Likens watches over practice as the players get stretched out on Tuesday, April 5, 2016.

Rob Likens, David Beaty’s first offensive coordinator, came to Kansas with a reputation for being one of the more well liked assistant coaches among peers, and did nothing to change that in his two seasons in Lawrence, even though things didn’t go well for him.

Likens lasted one year in that job and was demoted to Walk Around Guy in his second season, when Beaty appointed himself OC for a year. It was tough watching Likens, well, walk around at practice. At times he looked a coach without anybody to coach.

No need to fell sorry for Likens anymore. He has a reported base salary of $700,000 as offensive coordinator for first-year Arizona State coach Herman Edwards, twice the salary he made last season as receivers coach for Todd Graham.

Likens’ offense is averaging 309 passing yards per game and has five touchdown passes and one interception. The Sun Devils (2-0) are coming off a 16-13 victory against Michigan State.

Things also are going well for Beaty’s first linebackers coach, former Kansas linebacker Kevin Kane. He left Beaty’s staff after one season to become defensive coordinator for Northern Illinois for two seasons and then was recruited to SMU as DC by first-year coach Sonny Dykes.

Calvin Thibodeaux, defensive line coach at KU in 2015 and instrumental in the recruitment of Dorance Armstrong, left after one season to coach at Oklahoma, his alma mater. He’s in charge of defensive ends for the Sooners.

Klint Kubiak, receivers coach in 2015, left for the Denver Broncos after one season and remains there, now coaching quarterbacks.

Reggie Mitchell, Beaty’s first running backs coach, left after a season and spent two years in the same role at Arkansas. He’s now doing the same job for head coach Dana Dimel at UTEP.

Special teams coach Gary Hyman was let go by Kansas after the 2015 season and was not retained after 2016 by Indiana State. He has resurfaced this season at UT San Atonio on Frank Wilson’s staff.

In review, after an 0-12 2015 season, 4 of 9 assistant coaches left for what they considered to be better opportunities, and one was fired.

After a 2-10 2016 season, Likens was tired of walking around and wanted to get back to coaching, so he headed to Arizona State. Wide receivers coach Jason Phillips was told he would not be retained and was hired by Oregon State to fill the same role. Defensive line coach Michael Slater was not retained and is coaching the same position for Texas Southern head coach Michael Haywood. Turnover dropped from five assistants in Beaty’s first season to three in his second.

In the wake of a 1-11 2017 season, the turnover number again was three. Offensive line coach Zach Yenser and special teams coach Joe DeForest, who spent two seasons at Kansas, were fired. Yenser is offensive line coach for Enterprise High, a 7A school in southeast Alabama. Southern California head coach Clay Helton hired DeForest as a defensive quality control coach. Todd Bradford, KU’s linebackers coach for two seasons, accepted a lucrative offer to return to the oil industry.

Defensive coordinator Clint Bowen and Kenny Perry, who has moved from cornerbacks to special teams, where things are going well, are the lone remaining assistant coaches from Beaty’s original staff.