Deondre Doiron picks Kansas and will reunite with players, coaches
Deondre Doiron is close to reuniting with the coaches who recruited him to play division one football.
Doiron signed with Buffalo as a high school player coming out of Canada. He was recruited by Scott Fuchs, Andy Kotelnicki and Lance Leipold to play for the Bulls.
On Thursday Doiron gave the Jayhawks his verbal commitment and plans to report to Lawrence in less than a month. His first call to commit was to Fuchs, who coaches the offensive line for the Jayhawks.
“So first I called Coach Fuchs, and he was about to go do a workout,” Doiron said. “He told me, ‘Listen, you’ve got about 30 minutes, until I finish my workout, to tell Coach Leipold and Coach K and all of them, because I'm going to get in all their ears and tell them how excited I am.’
“It was great. I mean, it was literally flashbacks from when I got the offer from them previously. So, it was amazing, and it was great to feel that again.”
Two years ago, Doiron was making that same phone call to the same coaches to tell them he was committing to Buffalo. He is ready to play for them again and join several of his former teammates.
He talked to several players including Mike Novitsky and Mike Ford who are starters at Kansas that came from Buffalo.
“I know the guys there and they were calling me,” Doiron said. “They were on me. I mean, every single one of the guys I know, that called me, were just telling me only great things. And I'm sure that those guys would be truthful to me because obviously they care about me. I went to war with those guys.
He continued: “Ultimately, I just went to what felt comfortable for me. I know the offense. I know the coaching staff. I trust them. I like the way things were operated at my previous school with them, so I felt like it was the right decision to make.”
Doiron received several division one offers the first two days after entering the portal. He has different options to choose from, but he kept going back to what he knew.
In the end he put a lot of trust in the people he already had relationships between the coaches and players.
“They just kind of keep reassuring me,” Doiron said. “Not just directly saying it, but more reassuring me like the way that guys are buying into the culture and things like that. What I saw at my previous school under this staff, and I have seen how those things work. And they're telling me that things are going the right way, and how life is there and how they're happy doing what they're doing.”
[OFFER: Get Jayhawk Slant FREE all the way up to football season]
Doiron did not take a visit to Kansas, but he has enough faith in the coaching staff and players to know what awaits him. He had conversations with Fuchs about the offensive line and got a live tour of the program.
“I got to see the facility through Zoom tours and things like that,” he said. “I got to see the breakdown of what life's like, where the guys live, the money situation, and things like that. But ultimately, I went where I felt comfortable and what felt like what was home to me.”
Things will move fast for Doiron who is finishing classes over the next week and then will start the move to Kansas. He said after talking with Fuchs and Rob Ianello the plan is to report after Memorial Day.
That timeframe will allow him to be on campus before summer workouts start.
“To put it into words, it feels great,” he said. “But more importantly, I feel like I'm just ready to go to work, and I'm ready to go and contribute whatever I can for those guys on that team. I mean, if they need me to fill up water, that's what I'm going to do. I'm ready to go and start this change and bring Kansas football to where everyone thinks it can be and where we think it can be.”
Doiron started 10 games last year at right tackle as a freshman. He will have four years remaining to play three.