Kansas football recruiting

The Kansas football team added a sought-after player at perhaps its position of greatest need, earning the commitment of former Michigan State defensive end Bai Jobe.

Jobe’s trainer, Sean Cooper, announced the decision in a post on X Tuesday morning.

#RockChalkJayhawk

Bai Jobe @moneybj22 Headed To @KU_Football @mcintosh_mat pic.twitter.com/IPRS3aguyz

— Sean Cooper (@seancooper_C4) May 7, 2024

Jobe, who is originally from Senegal but played high school football at Community Christian School in Norman, Oklahoma, was the top player in his state out of high school and a four-star prospect in the class of 2023. He had picked the Spartans out of high school over a range of prestigious offers, including from Alabama and Oklahoma.

This time around, JayhawkSlant.com reported that Jobe visited Mississippi State as well as KU before deciding on the Jayhawks.

“It feels great, and I like the coaches a lot,” Jobe told Jon Kirby of JayhawkSlant. “They were real with me. It feels good to know I’m going to be in good hands.”

Even though Jobe is a young player — he had just two tackles in one game his freshman year with the Spartans — his addition immediately reshapes KU’s thin defensive end group, particularly on the pass-rush side.

“Number one, his ability is willingness to work, and number two, his ability to block out distractions and go to work,” Cooper told Kirby. “Number three, what everybody knew when he came out of high school and what everybody stills know is his twitch. He has explosion and has get off. His initial power separates him from most people in the country.”

The Jayhawks have a pair of veteran run-stopping defensive ends, Jereme Robinson and Youngstown State transfer Dylan Wudke, but have lacked established options to bolster their pass rush.

Last year, Austin Booker emerged as a game-wrecking option on the defensive line and parlayed one strong season into a fifth-round selection in the NFL Draft.

This year, the staff has expressed confidence in its ability to muster a pass rush. Coaches have been counting on steps forward from Dean Miller, a former JUCO transfer who has primarily played special teams and has been working on putting on more weight, and Dylan Brooks, who was once a highly touted recruit at Auburn, but Brooks’ availability is uncertain after he missed the Spring Showcase at the conclusion of KU’s spring practices.

Jobe, who is listed at 6-foot-4, 235 pounds, now adds another option to the fold alongside those two, and helps set up the Jayhawks well for the future given that freshmen Dakyus Brinkley (who enrolled early) and Deshawn Warner will also be in the mix at that position.

His commitment follows that of former Michigan offensive lineman Amir Herring, who pledged to join the Jayhawks on Thursday.