After the announcement of Charlie Weis as the new head football coach of the Kansas Jayhawks, one of the first orders of business for Weis was to remake the team’s quarterback position. Jordan Webb was apparently out as the starter as Weis publicly wooed former Notre Dame starter Dayne Crist. Then Weis went after Jake Heaps. The team was set at the most important position, at least when it came to its starters.
But starters sometimes don’t work out and the Jayhawks were still woefully thin after Brock Berglund also received his release. Thus the arrival of another quarterback in Turner Baty became a piece of good news. Baty, who has three years of eligibility remaining after he transferred in to KU, says he’s ready to compete and play at Kansas.
“It’s kind of the end to a long and sometimes strange journey,” said Baty. “This is what I worked so hard for. I’m so excited to be playing for Kansas and in the Big 12.”
Baty said he was most impressed by Weis’ pursuit of him and his visit cemented those feelings after coming over from California.
“Weis and a bunch of his coaches came out to visit with me here in San Francisco, " said Baty. “That was really impressive and meant a lot to me. Then I took my official visit to Kansas. I fell in love with the place and I committed to them.”
Weis didn’t make him any promises he couldn’t keep, according to Baty, and he knows that the climb is uphill ahead of him for a spot.
“I know Dayne, he’s a real good friend of mine,” said Baty. “But Coach Weis said that I’d get a chance to compete for the job and that’s really all anybody can ask for. I’m just going to work as hard as I can and see what happens.”