New Kansas Wesleyan football coach Matt Myers had one name in mind when he began his search for an offensive coordinator.
Convincing James Bauer to leave fellow Kansas Conference-member Southwestern was the challenge.
"I've known him for four years," said Myers, who was promoted to head coach following Myers Hendrickson's resignation last month to become head coach at Division I Western Illinois. "I called him and asked if he'd consider it and he obviously did consider it. I showed him around and gave him my best pitch. I think he'll be an excellent fit."
Myers informed Southwestern coach Brad Griffin he was going to pursue Bauer.
"I have a lot respect for (Griffin), he's a really good guy," Myers said. "He was very amicable. He said 'Obviously I'm to try to retain him but he can make his own decision. It's part of the business.'"
Myers served as KWU's defensive coordinator for two seasons before his promotion and twice went head-to-head against Bauer's Moundbuilders offenses – Bauer coming out on top each time.
"I wanted the staff just to have a lot of really good men, good people, and he's obviously been super successful in this conference and at this level," Myers said. "A lot of the stuff he does I'm familiar with, his scheme will fit in well with what we're already doing. I'm going to leave what he does up to him.
"It's a bonus I don't have to coach against him again but I looked more of who's the best man I can hire and after that the most qualified coach. In my opinion he fit both of those."
KWU Director of Athletics Steve Wilson gave Myers a free hand in building his staff.
"When we hired him, we told him to 'Go get what you need, go assemble the people you need to help you be successful' and he was able to do that," he said. "You look at what James Bauer did in this conference, he put (87) points up against Kansas Wesleyan the last two years. It tells you what kind of coach we've got, just tells you what we've got coming to us."
Bauer, a graduate and former player at Friends, worked at Southwestern for five seasons and played a key role in the Moundbuilders' drive to the 2021 KCAC co-championship they shared with KWU.
"To work with Coach Myers, that was the big one," Bauer said. "It's a new opportunity and learn some more football, that was the big thing, to learn from somebody else.
"Leaving Coach Griffin's tough. What we did at Southwestern was a lot of work and it was great to see those guys get to the top. It took a long time and I was excited that (Griffin) finally got to get to where he wanted."
Southwestern prevailed last fall despite having to utilize three starting quarterbacks because of injuries. It was a seamless transition each time.
"Recruiting helps, that's for sure," Bauer said. "My first year there we had two freshman quarterbacks and after that we had one quarterback with experience and he got hurt, so that taught me we need more than one so we recruited some quarterbacks, some guys."
Bauer said his offense will be similar to what Coyote fans have seen in recent seasons. He's impressed with what he's seen from the returning players.
"We're more RPO (run pass option) based, I find their roles and expand from there," he said. "Watching film from last year and the year before and there's some guys coming back and that's what's important."
That includes quarterback Tony White (JR/Cincinnati, Ohio), the heir apparent to the starting job after Isaiah Randalle (JR/Sacramento, Calif.), the starter the last two seasons, transferred to Ottawa University-Arizona.
White appeared in 10 games and completed 65 percent of his passes for 510 yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions in 2021.
"Tony's a good player," Bauer said. "We broke down his film for our defense and I watched Tony play against Tabor before he played us. He's a good athlete, he's a good quarterback. He'd be starting anywhere else in this league, that's for sure.
"We're obviously going to recruit to try and get that much better and that creates competition. But the cupboard's not empty, there's some really good football players."
Myers has made other changes to the staff as well:
●David Leonard, who was a member of last year's staff, has been promoted to defensive coordinator and will be assisted by Myers.
●Johnny Feauto, KWU's standout quarterback during the 2018 and '19 seasons, has been promoted to full-time status and will work with the wide receivers. He was the KCAC Offensive Player of the Year in 2018 and a First-Team AFCA/NAIA All-American and KCAC Player of the Year in 2019.
●Three former KWU players have come onboard as well – Nolan Jones, Justin Sullivan (SR/Salina, Kan.) and Anthony Bargas (SO/Pittsburg, Calif.). Jones will serve as strength and conditioning coach and work with the defensive line. Sullivan played linebacker and Bargas was an offensive lineman last season and are graduate assistants.
"The culture is very strong," Wilson said. "You look at how many former players who played for Matt Drinkall, Myers Hendrickson or are playing for Matt Myers and already had that culture instilled and are now on the staff.
"And then you look at those who were external and we are so much better for having. David Leonard is a find that not everyone's going to have in their town – a guy who is that sharp, cares that much about people, who cares that much about where he is. He loves being a Kansas Wesleyan Coyote, and that's important."
The Coyotes begin the Myers era in mid-March after spring break.
"We'll have two weeks of football school – teach everything from the ground up, offense and defense so everyone gets to relearn it," Myers said. "Spring practice begins Saturday, April 2."
"It's really an impressive group down there," Wilson said.