photo by: Kahner Sampson/Special to the Journal-World

Kansas tight end Carson Bruhn takes part in spring practice on Thursday, March 6, 2025, in Lawrence.

Kansas strength and conditioning coach Matt Gildersleeve wasn’t totally sure what to make of Carson Bruhn when he first arrived in Lawrence.

The 6-foot-6 tight end from Sioux Center, Iowa, came to KU as a three-star prospect in the 2024 recruiting class, recruited primarily by former offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki before he left for Penn State.

“Maybe when he first got on campus, I go, ‘Where’s his body going to develop into? What kind of tight end is he going to be?'” Gildersleeve recalled recently.

The answer is starting to become clear. As Bruhn describes it himself, “I’m a larger guy, I can go up and catch the ball over dudes. I’m also really physical on the point of attack at the line of scrimmage.”

He demonstrated those qualities well enough in his second training camp with the program that not only is he included among the four tight ends who serve as co-starters on KU’s initial depth chart — along with Leyton Cure, Boden Groen and DeShawn Hanika — he is listed second in the group, below only the seventh-year senior Hanika.

Head coach Lance Leipold called him “one of the bigger surprises of camp” and said he would “play a lot” during the upcoming season — this after he did not see game action as a true freshman.

“He’s developed tremendously in a year,” Gildersleeve said.

KU is on its third offensive coordinator and third tight ends coach since Bruhn committed to the Jayhawks as a high school junior in April 2023, choosing them over schools like Kansas State, Missouri and Minnesota.

KU moved quickly to appoint Jeff Grimes as offensive coordinator and tight ends coach after Kotelnicki vacated the role, but Grimes only remained in Lawrence for a year before jumping to Wisconsin, at which point Leipold promoted longtime quarterbacks coach Jim Zebrowski to OC and brought back former analyst Matt Lubick — in remission after battling leukemia — as co-offensive coordinator and tight ends coach.

“He’s a big X’s and O’s guy, and he’s helped us a lot on the receiving end of it, as well as also learning kind of the blocking schemes and stuff like that,” Cure said of Lubick. “I’ve enjoyed him a lot. He’s a really interesting guy. Just his story of what he’s been through has kind of inspired me as well.”

As for Bruhn, he committed himself over the course of the offseason to diving into Zebrowski’s offense as deeply as possible.

“The biggest thing was learning the offense and schematic-wise, because we have a lot of different moving parts and stuff, so that was the biggest part,” he said.

As is often the case for players who rededicate themselves to the playbook, Bruhn reported being able to play faster and freer after improving his off-field understanding.

“I felt like I was actually playing football and not just being a robot and trying to follow rules,” he said.

And now he’s in position to transfer his improvement to the field when the results start to count.

“He’s been a workhorse,” Cure said. “Every opportunity, he’s taken advantage of it, and he will be playing a lot this coming season. I’m excited to see what he can do.”

KU has never hesitated to rotate tight ends and line them up all over the field, and this year looks to be no different under Zebrowski: “They’ve all shown the ability to play in different spots,” Zebrowski said. Leipold has also said he wants to ensure each player is comfortable in each package, the idea being that the Jayhawks’ tendencies won’t become too predictable on tape depending on which personnel is in the game.

Bruhn describes Cure as “explosive,” Hanika as “savvy” and Groen as a player who “does it all” and excels in pass protection.

“DeShawn and Boden and Leyton are all much older than I and (very) wise, and know a lot of football, have played a lot of football,” Bruhn added, “so I’ve kind of gone off of them and asked them a ton of questions.”

That trio of tight ends has a combined 103 career catches, but Bruhn, as he prepares for his Jayhawk debut, could be just as potent a threat as any of them.