Spring ball welcomes familiar faces almost every season, but KU defense coordinator Brian Borland has some key tools at his disposal as he pieces together his defense during the first true offseason of his career in Lawrence.
Borland was faced with a challenging scenario in 2021. Arriving just last April, he was handed arguably one of the toughest jobs in the Big 12. But between a near-dozen returning defenders and an impressive transfer class, Borland’s pleased with the current list in his hand.
“I’m happy with the guys that are here,” Borland said. “They’re doing a good job of coaching. We’re just playing on edges a little bit more. One of the things we needed to do last year got off the ball better, more vertically, reset the line of scrimmage better than we did. I think we put guys in probably a better position to that.”
A clear leader on the defensive side, returning senior safety Kenny Logan Jr. will need to be paired up with another safety this fall. Borland gave some high praise of last season’s Big 12 leading tackler (113) and hinted at the job description to run alongside Logan.
“Kenny’s rock-solid, he’s a physical player,” Borland said. “He’s got things that he’s going to excel at. His counterpart would probably be a guy that would play a little bit more to the field, in space, be able to match up well and run well with slot receivers and things like that.”
Name dropping three sophomore candidates for the second safety spot, Borland said OJ Burroughs, Edwin White-Schultz, and Jason Gilliom could all be trusted with filling in that gap.
Borland breaks down the linebackers
Kansas got a breath of fresh air when it scored former Ohio State Buckeye Craig Young, and Borland says he’s fitting the profile the coaching staff’s been looking for, even just after a handful of practices.
“He’s really a bonafide athlete,” Borland said. “His athleticism, his speed, and his length are something we need more of. He's been able to step in, he's a versatile player for us, playing the linebacker that plays to the field, but can go into some substitute packages.”
Borland added that Young and UCF transfer Eric Gilyard is becoming a larger part of the linebacker room every day.
“(Young's) been so good in terms of really being hungry to learn,” Borland said. “(And) hungry to work hard all the time, in the weight room, anything that we're doing. He's all business. I couldn't be happier with him and those other guys (Gilyard), about how they've gone, and it's obvious that Craig's going to have a role for us.”
“Eric Gilyard is probably a true inside backer for us,” he added. “He’s really built that way. If you watch him long enough, he’s really got a good feel for diagnosing things and moving at crisp angles to get to the ball. I think that really plays to his strength in the box…. I have a feeling he’ll be a really productive player.”
Working with a deeper roster, Borland’s looking forward to a competitive atmosphere heading into the fall. And with the addition of a questionable Gavin Potter this week, the linebacker room adds another familiar face that’s played a lot of Kansas football.
Potter was not present at the beginning of spring practices, according to Kansas head coach Lance Leipold.
“I’m happy he’s here,” Borland said. “He was one of our leading performers last year. I thought he really improved as the year went on. He had to work through a couple of things and did, and he’s back. We love him. He’s made that decision to stick with us here and I’m glad he did. I think it’s in his best interest and our best interest, quite honestly.”
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