photo by: Aiden Shertzer/Texas A&M Athletics

Texas A&M's Bryce Foster throws the shot put at the Battle on the Bayou in Baton Rouge, La., on Saturday, March 30, 2024.

Bryce Foster is a football player, through and through. It’s the reason that he started his college career playing at Texas A&M, and it’s what brought him to Lawrence and the University of Kansas.

But football season isn’t the only time Foster will represent the Jayhawks. In the spring, the center will compete for KU’s track and field team in the shot put, an event he’s competed in from high school through college.

“At the end of the day, I came to play football,” Foster said. “I want to do well in that, I want to strive for greatness in that. (Shot put) is something I wanted to do, but if I went into the portal and the schools were like, ‘There’s no way (to shot put),’ I would’ve been like, ‘OK.'”

For now, Foster is focused solely on football. The redshirt junior was a late arrival to Lawrence, as he transferred over the summer. Since then he’s had to learn the scheme and develop chemistry with his fellow linemen at one of the most mentally challenging positions on the team.

Foster can provide the offensive line with a particularly special physical trait. Having competed in shot put and discus, Foster is a rotational athlete. It comes from the differences in workouts, as throws are built more on rotation and football is built more in-line. Foster said that those are the only differences between a football workout and a track workout — that and the conditioning. But his rotational strength allows him to have a unique torque and power that separates him from other centers.

“There’s things called fascial slings, in more or less how different joints kind of cross and work together,” strength coach Matt Gildersleeve said, “and for him, he’s very developed in that nature, so there’s some power output things that he can do that are just really unique that maybe you don’t see typically in a guy that plays that position.”

Although Foster has secured his starting position with the official release of KU’s official depth chart on Monday, because of how late he arrived it hasn’t been the easiest to develop chemistry alongside his fellow linemen. Luckily, Foster said that the team embraced him from day one.

“It’s not fake love or anything over here,” Foster said. “We all put each other first and want each and every one of us to succeed. I know at the end of the day everyone is in charge of their own success, but we want to make sure we put each other in positions to succeed.”

Offensive line coach Daryl Agpalsa has a saying in practice where he holds up five fingers and says “all,” while the rest of the offensive line respond with “as one.” When it comes to the line’s chemistry, that’s what the Jayhawks are looking for. Foster and his teammates need to be able to work together as a unit and think as a unit. They have to understand where a blitz might come from and how to adjust to pick it up. And even though Foster is relatively new to the group, he believes he has built a good chemistry with his teammates through fall camp.

Foster said that on his official visit, the Jayhawks coaching staff were brutally honest with him, which was one of the best parts of it. They talked about what he was good at, what they wanted to improve upon and how they would use his strengths. With goals of ultimate success on the football field, KU was his school of choice coming out of the transfer portal.

For the next few months, Foster won’t have much to do with the KU track team. Once spring rolls around, that’s when he’ll double up on practices. It’s going to be a busy schedule, but it should work out better for Foster than at his previous stop. At Texas A&M, track and football practices were both in the afternoon.

It was a struggle to try to do track practice and a track lift, then go practice football.

“By that time, (football practice) was usually finishing up,” Foster said.

At KU, Foster will get to practice with the football team in the spring mornings, then go compete and practice with the track team afterward.

Success on the football field might be the most important thing for Foster, but he’s been able to have a lot of success with his throws. During the SEC Track and Field Championships, Foster had the 12th best shot put throw with a distance of 57 feet, 11.25 inches. He also placed 15th in the discus throw at the event, throwing 158 feet, five inches.

Foster will join an already strong throwing team with the Jayhawks. Senior Dimitrios Pavlidis won the discus throw at the conference championships and junior Joseph Kieny placed 10th in the conference in the event.

The next few months will be all about football, then the 6-foot-5, 330-pound athlete will double dip in practices. It’s a lot of work, but it’s something at which the veteran college athlete is dedicated to succeeding.