Kansas football coach Lance Leipold has said on numerous occasions throughout the past few weeks that this year’s spring practices have been as physical as any he’s ever been a part of.
In many ways, that was by design. Leipold and his assistant coaches talked heading into the offseason about turning up the intensity early and using the edge that comes with it to improve as a program faster than in years past.
His staff ate that up, and, as it turns out, the Kansas players have, as well. In large part, because they knew it was coming.
“Coming out of the season, that was one of the biggest self-scout deficiencies we had — can we do better and be more consistent at the point of attack,” KU defensive backs coach Jordan Peterson of his defensive backs. “So, it’s not like when we came to the first day of practice and the first day of pads it was like, ‘Wait, what?’ I think communicating that effectively as a staff has been important for those guys to know what to expect coming into it.”
The rest has been about following through and living up to those expectations, working through soreness and a changing mindset along the way.
Both Peterson and defensive line coach Jim Panagos used the word softness in discussing KU’s increased physicality this spring, some of which will be on display on Friday night at the program’s Spring Showcase.
While the showcase will not feature the more traditional spring game like in years past, it will allow fans in attendance — along with the players and coaches — the opportunity to see how the Jayhawks operate with a new, more physical mindset in everything they do.
“The more somebody does it, the more they get used to doing it, the more comfortable they feel long-term,” Peterson said. “So, when we get to the season I think it’s something that’s going to be second-nature to us. There’s zero chance of you playing for us if you’re not going to be great at the point of attack. So, if you show signs of weakness, signs of shying away from (physical contact), you’re going to come stand by us.”
Added Panagos: “I was telling the players (recently), you can’t tolerate softness. So, it’s good to see (that) from all three levels on defense and all three levels on offense. It’s been a great spring so far. It’s going to help us. It’s going to pay dividends.”
Defensive lineman Tommy Dunn Jr., a redshirt sophomore from Garland, Texas, believes it already has, and it’s his goal to demonstrate that to those KU football fans who show up on Friday night.
“It’s a practice,” Dunn said of the Jayhawks’ Spring Showcase. “But, then again, I want to show people that this is my year. I’m definitely going to do my job, of course, but I’m trying to put on a show by being physical, you know what I’m saying?”
Some of that added physicality has led to minor injuries and bumps and bruises this spring. The KU coaches were aware that could be the result of an uptick in physicality, but they also knew they would be OK in the long run because of their commitment to player safety.
“You’re always going to err on the side of caution and listen to the medical staff on those kinds of things,” KU offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki said. “But you want the players to understand that physical football doesn’t necessarily mean making yourself vulnerable.”
Added Peterson: “The conversations that we had as a staff were, ‘Hey, look, we want to keep guys healthy in the spring and obviously into fall camp, but the more we crank up the physicality, the more we’re going to have to live with sometimes more guys are on the ground and yada, yada, yada.’ At the point of attack, there’s not a whole lot of softness going on. Let’s just leave it like that.”
To that end, coaches have done two things to help players keep themselves injury-free as much as possible. The first thing was to communicate it to them before spring practices even started. The second was to keep the communication going by explaining that certain drills were being done to increase physical play.
“Reflect on what you want more (of) and emphasize the hell out of it,” Kotelnicki said.
Both he and defensive coordinator Brian Borland said the desire to build a more physical team came as a natural part of their self-scout and the natural evolution that comes with building a program.
“We’ve really just put a daily emphasis on it,” Borland said. “How are we going to, week in and week out, be a consistently competitive defense in this league?”
The Spring Showcase is actually the final spring practice for the Jayhawks this season. The on-field events will begin at 7 p.m. at David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium, with festivities in and around the stadium starting at 5 p.m.
Admission is free and parking at all surface lots surrounding the stadium is also free. That includes the Mississippi Street Garage, starting at 5 p.m.
Included in the showcase for fans of all ages is a Fun Zone, mini golf, a poster giveaway and more. There will also be food trucks and live music starting at 5 p.m.
At 7 p.m., the football portion of the evening will begin, with on-field drills and mini-scrimmages, along with fan giveaways, competitions and activities adding to the fun in place of a regular 11-on-11 spring game.
“It’s a unique challenge in the sense that you want to do exactly what the title says but at the same time you want to have a sense of work (and) let’s accomplish something,” Kotelnicki said of hosting a spring showcase instead of a traditional spring game. “You also have to be a little guarded about what’s going to be on tape and there’s still an evaluation component, which, for us, is an everyday thing anyway. You have to balance all that.”
