photo by: Mike Gunnoe/Special to the Journal-World

Kansas defensive lineman Gage Keys takes on Calvin Clements in a drill during the Kansas Football Fan Appreciation Day Saturday, April 5, 2025, in Lawrence.

After almost six weeks and 15 practices, Kansas football concluded its spring practices on Friday. For now, the Jayhawks will have some time off before summer workouts and fall camp, but the players will be busy continuing to grow individually in the coming weeks.

“We’ve got to capitalize on all this time before they head home for a few weeks,” Kansas coach Lance Leipold said. “We’ve got to maximize time in the weight room and finding ways to get better and take care of themselves.”

Newcomers adjusting and fitting into the program well, returners finding leadership

The Jayhawks have brought in 22 transfers so far, which is twice as many as they did a season ago. One of Leipold’s biggest takeaways was how the incoming transfers have assimilated into the program.

“Our punctuality and things like that of doing what we’re supposed to be doing and things that we ask our guys to do was significantly better than where we were a year or two years ago,” Leipold said. “Even with the veteran team we had, it really shows that this group understands — it’s probably a credit to some of the programs that they were in and what they’re used to.”

Part of what has made this transfer class stand out so much in the spring has been their coachability. The team has talked about maximizing their time together, which means taking in what they’re being coached on.

“If you want to be the player you want to be, you’ve got to be able to take the hard coaching,” Leipold said. “You’ve got to take in what we’re seeing on film and take the things and get better, and I think this group has.”

The returners on the roster have helped assimilate the transfers into the program, and many of them have also worked in leadership roles. Offensive coordinator Jim Zebrowski said redshirt senior Daniel Hishaw Jr. has become a leader for the team after watching former Jayhawk Devin Neal man the position for several years.

Both Leipold and Zebrowski mentioned redshirt senior offensive lineman Kobe Baynes as a player who has worked hard to take a larger role on and off the field this season alongside redshirt senior center Bryce Foster.

Defensive coordinator D.K. McDonald has seen many players, from the secondary to the linebacker room, step up and make plays for the team while hitting hard.

New pass catchers impressing coaches

The wide receiver room had quite the overhaul from last season, with five of the team’s top receivers leaving the program last year. It was an area of question entering spring practice that has now become an area of excitement for Leipold and offensive coordinator Zebrowski.

“I really like what those newcomers and (redshirt senior) Doug (Emilien) and (redshirt sophomore) Keaton (Kubecka) can give us,” Leipold said. “Even our three early enrollees came in and showed flashes.”

Through the transfer portal, the Jayhawks brought in Bryson Canty from Columbia, Emmanuel Henderson Jr. from Alabama, Cam Pickett from Ball State and Levi Wentz from Albany. Jackson Cook, Bryson Hayes and Tate Nagy arrived as early enrollees for spring, and the Jayhawks will add Jaden Nickens upon his high school graduation.

Zebrowski said his confidence in the receiver room is “high” and that they lost “a really good group of young men, but we also gained a good group.”

“You’re excited when you’re recruiting them, you’re excited when they get here, and then you get 15 practices with them, and it’s like, OK, we’re going to be OK,” Zebrowski said. “They’re really good kids — they jelled real fast. They really pull for each other.”

While not receivers, the tight end group showed some versatility to the coaching staff in blocking and catching passes. Kansas lost several tight ends, but Zebrowski is confident in the group’s ability to produce. He named redshirt freshman Carson Bruhn as a tight end with a particularly strong spring.

“I think we’ll have the same ability to be versatile and multiple in our personnel groupings,” Zebrowski said. “Those guys have all shown the ability to be threats in the pass game, which is huge for us.”

Quarterbacks show depth with Daniels sidelined

The wide receivers stood out, although the Jayhawks’ starting quarterback didn’t spend much time developing chemistry with them. Redshirt senior quarterback Jalon Daniels wasn’t a full participant throughout spring practice as he recovered from a minor knee surgery. Leipold praised his ability to stay engaged in practices while being sidelined with injury, while Zebrowski was complimentary of his actions as a teammate, supporting his team even when he is sidelined and not making plays. Daniels also missed most of the 2024 spring practice due to a back injury that forced him to miss the majority of the 2023 season.

While he wasn’t a full participant, the coaching staff still put Daniels to work and saw improvement in his command.

“Jim Zebrowski has done a great job. We do some two-minute drills and situations, and he has let Jalon call them two-minute drills,” Leipold said. “We keep challenging him, and he’ll be ready to go.”

Instead, the Jayhawks got a healthy look at backup quarterbacks redshirt sophomore Cole Ballard, redshirt junior Mikey Pauley, and early enrollee David McComb, among others. The situation can help the Jayhawks if they need depth at quarterback.

“It’s sad that Jalon couldn’t do as much, but then for the second spring, you get a lot of reps for the guys behind him,” Zebrowski said. “You are actually creating a lot of really good depth.”

The good news for KU is that Leipold fully expects Daniels to be back with the team as a full participant for the summer workouts and fall camp, where he can gain chemistry with the slew of new receivers.

Fast, physical and for each other

McDonald became the defensive coordinator at Kansas hoping to get his guys playing fast, physical and for each other. So far, he’s seen the first two.

“We’re playing a lot faster, which is great,” McDonald said. “When you play fast, it’s natural to play physical. When you’re flying to the ball, you want to make someone pay when you get there.”

The next step for the defense is to create that bond where everyone plays for each other. McDonald believes it will come as the team goes through the summer and into fall.

“When you bring this many new guys in, the opportunity for them to get to know each other is really important,” McDonald said. “The more you know people the more you care about people, you go harder for people you care about.”

Linebacker as a position of depth

“I like the way those guys have come in, and they’ve been everything we want them to be,” Leipold said.

Leipold said he believes the team will be able to rotate its secondary and linebackers a decent amount with their depth. McDonald said the Jayhawks have “a lot of talent in that room,” which has contributed to the depth and competition of the group during spring practice.

“Those guys knew they couldn’t have a bad day,” McDonald said. “Competition brings out the best in you, and I really think it did for that group. They didn’t know who were ones or who were twos.”

The depth doesn’t just come from bodies but in skill sets as well. The Jayhawks have versatility in their linebacker corps, which helps the team blitz, cover or stop the run depending on the situation. Most importantly, McDonald said the group has players who can “run and smack people in the mouth and try to separate them from the football.”

“That’s the part I love,” McDonald said.

In the summer, McDonald wants that group to have a more vocal presence on the team. He’s seen a few linebackers start to step up in that regard and believes they’ll be in a good position after the summer.

New returners

The Jayhawks are using some of their incoming transfers for special teams roles as returners. Special teams coordinator Taiwo Onatolu said Henderson and Pickett have spent time in practice as kick returners, as has the freshman Nagy.

“Spring ball is when we throw a bunch of guys back there, and we go back, we watch the tape and see who’s comfortable,” Onatolu said.

Onatolu said the key for kick returners is the ability to break arm tackles and get upfield while having the vision to navigate the traffic in the middle of the field. For punt returners, Nagy and Kubecka were the two names Onatolu spoke of after Thursday’s spring practice. Catching the ball cleanly is the most important thing Onatolu is looking for in a punt returner, along with an ability to be shifty with the ball in his hands.

“Punt return is one of the hardest things to do,” Onatolu said. “You have to find a guy who can catch in traffic. That’s kind of a natural thing. You want a guy in punt return who can make a guy miss right away, because usually there’s a guy unblocked in your face.”

Onatolu said the team is still working through who will be at those spots and that it will be new faces.

The Jayhawks will have some time off where players can get themselves closer to playing weight and speed. Then, the team can put the finishing touches together in fall camp to start the season strong in late August.

We’ve made a lot of improvement, but also we have a long way to go,” Leipold said. “We have a lot of things to clean up.”