The No. 1 required quality for success in coaching is the ability to communicate clearly. After all, coaching is nothing if not teaching.

To say that Kansas University offensive coordinator Rob Likens communicates well would be an understatment akin to saying Kentucky’s basketball team is well stocked at center.

Likens speaks directly and expresses himself in a way that makes the listener conclude, “You know what, he’s right.”

When talking about KU’s unproven group of wide receivers, Likens discussed what it takes to get onto the field and to succeed once there. His answer had nothing to do with any other coach or college football program. Even so, it made me understand more clearly how Kansas State’s Bill Snyder has been able to flip one of the nation’s worst football programs into one of the best.

The topic of conversation was the depth of KU’s wide receivers, of which, on paper at least, there isn’t any. Three returning wide receivers caught at least one pass for KU in 2014. Rodriguez Coleman, Darious Crawley and Tre’ Parmalee combined for eight receptions and 65 yards without a touchdown.

“The last two places that I’ve been, we’ve played no less than eight receivers in a game and most of the time 10,” said Likens, referencing his time at California (Berkeley) and Louisiana Tech, working for Sonny Dykes at both places. “So obviously, depth is very important, because as much as you can, you don’t want the dropoff to be significant when your starter goes out to get a break. Hey, if he had to go out and it’s third and 4, you don’t want the guy going in there to be a significantly lower talent level than him, so obviously you want to be able to develop guys who are dependable. That’s what you look for first. A lot of people think it’s talent. It’s not talent.”

It’s dependability.

“It’s guys who are going to be in the right spot at the right time and you know exactly when they’re going to be there,” Likens said. “The system is going to get guys open. They may not get open for a long, extended period of time, but they’re going to be open for a point in time. But if they’re not dependable and not doing what they’re supposed to do, they’re not going to be there at the right itme.”

The first domino that busts a play.

“And then you’re going to see the quarterback do this (starts throwing motion and freezes) and then he gets sacked and everybody’s going to go, ‘Quarterback doesn’t know what he’s doing; offensive line’s terrible.’ You know what it was? It was the receiver not being dependable, right? And nobody knows that,” Likens said. “So we’re looking for guys who if they’re not going to be the starters, then they must be dependable guys. You don’t have to have a tremendous talent level to be dependable. You can just be dependable and you’ve got a shot.”

Snyder has made a living surrounding a few loud talents here and there with dependable guys. Even the talented ones don’t play unless they’re dependable. Proof of that is supplied by one family from Wichita. Linebacker Arthur Brown and his brother Bryce both transferred to Kansas State after originally attending Miami (Florida) and Tennessee. The brothers were as talented as anybody on K-State’s roster. The dependable Arthur earned Big 12 defensive player of the year honors in his final season at K-State and plays for the Baltimore Ravens. Bryce, named twice as a first-team high school All-American by USA Today, opened his K-State career third on the depth chart, behind John Hubert and Angelo Pease. Three games, three carries and 16 rushing yards into his K-State career, Bryce quit the team. In three NFL seasons, two with the Philadelphia Eagles, one with the Buffalo Bills, he has totaled 1,004 rushing yards. Clearly, he didn’t lack the talent to play for K-State, but he didn’t carry the ball but three times. The Wildcats did fine without him.

Likens singled out one wide receiver as the best performer so far in spring practice and he’s smaller and not as fast as most in the unit: Parmalee.

“There is always the one guy who starts the trend of doing every little detail perfectly and he’s the guy and that’s why I’d like to point him out,” Likens said.

In other words, he’s dependable. The hope, of course, is that at every position the most talented players become the most dependable. It doesn’t always work that way.

Research by 247sports revelaed that none of the 49 starters in Super Bowl XLIX were five-star recruits coming out of high school. So if you’re desperate for some good news, take solace in the knowledge that the depleted Kansas football roster has at least one thing in common with the Seattle Seahawks and New England Patriots. Dayne Crist and Jake Heaps both were five-star quarterbacks coming out of high school.