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

The Kansas defense jogs to its next drill during the first day of KU Football's fall camp on Tuesday, Aug. 4, 2026, in Lawrence.

Looking back on the 2025 season, Kansas middle linebacker Trey Lathan said on Tuesday, the Jayhawks never quite had “a good foundation of leadership” on defense.

That’s one area in which he’s seen a dramatic change entering his second year in the program.

“I would say a lot of guys hold each other accountable, not giving guys the opportunity just to slack,” Lathan said. “We didn’t have that last year.”

KU coach Lance Leipold expects his defense to look better in several ways as opposed to 2025, when it experienced some dramatic highs and lows in D.K. McDonald’s first year as defensive coordinator. Throughout the offseason, he has highlighted perceived increases in team size and speed.

But perhaps the word of the day on Tuesday, as KU opened Leipold’s sixth fall camp in Lawrence and 20th overall as a head coach, was “communication.”

“I keep saying communication because it was so important last year,” Leipold said. “When guys were hesitant, were not on the same page — we say it many times in our meetings that we could be wrong, but if we’re all on the same page with being wrong, we still have a chance to make it right.

“But when half of us are thinking this, the other half are there, because nobody’s communicating, that causes a lot of issues, and it did last year.”

KU was a below-average defense that ranked 12th in Big 12 games in both scoring and yards allowed, but the Jayhawks also showed a knack for conceding explosive plays at key moments that hampered them in losses to teams like Missouri, Cincinnati and Kansas State. The issue of communication in the defensive backfield was a frequent talking point, particularly in games when KU’s young secondary looked disjointed and uncertain.

Lathan will be at the forefront of bolstering that communication this season, as the Jayhawks’ starting middle linebacker and defensive anchor: “I think Trey Lathan’s had a really good summer and offseason about stepping more into a leadership role and understanding what we need from a Mike backer and how that really filters through the defense,” Leipold said.

While Lathan did consider leaving in the transfer portal last winter before ultimately returning to Lawrence, his development into a stronger off-field presence was a topic of discussion with his coaches even before that.

“Right after the season, our exit meeting, that’s one thing that we established, that we need leadership, something that we lacked, something that could have helped us definitely in the back end of the season,” Lathan said.

In the communication realm, Leipold also credited Taylor Davis, a veteran expected to be a returning starter in the secondary — even as he faces competition in an increasingly healthy safety room — and a pair of new acquisitions at Lathan’s position in transfers Bam Crouch (Boston College) and Quincy Davis (New Mexico State).

“We do a lot of different things here, so just seeing them buy into the process, buy into our culture is something that we strive to do, embracing guys when they come from other programs,” Lathan said. “And just seeing them do that, it’s been awesome seeing them grow.”

The hope for Leipold, Lathan and the rest is that if KU’s defenders interact more effectively, they will in turn feel more confident when the big moments arrive.

“They’ll speak up, again everyone will be on the same page, and I think we have a chance to be better in that regard from the jump,” Leipold said.