Under first year head coach David Beaty, Kansas has decided to split their secondary duties between defensive coordinator Clint Bowen and co-defensive coordinator Kenny Perry. Bowen handles the safeties and Perry has the corners under his watch.
After a recent Spring practice, Bowen talked at length about how well him and his new colleague are clicking in the secondary, and shared an interesting comparison that defensive backs coaches will really enjoy.
“As DB coaches, we always live on the edge a little bit and have that gunfighter mentality. There’s no such thing as a pretty good gunfighter. And I think Kenny has that same (mindset), as well.”
Earlier in the day Bowen shared the same thought with reporters, but replaced "gunfighter" with "alligator-hunter", according to the KU Sports page.
I had never thought of it that way before, but I suppose a comparison can be drawn between Wild West gunfighting, alligator hunting, and coaching the defensive backs. All are professions where only the strongest survive; the "pretty good gunfighters" are taken out by the better gunfighters, and the "pretty good alligator hunters" get eaten by alligators (obviously).
The bottom line is that we're left with the best of the best, and one position where that is illustrated (perhaps more than any other) on the football field is with the defensive backs - especially in a spread-happy league like the Big 12. If your secondary is getting torched every Saturday afternoon, don't expect to have a whistle around your neck for very long.
Whether you're a gunfighter, an alligator-hunter, or a defensive backs coach (or any coach for that matter) it's survival of the fittest out there.
Other interesting coaching content from Beaty and his staff the past seven days include how they value dependability over talent in the receiver position, and how the secondary's experience compares to training a donkey for the Kentucky Derby.