Kansas head coach David Beaty gives a signal to his players during the fourth quarter on Saturday, Oct. 3, 2015 at Jack Trice Stadium in Ames, Iowa. by Nick Krug

I have yet to find a single person with interest in the goings on of the Kansas University football program who is willing to say that second-year head coach David Beaty losing five full-time assistants after just one season is a good thing.

But I’ve found plenty who are happy to say that it’s far from a bad thing. And many of them are former KU players who, believe or not, still very much are behind what Beaty is doing and where the program is headed.

A Tuesday report out of Oklahoma indicates that D-Line coach Calvin Thibodeaux will become the fifth coach to leave KU, following Reggie Mitchell, Klint Kubiak, Kevin Kane and Gary Hyman out the door. And that news, understandably, shifted the vibe from the KU football fan base from concerned to flat-out frightened.

It's worth noting that OU has not made Thibodeaux's hire official and a source close to the KU program told me earlier this afternoon that Thibodeaux to OU was not yet a done deal.

Assuming he does eventually accept the job, the bottom line is this: After being hired in December of 2015, Beaty took a great deal of time — longer than most — to put together his coaching staff. The reason he gave for the lengthy search was that he was looking for the right guys and wanted to bring in a good blend of youth and experience, fire and poise, style and substance. For the most part, he did exactly that and the 2015 coaching staff was well-liked by the player, had good chemistry among it and display a strong ability to follow Beaty's lead in the passion and work-ethic departments.

A program that goes 0-12 does not very often get five assistants raided from it the very next offseason. And the fact that that just happened to Beaty is a testament to his ability to hire quality coaches in the first place.

What’s more, in having talked with most of the coaches who left, I really believe nearly all of them would have stayed if not for these specific offers that they received. Klint Kubiak would not have left KU to go work for the Miami Dolphins. Calvin Thibodeaux would not have left KU to go work at Illinois. Kevin Kane would not have left Kansas to be the linebackers coach at Vanderbilt. It took a promotion to defensive coordinator to get Kane to leave and it took the perfect offers to entice the others.

So before you deem this mass exodus a complete and utter disaster — and I understand why it looks, sounds, smells and feels that way — I think you at least have to give Beaty a chance to replace these guys. You never know. He might just go out and hire a bunch of quality replacements.

The jury is still out on whether Beaty can coach or if he has what it takes to get this thing turned around. But I think we can say with some certainty that the man can hire quality coaches. If he couldn’t, do you think any of these other programs — Oklahoma, Arkansas and the NFL among them — would have called on Lawrence, Kansas, to fill their openings?

And this is no knock on the guys who left, I really liked all of them, but it is my firm belief that in wide receivers coach Jason Phillips and linebackers coach Todd Bradford, Beaty already upgraded at both of those positions, mostly because of the experience advantage that Phillips and Bradford have over Kubiak and Kane. What’s to say he couldn’t do it again with the other three?

He may not. And the new special teams coordinator, running backs coach and D-Line coach all could be complete duds. If they are, hammer away. Call it a disaster. Demand changes.

But think about this when you’re waiting to hear who Beaty hires to replace the three remaining spots in the departed five: When Thibodeaux was hired last year was anybody in Lawrence going nuts about his name or the hire? No.

And yet now, with Thibodeaux walking out the door to return to his alma mater, where he, no doubt will receive a hefty raise and have a great shot at pursuing a national championship, KU fans are up in arms that he’s leaving.

It’s an imperfect storm. There’s no doubt about it. But it’s at least worth waiting to see if KU football sails into calmer waters before jumping overboard.

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