One of the deciding factors in choosing a position coach is their track with developing players. Miami recently hired former Toledo wide receivers coach Kevin Beard, who has a track record of developing wide receivers to their highest potential.

Beard coached wide receivers for six seasons at spots like Miami, Tennessee, and Toledo.

Here's a look at how he developed wide receivers at those schools.

This is Beard's second run at Miami as the wide receivers coach. In his only season as a position coach (he was the Assistant Director of Football Operations in 2014), he had three receivers top over 600 yards.

Rashawn Scott had a career year in 2015 and led the team in receptions, yards and receiving touchdowns. Scott ended up playing three seasons with the Miami Dolphins.

"Everybody got better just by KB coming in. He made us overall better players. I hope he stays," Scott said in an interview before Beard’s eventual exit after the 2015 season. "I want him to keep working with the young boys."

Former top prospect Stacy Coley had a return-to-form season under Beard, bouncing back from just 184 yards and no touchdowns to 689 yards and four scores. Coley was asked about Beard after the 2015 season:

"He's like a father, a brother, a friend. He's a fun guy to be around. He coaches us good and hard and he talks about the little things." Coley would go on to spend three seasons for the Minnesota Vikings, New York Giants, and Jets plus a stint in the XFL.

Herb Waters, in a similar fashion to Scott, had a career senior year under Beard. He had 41 receptions for 624 yards. He played in the NFL for three seasons with the Green Bay Packers and Pittsburgh Steelers. Waters also spent time in the XFL and Canadian Football league.

Beard also helped start the development of players like Braxton Berrios, Malcolm Lewis, and Lawrence Cager.

Beard spent just one season at Tennessee after a year as an offensive analyst in 2016 at Georgia. This was a reunion for Beard and former Miami tight ends coach Larry Scott, who was the offensive coordinator at Tennessee in 2017.

Overall, it was a rough campaign for the Volunteers and no player had over 500 yards receiving. Ineptitude at the quarterback position (three quarterbacks played that season, and none threw for 1000 yards) made any opportunity for a high-octane passing attack a pipe dream.

Still, Beard was part of the growth of multiple future NFL wide receivers at Tennessee. South Florida native Brandon Johnson led the team in receiving with 37 catches and 482 yards. He would never again reach that level of production at Tennessee, and three seasons after his time with Beard, he would transfer to UCF before joining the Denver Broncos as an undrafted free agent in 2022.

The 2017 season was the beginning of the rise of Marquez Callaway. He had a solid redshirt freshman season under Beard, producing 406 yards and five touchdowns. He is now a mainstay for the New Orleans Saints and going into his fourth season in the NFL.

Both Josh Palmer (a St. Thomas Aquinas alum and signee under Beard) and Jauan Jennings were young players that had under 100 yards in 2017 but ended up being selected in the NFL draft by the Los Angeles Chargers and San Francisco 49ers.

The majority of Beard's experience as a position coach was spent at Toledo under former Miami offensive coordinator candidate Jason Candle. He came in 2018 as the Director of Player Personnel before a promotion to wide receivers coach in 2019.

This past season was the highlight of Beard's Toledo tenure. Second-team All-MAC selection Jerjuan Newton had 830 yards and nine touchdowns, all highs for wide receivers at all of his stops. He also had two other receivers top over 500 yards and three touchdowns (Devin Maddox and DeMeer Blankumsee).

Maddox led the team in all major receiving categories in 2021 while two other receivers also had 500 yards, including Matt Landers who averaged over 25 yards per catch with five touchdowns. Overall, seven wideouts caught at least 13 passes on that team.

Isaiah Winstead, who totaled 63 catches and 949 yards in two seasons under Beard, was a third-team All-MAC selection in 2020.

Bryce Mitchell also earned All-MAC honors in 2019, Beard's first season as an on-field coach at Toledo. He combined with South Florida native and former Miami commit Desmond Phillips and Danzel McKinley-Lewis to give Toledo three receivers with 35 or more catches.

Beard is going to be expected to work his magic to revive a Miami receivers room once again. No wide receiver had more than 367 yards last season and just one had three or more touchdowns.

He returns seven scholarship receivers from 2022 plus the addition of 2023 four-star signees Nathaniel Joseph and Robby Washington. Miami failed to add any help in the Transfer Portal but Beard will have the opportunity to pull whatever talent is out of young players like Isaiah Horton, Brashard Smith, and Jacolby George - all players that come to Miami with high levels of high school production and recruiting hype.

Colbie Young is likely to be the star of the show after posting two 100-yard games last season despite starting the season off at the bottom of the depth chart. The 6'5" 215-pound vertical threat should round out his game under the tutelage of Beard, who is known as one of the best teachers at the wide receiver position.

Veterans like Frank Ladson Jr., Xavier Restrepo, and Michael Redding III have never had more than 373 yards in a season and if it is ever going to happen for any of the members of the trio, it is going to have to happen now, as all of them are going to their fourth or fifth seasons in college football.

Watch for tight end Jaleel Skinner to play some wide receiver this season as a potential outside threat opposite Young.

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