photo by: Chance Parker/Special to the Journal-World

Kansas freshman Dakyus Brinkley during the first day of spring practice at the practice field on Tuesday, March 19, 2024, in Lawrence.

Last year, the Kansas football team spent practically all of spring practice indoors.

Not so this time around, as following an eight-week stretch of offseason training, the Jayhawks officially opened the spring of 2024 Tuesday on their outdoor practice fields.

“Our guys have done a great job adapting to working around construction,” head coach Lance Leipold told reporters, “and all the other little things we’ve asked them to do.”

More broadly than a change of venue, though, it’s a spring of adaptation for the Jayhawks — to little things and otherwise — as they welcome three new position coaches, wholesale changes by the standards of the Leipold era.

For veteran receiver Luke Grimm, having to learn from and get acclimated to a new voice like offensive coordinator Jeff Grimes — who replaced Leipold’s longtime right-hand man Andy Kotelnicki — is “neither good nor bad.”

“You eat the same cereal every day for four years and then you try another one,” Grimm said. “You’re like ‘Hmm, this ain’t bad. This is like a nice little change.'”

Even Leipold himself is gaining a fresh perspective from the assistants — not just Grimes but offensive line coach Daryl Agpalsa (a former subordinate of his at Buffalo) and co-defensive coordinator D.K. McDonald, who comes from the NFL.

“It’s forcing me to make sure that I’m covering things that maybe sometimes you kind of take it for granted, maybe, and you don’t ever want to get that way,” Leipold said, “but you’ve had coordinators with you for a long time, you trust them to disseminate the information — well now, sometimes, it’s new and it kind of gets us back to making sure we’re reviewing it.”

The feeling-out process is mutual as coaches like Grimes adapt not only to their personnel but also the remnants of the longstanding system that was there before them.

“We’re going to keep as much of (the) terminology and system to be the same,” Leipold said. “He’s learning too in some ways, but at the same time letting him put his stamp on the offense in ways.”

Grimm teased that Grimes has a plan for the offense known as the “Fab Four,” though said he would leave it to his coach to reveal the meaning of that phrase. He added that his new offensive coordinator is “a very stern, loud person” who commands a room’s attention.

“But he keeps it very open,” Grimm said. “If you have questions, ask. If you don’t know what you’re doing, ask … He wants you to understand why we’re doing it. He wants us to play fast and have fun and be physical.”

There are also new players in camp, not just transfers but early enrollees who, as Leipold put it, “still should be in high school worried about who they’re asking to prom, and they’re out here playing.”

They enter with various degrees of readiness. Strength coach Matt Gildersleeve noted that from a conditioning perspective, he has to meet them where they’re at.

Some are ahead of the curve. Of freshman running back Harry Stewart III, he said, “His calves are bigger than my thighs and his thighs are bigger than my waist. So I’m not going to have that kid come in here and squat (medicine) balls. He’s not going to get anything out of that.” Others have been working through injuries suffered in their final high school season, like edge rusher Dakyus Brinkley.

Particularly as starter Jalon Daniels works his way back from injury — Leipold said he got some work in Tuesday — there will undoubtedly be a spotlight on true freshman quarterback Isaiah Marshall.

“His mannerisms don’t change whether he’s had a great play or whether he’s thrown an interception,” Leipold said of Marshall, “which is really, really neat to see somebody with that composure, and I think he showed that today.”

Gildersleeve noted that rapid growth hasn’t been limited to newcomers.

“Jacobee Bryant’s had the best offseason he’s ever had here,” Gildersleeve said, “and I don’t mean just from a physical standpoint, I mean the way and the level at which he’s bought into his diet and nutrition, and the way he’s straining and competing.”

That growth is necessary because as Gildersleeve stressed Tuesday and as Leipold has repeatedly mentioned, the team can’t get complacent. Gildersleeve said, “We haven’t overcome expectation.”

“In the grand scheme of what we’re trying to accomplish, what do we have to be complacent about?” he said, “We talk about winning a Big 12 championship; well, we haven’t done it yet, we didn’t do it last year, so what are we going to get complacent about?”

The team has 11 additional spring practices ahead of its Spring Showcase at Rock Chalk Park on April 12.