LAWRENCE — For Devin Neal and Cobee Bryant, Tuesday provided another opportunity to appreciate the fact that this is their last season with Kansas football.
Neal, a senior running back, recalled how his position coach — Jonathan Wallace — told him, “It’s the first of lasts,” before KU’s first practice of preseason camp began. Bryant, a senior cornerback, said he felt a little sad about it at first. They’ve been key parts of the rebuild head coach Lance Leipold started in 2021, along with many more of their experienced teammates.
But while there’s a reality there to face, both understand the chance the Jayhawks have as a team in 2024. They are among the teams that are in contention to compete for a Big 12 Conference championship, with an expanded College Football Playoff looming after the regular season. And the way they and their fellow veterans carry themselves as leaders during fall camp has the potential to not just affect the team’s capabilities this season, but in future seasons as well.
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“It’s just important for us to leave a great impression for the younger guys to step up and be leaders for next year, and not only that but for this year, right?” Neal said. “We have a ton of experience, ton of maturity, and we’ve got to lead everyone on our team. Because we have new faces, we have both sides of the ball and so, we’ve got to communicate with them. We have to bring them along. And it’s just going to be a fun ride for us.”
In 2022 and 2023, the second and third years of Leipold’s tenure in Lawrence, Kansas reached back-to-back bowl games. This past season in December, the Jayhawks…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/kansas-football-opens-fall-camp-210052203.html
Author : The Topeka Capital-Journal
Publish date : 2024-07-30 21:00:52
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