photo by: AP Photo/Eric Gay

Kansas linebacker Cornell Wheeler (44) is upended by Texas wide receiver Xavier Worthy (1) after making an interception during the first half of an NCAA college football game in Austin, Texas, Saturday, Sept. 30, 2023.

Kansas linebacker Cornell Wheeler’s collegiate career has rarely been allowed to continue on a linear upward trajectory.

“Cornell’s had some really good weeks in the program, and then something’s always happened that unfortunately set him back,” head coach Lance Leipold said.

Two years ago, he got sick and missed time; last year, he snagged a massive interception at Texas that “really boosted his confidence and got him going,” just a week after forcing a fumble against BYU, and then there was “another little setback,” as Leipold recalled it.

But if there were ever a time for Wheeler to continue moving onward and upward, it would be now. He managed to make it onto the field for about 18 snaps per game last season, and a combined 64 between those BYU and Texas games, recording 28 total tackles on the year. The coaching staff certainly holds in high esteem his natural feel for the game — “some of the stuff that you don’t really coach, you just kind of got a knack,” as linebackers coach Chris Simpson puts it. This year, though, he may be called upon to serve as the team’s primary middle linebacker.

“When you have a guy like Rich Miller in the room,” Simpson said, “other guys almost say, ‘Well, he’s the guy that kind of does all that.’ And he’s not here anymore.”

That has meant a significant change in role for the onetime Michigan transfer Wheeler, who joined KU in Leipold’s first year but had recorded just one career tackle prior to 2023.

“He’s been a rep guy, as we would say, a rep guy that has to get the reps so that he really knows it,” Simpson said. “And now he’s starting to know it. So he’s a guy that other guys are going to and asking questions, which usually he was the guy asking questions.”

Leipold added further that the Jayhawks need Wheeler to “be in command of the defense.”

“Now you’re in one of those spots where you got to make calls and be confidently communicating to make sure everybody else is where they need to be,” Leipold said.

Not just at middle linebacker but overall, it’s been a period of transition for the linebacker room in the aftermath of the veteran Miller’s departure, as well as that of Craig Young. Those changes have left Simpson and the staff giving reps at the Hawk position primarily to members of the safety room such as Marvin Grant, and cross-training usual Hawk Jayson Gilliom at other linebacker spots.

“Ultimately, I need to have more depth at every position,” Simpson said.

Gilliom is currently dealing with injuries, Simpson said, leaving Taiwan Berryhill Jr., JB Brown and indeed Wheeler as three primary sources of continuity now, after Miller played five seasons for Simpson and Leipold.

“Rich is like a son to me,” Simpson said. “Recruited him, had him in Buffalo, and had him here. But it’s time for Rich to go do his thing. I’m excited for the guys that are here to be able to step into those (kinds) of roles more than anything. Do I miss him? Yeah, but I’m excited for the guys that are here to be able to take on some of those leadership roles.”

Simpson believes Wheeler has the potential to serve as not just a playmaker but an “eraser,” a term the KU coaching staff has become fond of using for players who can take control during a play when things are going wrong and make the most of it.

“Cornell will have some ability to be able to fix some things that ain’t exactly right,” Simpson said, adding that “some guys are going to get to where they need need to get to because that’s where they’re supposed to be, and it might secure the structure of the defense, but then do they have that actual playmaking ability?”

The flashes from last season provide evidence for Simpson’s suggestion that Wheeler might fall into that privileged category.