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

Kansas quarterback Cole Ballard (left) and defensive end Garrett Martin high-five during Kansas football's spring practice on Thursday, March 26, 2026, in Lawrence.

Kansas defensive end Leroy Harris III has only been on campus for a little over a year, but that hasn’t stopped him from dishing out some choice pieces of to younger players.

“I try to help out where I can,” Harris said.

One of these was particularly useful to his teammate Garrett Martin. Martin, a redshirt freshman end from Scottsdale, Arizona, wasn’t satisfied with his day-to-day routine during his first year in the program — he felt like he had just been going along with the crowd rather than focusing on what would work best for him.

So he opted for learning from some of the more experienced members of his position group about how they structure their days, “and then honestly meeting with them throughout the days, hitting them up, calling them up and having them walk me through stuff that I didn’t do that last year.”

That included consulting with Harris, “being the stud that he’s been and he’s going to continue to be,” as Martin put it.

“He’s just told me to really hone in on, find the stuff that I’m good at and get even better at it,” Martin said. “That’s what he told me one time.”

Here’s how Harris explained that particular remark: “Each person’s different, especially at the defensive end position, you got different builds, we’re kind of like tweeners in a lot of aspects. So you got to find what you’re good at.”

For Martin, that has meant focusing on his physicality; he’s 6-foot-4 and 250 pounds with good speed off the ball. Now his hand timing is growing to become an additional strength as well: “That’s one thing I’ve improved on a lot,” he said. “Coach (Courtney) Arnick and Coach (Joe) Dineen have really made an emphasis on our pass rushing.”

It has all given Martin a chance to play early as part of a defensive end group that has a strong top four — Harris and Dak Brinkley on one side, Alex Bray and camp standout David Santiago on the other — but opportunities available beyond that group.

“I hope to really show what I’m capable of, because I’ve been putting my head down and grinding, doing all that I can,” Martin said. “I have a lot to obviously work on, but I hope to really just be there for our room. Being a rotation guy would be huge for me, it’d be my second year. That means a lot. I’m just super excited for all these games and all these opportunities.”

The opportunities should be greater in large part because of a key offseason transition Martin has made — beyond reshaping his daily routine, of course. He spent his first season playing primarily at the “stud” defensive end spot, in the run-stopping role that Bray and Santiago have been occupying, but in the spring transitioned to the opposite “rush” position. Stud was more similar to what Martin played at Saguaro High School, he said; rush has required “better eyes and better feet” and a greater ability to play in space.

“G’s done an unbelievable job,” Dineen said. “You know, the jump that he even made from spring to now is really impressive. So G has done a really good job of learning both, and I told them all at the beginning of fall camp that if you know both, the chances of you getting on the field are really, really high, because it’s a long season.”

That means plenty of time for him to continue to develop and show the coaches what he can do.

“Coming into college, I knew I’m going to have to start from ground zero again,” Martin said. “I feel like the biggest thing has just been being able to put my head down and just work. Obviously you have to make a name for yourself all over again.”

By all accounts, he has begun to do just that — even if the presence of those same veterans he consulted for advice means his role will necessarily be limited this season. Head coach Lance Leipold has called him “a young player that has a bright future and plays with a great motor.”

“He’s working every day,” Bray said. “Still a younger guy so he’s got work to do, but he’s developing quick and he’s a good, physical, fast player.”

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

Kansas defensive end Garrett Martin takes part in a drill during the first day of KU Football’s fall camp on Tuesday, Aug. 4, 2026, in Lawrence.