Willis ready mentally, physically to compete
After making his debut for the Kansas Jayhawks as a true freshman last season, quarterback Ryan Willis enters the 2016 campaign with eight starts under his belt. Speaking with the media for the first time since arriving in Lawrence last fall, the former All-State passer from Bishop Miege High School sounded like a grizzled veteran as he looked back on his first year in the Big 12.
"The preparation for the game," Willis said of the biggest takeaway from his freshman year. "The week of the game, so much plays into it. You’ve got to be prepared. The amount of film study there is. You’ve got to be athletically ready. You've got to prepare yourself, body-wise. Got to be healthy."
Having missed all of spring practice with an injured hand, health is one of the biggest questions the 6-foot-4, 211-pound has to answer as a sophomore. With second-year head coach David Beaty declaring the competition at every position wide open, Willis is adamant the time away hasn't put him at a disadvantage in the QB race.
"I don’t feel like I’m playing catch up," he said after the first few days of fall camp. "I still took all those reps mentally. It's all about seeing it. I know I can make plays, but I’ve got to trust the guys around me, and put it in their hands."
"Iron sharpens iron," Willis continued. "Competition is great. You’ve just got to bring it every day. You can’t lose focus. You have to keep going when others don’t. I love every second of it. I was bouncing around yesterday, excited, like ‘I love this sport.’ I was as happy as I could be."
Under almost constant pressure in 2015, Willis played behind an inexperienced offensive line that was adapting to Beaty's air-raid system. After being hit more than in his two years as the starter at Miege combined, he earned respect from his teammates and Kansas fans with his gutty play.
"It’s just toughness," he said of what got him through the bumps and bruises. "That’s the number-one thing a quarterback needs. My dad’s stressed it. He always tells me ‘You are a Cherokee Indian. We’re warriors.’ You’ve just kind of got to act like that."
"I was in fourth or fifth grade, and I went to Rockhurst Football Camp. Tony Severino, the head coach said ‘The number one thing a quarterback needs, to have success on the field, is toughness.’ And I’ve taken that along my whole life."
Willis talked about how he waited all his life for the opportunity he had last year to take the field as a Division I QB. Whereas most players dream about playing college football, he knew it would happen.
"I’ve known my whole life," he said with a smile. "My dad told me my whole life ‘you are going to be a college quarterback,’ and here I am today."