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

Kansas seniors Enrique Cruz Jr. and Nolan Gorczyca participate in a drill during practice Friday, Aug. 1, 2025 at the David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium in Lawrence.

Competition is still raging at a pair of positions along the offensive line as the Kansas football team proceeds through its final practices of training camp.

That’s no surprise to those in the program.

“I thought at the end of the day, knowing the type of men we brought into our room, they’re highly competitive people,” offensive line coach Daryl Agpalsa said, “I would have been shocked if it would have been concluded earlier.”

Head coach Lance Leipold said KU doesn’t yet have the clarity it needs and that the battle could last until closer to the week of the Jayhawks’ first game (which is on Aug. 23 against Fresno State).

“You guys that have been here for a while know me, that we’re not going to rush into (a decision), and I’ll give you vanilla answers probably all the way up until we give you a depth chart of sorts,” Leipold added.

The two central competitions are over KU’s starting spots at right tackle, where Logan Brown played last season, and at left guard, the spot previously occupied by Michael Ford Jr. (Redshirt sophomore Calvin Clements is firmly ensconced at left tackle, where Bryce Cabeldue played in 2024.)

At right tackle, former reserve Nolan Gorczyca, the starter in spring practice before he suffered a hand injury, is facing off against Syracuse transfer Enrique Cruz Jr., a former starting tackle for the Orange who arrived at KU during the summer. Tulsa transfer Jack Tanner is also receiving reps but primarily serves as a backup left tackle behind Clements, Leipold said.

“Competition makes everybody stronger,” Cruz said. “I just feel like competition makes practice more and more fun every day.”

The situation is even more complex at left guard, where James Livingston, another longtime backup who has dealt with injuries over the course of his career, is trying to fend off a challenge from Tavake Tuikolovatu, a redshirt sophomore who arrived from UCLA in the winter but was limited by his own injury in spring practice. Leipold said on July 31 that Livingston “has shown some good signs of maturity and confidence where he’s being more vocal.”

That battle also includes another entrant, Amir Herring. The redshirt sophomore guard from Southfield, Mich., a cousin of KU quarterback Isaiah Marshall, arrived from the University of Michigan in the summer of 2024. After spending time at center filling for Bryce Foster early in camp, Herring has made an impression with his play at guard and put himself in the conversation.

“I’m excited,” Foster said. “The guys are fighting. I think it’s a lot of fun doing reps with a bunch of different guys. I think I’ve had six different guards that I’ve taken reps with in just the last two cycles that we’ve been doing fall camp.”

Foster said Herring is “built like a brick house” and that his feet have gotten a lot quicker since his arrival, so he has improved in the primary area that was holding him back from contributing in 2024.

“Amir was probably one of the first people we brought here once I got here to Kansas, and it’s been a lot of fun for that young man as he’s just really focused on the process,” Agpalsa said. “He was not worried about am I playing, where I’m playing, where am I ranked on the depth chart, he just came to work every day and just tried to improve and that’s kind of what he’s focusing on now. And what’s really fun for us now is he’s proven to be very, very reliable.”

That’s an important quality given that offensive coordinator Jim Zebrowski, in addressing the offense on Thursday (as relayed by Agpalsa), told the players, “We’re looking for men we can rely on.”

Agpalsa said Herring, Livingston and Tuikolovatu have all improved as they have attempted to gain ground in the battle at left guard.

“And that’s exciting for us as coaches, knowing that we will have — I believe this, we talked about it a lot as a staff — we’ll have better depth this year with how closely these kids are right now,” Agpalsa said, “and it really just comes down to the starting player may just have more consistency in our eyes.”

He added that a close competition could also potentially result in more of a rotation along the offensive line during the season.

In line with Agpalsa’s comments, Leipold said that in many aspects, his team needs to become more consistent, and that includes the competitors along the line.

“We got to be consistent through practice, need to be consistent stacking days together, and (we’re) not quite there yet to make that decision,” Leipold said.

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

Kansas sophomore Tavake Tuikolovatu lines up for a drill during practice Friday, Aug. 1, 2025 at David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium in Lawrence.

photo by: Carter Gaskins/Special to the Journal-World

Kansas offensive tackle James Livingston during practice on Saturday, March 30, 2024, in Lawrence.

photo by: U-M Photography

Michigan Wolverines lineman Amir Herring (50) during the Wolverines’ game against Purdue Boilermakers at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor, Mich., on Saturday, November 4, 2023.