At the end of spring practice, Kansas offensive line coach Daryl Agpalsa told center Shane Bumgardner how he would need to improve in order to do what he came to KU to do: earn significant playing time in his final year of college football.
“Part of it was nutrition,” Agpalsa said. “(And) continuing to feel good about the offense and the system. You could tell at times in the spring there was just a little hesitation coming to a new system, and since then it has not been that way this fall at all. It’s been pretty great.”
The addition of former Texas A&M center Bryce Foster late in the summer seemed like it might end Tiffin transfer Bumgardner’s quest for the starting job (in the spring, he had been competing with Michael Ford Jr.). Instead, it created a battle that began at the start of fall camp and has continued to rage into its final days.
“It’s still a competition,” Agpalsa said. “Shane has taken a step from the spring to now. He’s more consistent, he’s stronger, he’s faster. Bryce Foster continues to get better every day. Sometimes I remind myself he just got here.”
One interesting aspect of the competition is that it pits against each other two different styles of player.
“Bryce is a more burly guy and Shane is a more agile guy,” guard Darrell Simmons Jr. said, “but I think they’re both really good at center.”
Foster’s size is difficult to miss. Tackle Bryce Cabeldue said his first impression of Foster was, “Holy crap, that guy’s huge.” Bumgardner’s initial take on Foster was “I think he’s friggin’ jacked.”
But just as important for the 6-foot-5, 330-pound redshirt junior was his ability to catch up quickly after arriving midway through the summer.
“As we’ve gotten him here, what’s been very impressive for me as a coach is his football IQ,” Agpalsa said. “He picks up terminology and languages pretty quick and schemes really quick, and I think that’s just helped propel him to where he is right now.”
Foster, who once started as a freshman in the SEC, said that the most important element for him was understanding KU’s lingo. He recalled a recent conversation with family in which his father said of a play call, “Dude, that’s so many words.”
“In all reality, all offenses are the same, he said. “I mean you have your zones, you have your gap schemes, you have all this stuff but the biggest difference is just the words people use.”
Offensive players gathered at times over the summer in KU’s indoor facility to practice running through plays on their days off. And former KU lineman and current graduate assistant Jackson Satterwhite came over to Foster’s house at times to talk through the scheme with him as well.
The summer proved to be just as beneficial for Bumgardner, coming off his first few months in the program following his transfer.
“I got a little closer with the guys,” he said, “and I really studied the playbook hard, so I started to learn the offense where I was confident enough to know which calls I was making and what to do and stuff like that.”
And while Bumgardner had already gone through spring practice at KU, one other key adjustment for Foster was the pace of the Jayhawks’ practices.
“I think the first cycle and a half or so of fall camp, I was taken (aback) by that,” Foster said. “I don’t think I’ve ever breathed that hard during a practice. That was a struggle for real. But I think now, looking back at it, I’m in way better shape that I was, just from that first cycle.”
Part of the reason why Foster came to KU late was the conclusion of his final season of track and field at Texas A&M. KU throws coach Doug Reynolds was involved in his recruitment, but Foster said on Wednesday that while he doesn’t see track as a “side gig,” it’s not his primary focus.
“I think first and foremost, my initial eyes are on football,” he said. “At the end of the day, that’s my dream.”
He and Bumgardner have become fond of each other as they’ve faced off for playing time.
“He knows what he’s doing, he knows what he’s talking about, his football IQ’s super super high,” Foster said of Bumgardner.
Bumgardner said his own strengths are being “pretty savvy and quick.”
“I can move pretty well,” he said. “Now that I know the offense, I think I’m good at kind of directing it, getting everyone on the same page.”
KU’s coaches have frequently emphasized the importance of cross-training linemen so that in the event of an injury, the sixth-best lineman can be on the field regardless of position.
They had previously mentioned in fall camp that Foster could play guard if needed, but Agpalsa said they have scaled back that cross-training as Foster and Bumgardner compete at center, “because we want to give them each the best opportunity to succeed.” Bumgardner, for his part, has not yet trained at any position other than center.
Henry Greenstein/Journal-World
