Bryce Foster arrived on campus in mid-June, and it has been full speed ahead since. The transfer from Texas A&M committed to the Jayhawks a little later in the process than most portal transfers and has been adjusting to the system.

Foster said one change is the pace of practice.

“It’s definitely been a big change, especially practice wise,” Foster said. “I'd say at A&M, it was a little longer practices, but not as fast. That's been a really big difference for me coming here. Practices aren't as long, but, man, they're snap, snap, snap. It's going really fast, going through plays, going through Indi (individual drills) and everything. You're always moving, constantly moving. So, I think it's a good thing.”

He realized early in fall camp the speed of practice was different.

“I think the first cycle and a half or so of fall camp, I was taken aghast by that,” he said. “I don't think I've ever breathed that hard during a practice. That was a struggle for real. But I think now looking back at it, I'm in way better shape than I was.”

Foster was one of the top center transfers in the portal. The former five-star recruit started 28 games the last three season for the Aggies. But he described entering the portal was a move that would give him a fresh start.

“I think I just kind of wanted a fresh start,” Foster said. “While I was there, I didn't enjoy it as much as I thought I was going to. I love the people at A&M. I think that was really good. The alumni is great. I loved it there. But I kind of felt like I needed a new start, I think is the best way to put it.”

The fresh start began when he stepped foot in Lawrence. Foster met with his teammates and started learning the offense and line calls. There were individual meetings with assistant coach Jackson Satterwhite to cram as much information as he could.

He is still learning on the go, but the summertime helped with a head start and working with his teammates.

“I think the biggest thing was getting to actually understand the lingo,” Foster said. “I mean, in all reality, all offenses are the same. You have your zones, you have your gap schemes, you have all this stuff, but the biggest difference is just the words people use. I think those team tags we had over the summer were really, really big for me, getting to understand the lingo that everyone's using and how we call double teams and all that stuff like that across the front.”

Foster is in competition with Shane Bumgardner for the starting center position. Bumgardner is also a transfer, where he won the Rimington Award as the Top Division Two center at Tiffin. The big difference is Bumgardner went through spring football and learned the system.

He has relied on his teammates for extra help to get up to speed.

“Bryce Cabeldue has definitely helped me a lot, and Mike Ford, because I know he played some center during the spring,” he said. “He's kind of helped me a lot through it, and then just kind of sitting back and listening to Shane. He was here in spring as well and listening to him make the calls and stuff like that. Learning from all three of those guys kind of really helped me.”

Foster said he has enjoyed his time in Lawrence and complimented the food in town. He spent some time playing guard, but the focus is playing center and continuing the competition with Bumgardner.

“I'm willing to do whatever it takes to win to be honest,” he said. “I think at the end of the day, I want to win football games, and I want to help my team win. Whoever the front five are, whether I'm in it or I'm not in it, whatever, I want to be there so I can help win the game.”