Cooper Beaty stood out at a 7-on-7 Tuesday, sporting bright green sneakers with his gray Plano T-shirt and purple helmet and shorts.
Beaty’s a hard kid to miss.
With his 6-foot-2, 200-pound frame, he hardly looked or played like a sophomore on varsity last fall. Beaty led Plano in tackles with 85, 12 for loss, and also caught two touchdowns and ran in one.
Beaty is a beacon of promise for a Plano team that kicks off its third season under head coach Kyle Tutt Aug. 21 at Ottawa.
“We want a team that plays tough and energetic and with purpose. Cooper does that every day,” Tutt said. “He’s interested in being the best version of himself. Our kids see that and want to be like that.”
Beaty and the Reapers relished competing in the 7-on-7 environment at Kaneland, two weeks before fall practice begins.
“That was our first one of the summer, good seeing how we work together. I thought our team did very well,” Beaty said. “As of right now we’re a younger team, we lost a lot of seniors. Get that chemistry down.”
Beaty will be busy this fall.
Tutt said he could line him at running back, tight end or receiver offensively. Linebacker, he’s not leaving there on defense.
“My defensive coordinator said ‘I don’t care what you do with him offensively as long as we have him on defense.’ He will continue to be a voice over there,” Tutt said. “He is physical, quick, knows where he needs to be, he’s a playmaker. When you have kids like that, teammates rally around him.”
Beaty, whose dad played football and basketball in high school in southern Illinois – Cooper gets the tall gene from him, and whose mom ran track at Plano, feels right at home at linebacker.
“I’ve always been a defensive guy since I was little, love playing defense,” Beaty said. “Linebacker, I just love the energy that you bring. The linebacker is the leader of the defense and I take pride in that.”
He’ll do whatever’s asked on offense.
“I moved to tight end, I love catching the ball and scoring touchdowns,” Beaty said. “Honestly whatever I can do to help us win, I’m all for it. Getting the ball in my hands, doing what I can do to get the ball in the end zone. I trust in our head coach.”
Beaty believed he lacked a little in the speed department as a sophomore, so he’s worked to hone that skill.
He’s done speed work during the offseason at Acceleration Sports Performance, and also trained with Dr. Jeff Schutt.
“I’ve improved tremendously, definitely shaved time off my 40,” said Beaty, hand timed at 4.65 seconds.
Tutt said that colleges, including a few Division I schools, have taken notice.
“That goes to show his dedication, the support he has around him, the teammates that support him,” Tutt said. “He is doing all the little things right, putting the time in the weight room. He’s committed to playing at the next level.”
Tutt wants his Plano team to be disciplined and physical and that starts up front with the offensive line and defensive lines, units he believes will be team strengths. Anchoring the line is third-year starters Quinn Lyle and Niko Bandyk. Junior Amir Smith came up late to varsity last year and showed his potential.
It’s a roster low on numbers, but Tutt likes what he sees as the Reapers look to improve on last year’s 1-8 finish.
“What excites us the most is the willingness to learn,” Tutt said. “We have a good mixture of good returning experience and younger players competing. The energy has been strong, players taking more ownership.”
Plano has missed the playoffs the last two seasons, but with playoff expansion this fall the opportunity for a return is greater this fall.
“Our philosophy is to get better every day,” Beaty said. “We are coming for the wins. We are not going to back down from anyone in our conference. We want to get to the playoffs and make a name for Plano.”