McCoy KU’s safety net

Sophomore defensive back thriving in starting role

Not that the College Football Hall of Fame is calling at least not yet but it could be Johnny McCoy is the real McCoy.

A Kansas University sophomore defensive back, McCoy thrust himself into the spotlight last Saturday night when he made a team-high 13 tackles, all but one solo, in the Jayhawks’ 31-20 loss to Nevada-Las Vegas.

Kansas safety Johnny McCoy, right, brings down Nevada-Las Vegas running back Joe Haro. McCoy, a first-year starter, had 13 tackles in last week's game at UNLV.

It was only the second game McCoy (6-foot-1, 190 pounds) had ever played at free safety, the first being against Iowa State the week before in the season opener.

“That first game I was just playing Xs and Os and trying not to make mistakes,” said McCoy, KU’s second-leading tackler through two games behind linebacker Greg Cole. “The second game I was a lot more comfortable.”

In the vernacular, he was getting his feet wet.

“It’s a lot different on the field than it is seeing it on tape,” said McCoy, who will try to help the Jayhawks earn their first victory of the season tonight in the home opener against Southwest Missouri State. “Things come a lot faster.”

Things came so fast last year that McCoy struggled in the secondary as a red-shirt freshman. He was a backup cornerback then and when he stepped onto the field for the first time in a college game against Southwest Missouri State, the whistle blew and the yellow flag flew.

Pass interference.

“It was a legit call,” McCoy said, smiling. “But it was really good to get on the field after a red-shirt year.”

McCoy spent most of his rookie year on the punt and kickoff teams while seeing duty as a backup cornerback from time to time.

“I learned the tempo,” he said, “playing on special teams.”

McCoy played in all 11 games as a red-shirt freshman, but he wasn’t credited with a single tackle.

He impressed first-year coach Mark Mangino and his staff during spring drills, however, and emerged as the starter at free safety.

¢ 6Sports video report: SMS to pay Jayhawks second visit¢ 6Sports video: KU’s defense hopes to improve¢ KU v. UNLV game pictures¢ (9-9-02) Mangino points out who has stepped up defensively.audio play (55 seconds, 218 k)¢ (9-10-02) Players of the week against UNLV:Johnny McCoy, Bill Whittemore and Matt Jordan.audio play (42 seconds, 166 k)

“Johnny McCoy is going to be an outstanding player in this program,” Mangino said.

“He defends the run well. He covers well in the passing game. He’s tough. He’s hard-nosed. He’s a great open-field tackler. I’m really pleased with him.”

McCoy came to Kansas on the Killeen, Texas, pipeline. Former KU assistant coach Darrell Wyatt, a native of Killeen, lured several players to Mount Oread from the city adjacent to Fort Hood, a U.S. Army base.

McCoy made his recruiting visit accompanied by Killeen High teammate David McMillan, now a defensive end for the Jayhawks. Their hosts were running back Reggie Duncan and defensive back Carl Ivey Killeen natives, but from the city’s other high school, Ellison.

“Coming to a place where you know people,” McCoy said, “that helped a lot.”

McCoy naturally gravitated toward Ivey because each played in the secondary and, coincidentally, had run the third leg of the 400-meter relay against each other in high school track meets.

Last spring, Ivey, a returning starter at cornerback, and McCoy, switched to free safety, were together and penciled in for prominent roles in the Jayhawks’ defense.

Then, before preseason drills began in August, Ivey transferred to Stephen F. Austin, an NCAA Div. I-AA school in Nacogdoches, Texas, where Ivey’s former high school coach was on the staff. Ivey is listed as a backup cornerback with the Lumberjacks.

“He’s a good friend and it’s sad to see a good player go,” McCoy said of Ivey. “But things work in mysterious ways. I talk to him and I think he’s doing well.”

Meanwhile, McCoy is doing quite well and is eager to make his first start in Memorial Stadium today.

“That Las Vegas trip was long and tiring,” he said. “It’s good to get back and play a home game.”