not only would beilema be the most risk averse hire of any non-babers candidate i've seen mentioned, he also carries the most upside.
as noted in the re-paste in two posts above this, i view his arkansas tenure as a positive, not a negative. his style of football will maximize k-state's chances of winning in the big 12, he specializes in defense which i think is a plus, he won at a level at wiscy that exceeds program maintainer - he actually took them to greater heights than alvarez did in the six years leading up to his hire - and he stood toe to toe with SEC powerhouses in his second year at a loser arkansas program.
beilema entered the SEC at its absolute peak, particularly the SEC west, where they had roughly five top-10 programs at the time of his arrival; and roughly seven or eight top-20 level teams overall. it would have been tough for urban meyer to turn that around, let alone beilema. don't get me wrong, urban would have turned the corner in due time. but it wouldn't be overnight. that was a hard, hard, hard situation to walk into.
again, i want to point out that in beilema's 2nd year at arkansas, he went up against what undoubtedly is the hardest schedule in the history of college football. they could play football another 100 years, and you won't see a team play a more challenging schedule. and beilema took that 2nd-year team, which was total crap the year prior, and finished 7-6 with a bowl win over texas. he beat ole miss 30-0 as a 3-pt underdog. he went 10-3 against the spread. it was a great coaching job, and arkansas was a top-15 level team. a year later, beilema went 8-5, had a top-20 level team, and also covered the spread in 8 of 13 games. he won three times as an underdog - all on the road, at lsu, at tennessee, at ole miss. he lost to bama by 13 (but covered the spread), he lost to a&m in OT (but covered the spread).
beilema can flat out coach.