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

Kansas safety Lyrik Rawls, left, talks with head coach Lance Leipold at spring practice on Thursday, March 6, 2025, in Lawrence.

The Kansas football team caught transfer safety Lyrik Rawls’ attention with its prompt and significant interest from the moment he decided to leave Oklahoma State.

“I got in the portal like the day right before the portal opened, and then they had me on my visit, like, on that Tuesday,” he recalled on Thursday. “They showed me that they was serious about me, so why not go somewhere where I’m wanted?”

To hear defensive coordinator D.K. McDonald tell it, Rawls profiled as exactly the kind of player the Jayhawks needed on their new-look defense, as a veteran fifth-year senior with several seasons of Big 12 experience at OSU: He played more than 400 snaps in 2022 and 2024 and had entered 2023 as a starter for the Cowboys before suffering a season-ending injury.

It was only after getting Rawls in the building that McDonald and the coaches realized what else he could provide.

“Now that we have him here we see how highly intelligent he is as a football player,” McDonald said, “and a smarter player is a better football player.”

On Rawls’ visit to Lawrence, McDonald and defensive backs coach Brandon Shelby took him into the position room in the Anderson Family Football Complex and showed him some plays, which he picked up easily.

“And I was like ‘I’m ready to roll now,'” he said.

It was an impressive visit on the whole for Rawls, who said he was pleasantly surprised by “how big Lawrence was compared to Stillwater,” as well as the ongoing facility upgrades. With a revamped staff and roster, he characterized his thinking at the time, he felt KU made sense as place for him to begin his new journey.

That fresh start has transitioned well into his first spring in the program. Rawls said his past experience has helped him move “up in the rankings and the starters” in his time at KU. On the day Rawls spoke to local media for the first time, he had snagged an interception in practice that teammate Taylor Davis cited as a highlight of the day.

Rawls’ personality has made just as much of an impression on his teammates as his on-field performance. Davis, who hosted Rawls on his visit and who said the two have gotten along well in part based on their shared roots in north Texas, called him “a natural-born leader.”

“People naturally gravitate towards him,” Davis said.

That could be a useful quality in a position group that, as McDonald pointed out, lost a key communicator in O.J. Burroughs.

Rawls will have the chance to vie for significant playing time at boundary safety, his position of choice. Clearly a fan of the rhetorical question, Rawls pointed out that stopping the run is his strength, “so why would you not want a 205-(pound) safety getting in the run fit?”

It’s all part of a broader atmosphere of competition that KU’s coaches have tried to establish anew with so many spots available on both sides of the ball.

“It’s a fight and those guys are fighting,” McDonald said of the safeties. “Those guys want to play.”

Other key players in the group include Devin and Jalen Dye, both experienced Jayhawks who had their 2024 campaigns derailed by health issues; the speedy Mason Ellis, who also dealt with injuries; Auburn transfer Laquan Robinson, a former JUCO standout who came highly recommended by returning defensive tackle Gage Keys for his “violent” play style; and Davis, who took advantage of newfound playing time in his teammates’ absence.

“It gave me a sense of direction of where I was and where I needed to be,” Davis said.

Rawls said the reshaped defensive unit is bonding well on the whole.

“They’re making it feel like family,” he said, “so at this point I just got to learn the plays and get out there and go ball.”

photo by: AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin

Oklahoma State safety Lyrik Rawls, left, celebrates his interception against Arizona State with cornerback D.J. McKinney (8) as umpire Marlow Fitzgerald, right, signals the turnover during the second half of an NCAA college football game Saturday, Sept. 9, 2023, in Tempe, Ariz. Oklahoma State won 27-15.

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

Kansas safety Lyrik Rawls takes part in spring practice on Thursday, March 6, 2025, in Lawrence.