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

It doesn’t rank high among the many reasons I believe David Beaty made a move he will live to rue when he decided to take the offensive reins from the hands of Rob Likens, but doing so while still leaving “offensive coordinator” as Likens’ title does eat at me.

In announcing last month that he and not Likens will call plays, coach quarterbacks and install his version of the Air Raid offense, Beaty said that Likens would become more of a “walk-around guy” and assist Zach Yenser with coaching the offensive linemen.

After talking with Likens, I acquired a better understanding of his new role and at the same time was blown away with what an authentic team player he is. I also came up with a title that more closely captures his duties: Associate head coach of the offense/assistant O-line coach/head coach in training. By today’s standards of athletic-department titles, it’s not excessively long. It sounds almost like a promotion, even though it was a demotion without a pay cut. Likens has two years remaining on a three-year, $1.05 million guaranteed contract.

Likens addressed the role reversal in which he does what a head coach usually does while Beaty coordinates the offense: “David has talked to me on several occasions: ‘Hey, when I’m calling plays, that’s what I want you to do. I want you to act like what you would do, what you would look at, practice being a head coach. What would you say? What would you do?’ And I take those notes during practice and I give them to him.”

A head coach polices attitudes during practice, but can’t if he’s buried in the details of a quarterback’s throwing mechancis and the X’s and O’s details of teaching an offense.

“As a coordinator, it was hard to do the motivational part with kids all the time because I was always thinking, ‘We’re in play 16, we’re calling this. Then I’m looking at the scheme of the defense, so my eyes aren’t there anymore. My eyes are on kids. My eyes are on their attitudes. My eyes are on did that kid just jog off the field as fast as I would like him to? Things like that. So it’s just different.”

Likens and Yenser came together from California to form Beaty’s first staff.

“What I try to do in the individual (instruction) period I’ve been helping Zach, that’s been my main thing, and we’ve been having a great time doing that and I think the kids have really enjoyed it,” Likens said. “Because when you’re coaching the offensive line, you’ve got five guys going and then you’ve got 10 more guys behind you. You’re usually coaching all of those (five) guys up. You know kids, they’re 18 years old, we can act like they’re paying attention all the time. They ain’t paying attention, they’re chasing butterflies.”

And Likens watches from behind the way a dean of discipline might if his or her office happened to have a door that opened to the back of a classroom.

“So I stand back there, especially with the young guys and I’ll hit ’em, ‘Hey, do you know what this play is right here? What is your responsibility on this play?’ And I make them tell me what their responsibility is,” Likens said. “Where before, they’ve just been sitting back there. So that keeps their minds into practice. I’m always looking through practice to do something somewhere to do any drill to kind of constantly reinforce guys, ‘Hey, pay attention. This is important. Where are your eyes right here?’ All of those type of reminders.”

During practice and for the rest of the hours that fill the day, Likens is always coaching, always trying to earn his keep. “It’s been different,” he said. “It’s keeping my mind working. I’m just thinking about different things during the day now. I used to think, ‘What am I going to do if they bring four weak?’ Now I’m thinking about, ‘How can we structure this drill and this practice to get (sophomore offensive tackle) Larry Hughes better, instead of thinking scheme and play-calling. Just a different way of thinking.”

Kansas relied heavily on true freshmen Clyde McCauley and Hughes at offensive line last season, a rarity for that position. Typically, even the most talented blockers need a year to redshirt, a year in a college weight room, before playing in games. It was a very rough year for the O-line.

“I think if you watched film of any of our games last year and then went out there and watched our team period, I think just about anybody in this room would be able to tell a difference with an untrained eye,” Likens said. “I think we’re more athletic. I think we have guys who are doing the same things two years in a row. They gotten more confident. (Strength and conditioning) coach Je’Ney Jackson’s done a tremendous job.”

Likens explained what signs to look for that show improvement at the position.

“Everything about playing an offensive line is confidence in your strength because you have to stop 300-pound guys from running you over,” he said. “And if you’re confident in your strength, you just punch and keep your head out and you control. If you’re not strong, you duck, you put your head down and you position your body in any way that you can to try to not get your butt run over. But if you know you can’t get run over, you’re under control, your head’s out, you’re able to see, you’re playing more confident. That’s what I see out there, stronger bodies playing with more confidence.”

It will take years for Kansas to build a quality offensive line, but it’s not difficult to project progress in that area this fall.