Big recruiting day, KU coordinators talk about Texas Tech

The Kansas coaches are preparing for a busy day on the recruiting front as over 140 visitors are expected to be in Lawrence.

The staff opened-up the recruiting doors and invited several prospects to the Texas Tech game. Most of the players are from the 2023 and 2024 classes. It will give the coaches a chance to meet several future prospects at one time.

Recruits will get to hear from head coach Lance Leipold, athletic director Travis Goff, meet with academic people, and eat before going out to the game.

Joey Baker will be the lone official visitor on the visit. Baker committed to the Jayhawks in the summer and wanted to take his visit this weekend because he hopes his team is making a run in the playoffs. When most players are taking their visits in December, he plans to be playing football.

To see some of the names who are expected on campus today click here

Colin Grunhard sustained an injury during fall camp and then tried to fight through it during the opening game against South Dakota.

He made it until the fourth quarter before he had to leave the game. He has not played a snap since, but that could change soon.

Grunhard is back at practice and offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki said he is making progress.

“He’s coming along good,” Kotelnicki said. “He's been out practicing this week. How much he'll play is probably TBD a little bit, but he's been out practicing. So (we) are excited to get back there and get some depth at the spot. And as we've talked before, his attitude and his approach towards things is fantastic. And the more that you can have guys like that around, the better.”

The Jayhawks are getting used to seeing three-man fronts from opposing defenses. The latest team that used a 3-3-5 was Iowa State and they will face the same type of alignment from Texas Tech.

Kotelnicki sees some differences in the way Tech tries to attack.

“They're a little bit different,” he said. “Depending on how you think structurally, I guess, when you say you're a 3-3-5 defense. But they're different. They're a lot more twisting and moving around all over the place inside with their guys.

He continued: “They're trying to create a lot of chaos in the box, which, kind of like when teams pressure, it's feast or famine. It's either going to work out well for you, or you're going to get gashed. And so, they have some similarities, but they are different.”

Texas Tech is fourth in the Big 12 in total yards averaging over 450 yards a game. A lot of those numbers came with Tyler Shough at quarterback, but he has been out with an injury.

Henry Colombi replaced Shough at quarterback and it has not changed the offense according to defensive coordinator Brian Borland.

“They're doing the same thing,” Borland said. “They're an up-tempo team. They're going to try to snap the ball quickly, a bunch. They’re kind of more of the true, spread offense, the air raid offense. They've got elements of that into their game. They spread out the field and make you defend sideline to sideline. Vertically and horizontally as well. So, I don't think they've changed a bit.”

One thing that has changed is the depth chart at running back. SoRodorick Thompson is back to full strength after missing several games with an injury. Thompson has been the leading rusher the last two years for the Red Raiders.

He turned in his best game against TCU last week rushing for 118 yards.

“He's just another one of a lot of guys like they have, to me,” Borland said. “He's obviously one of the better ones, but he's extremely quick and elusive. So, there's speed, there's burst. There's a pretty good feel for just running the ball, getting the ball and knowing where to go with it.

“Whether that's cutting it back or bouncing it outside and he's slippery. He's right at the point of contact, he's got a way of kind of putting his foot in the ground and guys slip and slide off him a bunch. So, it's going to be a challenge.”