Have a question about KU football? Then KU football beat writer Matt Tait is your guy. Matt will be answering reader questions starting at 1:30 p.m. Thursday.

Bangkok_Jayhawk

What role do you see Prinz Kande in this year?

STLJayhawk10

ignoring science, what would happen if tim tebow and jeremy lin had a child?

pmyers85

Any word on position changes? I’m still curious about the logjam at running back, especially with Tevin Shaw now in the mix.

BadHaaseJayhawk

Matt with national signing day in the past and we pretty much know who we have on the team. Do you really think the “multiple” transfers that will come in May will actually make as much noise as the “big” 3 we already recieved?

LSHawk

Since you cover re-alignment also, there are rumors that the Big 12 is in dicussions with Louisville and Florida St. about joining the Big 12 in 2014. Have you heard anything like this??

mkalina15

Obviously alot depends on the defensive alignment, but how do you see the linebacker position shaking out, depth chart wise?

kgaylor

Matt –

Can you find out why the Big 12 didn’t receive a higher exit fee from A&M and Mizzery? Since the Big 12 hasn’t disperse the money, why didn’t they just keep last year’s and this year’s and next year’s and the TV contract bonus and say if you guys want it, see you in court?

catsandwich

Do you have any news on either the recruiting front or on possible transfers?

klong

Hey Matt is there any word on what KU’s uniforms will look like other than the names back on? Any different colors or anything?

diehardjhawk

Matt…in your opinion, can you give us an early depth chart at the RB position?

1_Jaydoc_1

How does the current KU coaching staff stack up against the rest of the Big 12 from top to bottom?

kuwells

Rarely do I ask a serious question, and this is no different!

I was at the MU game when Coach introduced the staff at halftome. He used a note card! Does he not know these guys?!? Is he nervous in those settings?

milehighhawk

What incoming players are you most excited about in terms of seeing the field and making an impact next year?

d_prowess

What do you think about the rumors that Taylor Swift might be dating Tim Tebow?

d_prowess

Any chance KU Football will let you participate in the the walk-on tryouts?

billr2604

Did the program suffer a major set back with players leaving due to the coaching change?

lv_jhwk

Could be me just not paying enough attention, but I thought the “every-other-day” schedule for Spring ball was interesting. Has Coach Weis given any indication as to the reasons behind that?

swunruhawk

How are the former Florida football staffers adjusting to life in colder Kansas and Lawrence? (how is Coach Weis son adjusting to life at KU?)

gardenjay

Do you ever get any reports on the weight room and how training is progressing? It seems like they don’t communicate very much, but maybe it is just secrecy or lack of anyone being curious about it except for a few extreme fans.

AtlJaybird

How much are the coaches allowed by the NCAA to provide advice to the players at this point? If Crist and Patterson go out on the practice field and work on routes, for example, are any of the coaches allowed to watch or offer advice? With a new staff any opportunity to watch these guys would be beneficial, and I’m curious what the rules are.

AtlJaybird

I heard allot of football recruits were on campus the weekend of the MU game. Any feedback from any of them on how the visit went?

tychi_jayhawk

Hi Matt. A while back there was talk about the BIG12 renaming the league b/c of all the negative connotation associated with the brand. Any whispers or rumors on that? Including the probability of getting back to 12 in the near future?

nfriesen

what do you think of this years schedule

jmason

Matt-You have written and Coach Weis has said that there may be other players that are not in Lawrence yet but will be after graduation. Any idea how many players he is looking at as one year eligible players?

nashhawk

The schedule looks awfully tough. Realistically how many games does KU have a chance to win?

gardenjay

Granted things have been kind of quiet, but have you heard anything from the weight room? How is KU training going?

kuwells

What happened to my question, Chinchilla boy?

VaJay

What’s your over/under for TD passes for the season by Dayne Crist? I’m saying 18.

Moderator

Hey guys. This is Jesse Newell, KUsports.com online editor. I’m joined by KU football beat writer Matt Tait. Matt, what is the best grub you’ve had in the last 48 hours?

Matt Tait

Two things come to mind… I really enjoy these sour gummy lifesavers that I’ve recently found. Real solid. Don’t have them with me now, though, so I’m hoping to make it through the next 30 minutes… Let’s go!

Matt Tait

I guess that’s only one thing… See, I need them.

Moderator

All right, let’s get started.

Bangkok_Jayhawk

How do you see the offensive line shaping up?

Matt Tait

For a unit that’s losing Jeff Spikes and Jeremiah Hatch, I think this group is still in pretty good shape.

I’d look for Trevor Marrongelli to slide to center, with Tanner Hawkinson and Riley Spencer at tackle. Duane Zlatnik (maybe the team’s best pro prospect here) should be one of the guards and that leaves one open spot and a lot of guys battling to fill it.

All four of those guys have solid experience and are talented players. It should be a strong O-Line, especially when factoring in some of the red-shirt freshmen and others who haven’t played much yet.

jhawkjdub

Do you think Steven Johnson has a legit shot at getting drafted this year?

Matt Tait

I do. If it happens, it’ll be late, but a couple of guys I’ve talked to have said that Johnson’s a good fit for a team who plays a 3-4 because of his good hands and intelligence.

KU’s pro day (March 14) is big for him. He did OK at the combine last week, but needs to improve a couple of things at pro day. I think he will. He looked a little nervous at the combine and I’d expect him to be much more relaxed and even more driven when the 14th rolls around.

Drafted or not, Johnson will get a shot next year with an NFL team.

jaydee909

Anything surprise you to this point on how Coach Weis is handling the program?

Matt Tait

Based on what I’ve learned from talking to other people about him, nothing has surprised me that much. He’s all business, no nonsense and very charismatic. He knows what he’s doing, knows what he wants to do and is making moves to get that accomplished.

I guess if I had to say something that has surprised me a little, it’s the fact that he’s been so hellbent on winning right away. That’s what he’s here to do and he seems to believe it can happen. For a guy stepping into an obvious rebuilding situation, that’s a little surprising, but also good to see.

The other thing that I think is really cool and kind of a surprise is that Coach Weis runs his own Twitter account. Small potatoes, I know, but that’s pretty cool and a great sign that this guy understands college athletes and the landscape around him.

Toto_the_great

Any word about McCay?

Matt Tait

Haven’t heard anything. I’m guessing we’re still a few weeks away (at least) from hearing something. And this probably won’t be one of those things where we’ll know what’s up before KU announces it. Just gotta be patient. But I still like his chances of playing this season.

manginorh00lz

While still having to pay the remainder of Gill’s contract, among other things, can KU afford to fire Bonnie Henrickson right now?

Matt Tait

Good question. And I think you’re right on the money (no pun intended)…

I think because of the financial obligations and the unfortunate situation with the injury to Carolyn Davis, she’ll be back next season. But, needless to say, that will be a pretty big year for her.

HotToddy69

Years from now, do you see Todd Reesing or Aqib Talib or both joining the Ring of Honor?

Matt Tait

I’d say both. There will come a time where it will be important to start honoring the next generation of KU’s all-time greats and these guys are both at the top of the list.

Reesing HAS to be on there someday because he rewrote the record book and has a bunch of records that may stand for quite a while.

Talib is deserving because he was an All-American and arguably was KU’s best player during their best season.

They’ll have to get creative with how they do it, but if Weis gets things rolling and there are some stadium renovations that come because of it, I think you’ll find a pretty cool solution to adding a couple of names and making room for more.

Bangkok_Jayhawk

There is a lot of talk about the running back position but little seems to be about James Sims. He has done some good things for the past 2 years. Any chance James Sims is the primary back this year?

Matt Tait

I think there’s a great chance…

Think about it, heading into last year there were three backs that were supposed to surpass Sims and take a good chunk of his carries. It didn’t happen and Sims still led the team in carries and yards.

The chance is greater that he’ll be surpassed this season because it’s a new coaching staff, but I’ve learned this much about Sims in my time covering this team – you don’t want to underestimate him.

The guy is driven, reliable, humble and improving all the time.

I think he’ll get plenty of carries and I think he deserves them. In addition to his talent, he’s also one of the best people on this roster. Just a great dude.

texashawk10

Thanks for all your hard work Matt.

How much playing time do you see Lubbock Smith getting next year at safety because it would seem like his senior leadership and game experience would be a huge benefit for the defense, at least early on in the season.

Matt Tait

This is a great point and something that often gets overlooked.

I’ve jumped pretty hard on the Victor Simmons bandwagon and I still think Simmons is a player who’s going to be really solid really soon, but Smith is a guy you can’t forget about.

He started six games for Mangino as a true freshman and was eighth on the team in tackles that year and earned all-Big 12 freshman honors and honorable mention freshman All-American honors.

Since then, he’s kind of been up and down. He has talent, he’s passionate and he’s obviously got a lot of experience. I’m guessing he’ll be given every opportunity to earn a starting spot and, even if he doesn’t do that, will factor into the rotation back there.

jjjhwk

From a numbers standpoint how much effect do you think the new enthusiasm from fans will affect attendance at the Spring Game?

Matt Tait

I’ll say this, if those stands aren’t packed on April 28, you’re all missing the boat…

KU fans want a winning program and something they can be proud of on Saturdays. They have a part in that. Showing up in the spring will tell the coaches, the players and everyone watching that KU football has support from the fans and that can go a long way in turning things around quickly.

I’m guessing we’ll be looking at an all-time high for attendance as long as the weather cooperates.

Moderator

Time for a few more …

kustrong

According to this website, http://cfn.scout.com/2/1155087.html KU has the worst recruiting class in 2012. What is your take on this years recruits and where do you expect KU to be in 2013?

Rock Chalk

Matt Tait

First off, you have to remember that the ranking may not include Heaps, McCay and Crist. Those guys alone would add a lot to that ranking and would at least elevate KU to the middle of the pack.

Beyond that, football classes are so much more difficult to rank than hoops classes and because of that there’s no reason to get too worked up about high rankings or low rankings.

Weis and company threw that class together in a little more than a month and, considering that, it’s a darn good one. It addressed all of their major needs and brought in guys who pass Weis’ talent test. That’s a little tougher test than we’ve seen in recent years.

Give these guys a full year to put together the 2013 class and I think you’ll be looking at something pretty special. Maybe not Top 2 or 3, but I’d bet top half for sure. Time will tell…

april28

Any updates on the players who were released?

Matt Tait

I haven’t heard much. It’s been pretty quiet regarding that and I would imagine it will remain that way at least through April. Once we get to May and the summer and guys start to enroll for the fall semester and all that, we should know more.

JayDocMD

Seems like the Big 12 let A&M and MU off too easily by accepting far less than what conference bylaws dictated. Why not demand the full amount since they gave less than the required 2 years notice?

Matt Tait

I totally agree and am a little shocked by it. When you look at the fact that West Virginia had to pay $20 million to leave the Big East and these two paid just $24 million combined to leave the Big 12, it’s a bit perplexing.

I haven’t had much of an opportunity to talk to people about WHY this happened, but I’m guessing it points to part of the problems that were in place with the Big 12 structure to begin with and also may hint toward the league’s future expansion plans. Maybe they didn’t want to stick it to MU and A&M in hopes that down the road, if they’re taking more teams from other conferences, maybe some of that will come back in their favor.

That could be a reach, but it’s at least one way to explain it.

The other way to explain it is this: The Big 12 is ready to be done with this mess and didn’t want to drag it out any longer. Give us what you will and get out of here.

Hard to say for sure. I’ll look into it a little more and try to letcha know.

Moderator

OK, final one. Serious like always.

d_prowess

What positions on the football field would you assign to all of your fellow LJW sportswriters if you were putting together a team?

Matt Tait

Wow. This could be fun!!!

Keegan – Quarterback. Hey, he’s the boss and he actually used to run point during his basketball playing days. I think that would translate well.

Tait – Athlete. Versatile and capable of playing a bunch of different roles from carrying the ball to catching it and returning kicks and defense.

Newell – Middle Linebacker. Smart, crafty and under control at all times.

Bedore – Lockdown corner. Great coverage skills.

Benton Smith – Tight end. He’s a little slow, but has a good frame, good hands and isn’t afraid to mix it up.

Andrew Hartsock – Free Safety. A little undersized but still capable of being tenacious. Also covers a lot of ground.

Nick Gerik – Wide Receiver. Tall, lanky and would benefit from his experience in covering the Hawks in the NBA if asked to be the team prima donna.

Chris Cottrell – Fullback. Does a lot of the dirty work and seems to relish it.

Nick Krug – Tailback. Uses his vision well and sees things others don’t.

Wow. That was a challenge!

Moderator

What an epic question and even more epic answer.

Well, thanks for joining us, Matt, and thanks to everyone for the great questions.

Matt Tait

I’m wiped out after that last one. Need some candy and a soda.

With the Big 12 tourney happening next week and the NCAA Tournament in the weeks that follow, we have have to move this chat to Wednesdays for a week or two. We may even open it up to some hoops chatting.

We’ll letcha know. And if we do, we’ll call it “31 for Wednesday”

Thanks for stopping by and for the great questions. Enjoy March Madness!!!