Agpalsa wants the OL to versatile, but comfortable in a position

Kansas’ new offensive line coach Daryl Agpalsa is replacing some key pieces in his position room that made a big impact under Scott Fuchs. Much like Fuchs, Agpalsa is prioritizing making sure his best linemen can be on the field, meaning that they are preparing players to play every position on the line.

Agpalsa talked about the process of acclimating players to the new positions, working closely with returning players, having an offensive coordinator with an offensive line background like Jeff Grimes and the experience that Bryce Cabeldue brings to the room after the last practice before the Spring Showcase on Friday.

Replacing Mike Novitsky, Dominick Puni and Ar’maj Reed-Adams makes for a competitive offensive line room coming into 2024. One of the best ways for the linemen to have a chance to find their way onto the field is to be able to play numerous positions on the line.

“I think people understand that if you want to play at the highest level, flexibility is a huge piece of being an offensive lineman,” Agpalsa said. “If we can get that done in the fall, we'd love to do that.”

While being able to shuffle different pieces around makes for great depth, Agpalsa is also making sure that he is accommodating the players that are coming into Kansas not having much experience anywhere else.

For instance, Shane Bumgardner won the Rimington Trophy at the Division II level, and Agpalsa is making sure he is all set at center before rushing into getting him comfortable somewhere else.

“As of right now, what I want to do a great job of for them as their coach is building trust with them and get them in a spot where they feel comfortable because this is the first time the offense has been installed with them,” Agpalsa said.

A coach is usually the one that is giving out the instructions, Agpalsa's experience has taught him that he can learn a lot from his players too. With the Jayhawks returning a lot of players that have been in the room together for a long time, he has been open to listening to what they have to say.

“I've done this before and I failed if I'm being completely honest,” Agpalsa said. “We all learn from our mistakes as we get older. This is probably the fourth time I've come into a new room taking over a group that's been a veteran group, and I made the mistake probably earlier on in my career, just saying, ‘hey, this is how I've always done it.

"This is the way I'm going to do it. This is where you're going to do it,’ as opposed to marrying our ideas together.”

The lesson was a tough one to learn, but he is very confident in the way that he approaches it now, as it allows his players to be more comfortable.

“At the end of the day, it's about them playing as fast as they can, not about me being the guy knowing everything,” Agpalsa said. “So it's about the players.”

Jeff Grimes was an offensive line coach from 1998-2017. Whether it was at Hardin-Simmons University or LSU, the offensive line is where he spent his days working toward an offensive coordinator position. Agpalsa is taking advantage of all of the benefits that having a colleague with as much experience as Grimes has.

“I like to feel I've done a lot of great things in my career, but what's so fun for me is I always feel like I continue to learn and grow,” Agpalsa said. “Coach Grimes has been a lifelong offensive line coach for 30 years. To have the opportunity to bounce ideas off of him, to learn from his mistakes before I even make mistakes or that we made the same mistakes. Right. And we have something in common. It's. He's been fantastic, man.”

Being a position coach and working with a coordinator who specialized in your position has been helpful for Agpalsa, making the transition into Kansas much easier.

“He's been a wealth of knowledge for me, and I'm truly blessed that I got him as a coordinator,” Agpalsa said. “I really am.”

Cabeldue is one of the Jayhawks returning with a lot of experience from the 2023 team. He started all 12 games as a sophomore in Leipold's first year as head coach at Kansas, and Agpalsa is seeing the experience he has benefit him.

"I call him father time because he's an old man, right, but he probably gonna hate it I said that," Agpalsa said. "He's got a wealth of experience and a wealth of knowledge, and I tell him all the time, like, repetition is the mother of all learning experiences."

Cabeldue's experience means that there is not a lot that he has not seen, which excites Agpalsa.

"There's things that we saw today that was new to a lot of guys, seeing different looks by our defense, but he's seen it all," Agpalsa said. "And his ability to self correct, make things right. I think. I think he's a. He's a. He's a really good player. I can't wait for his senior season."