Gavin Potter talks linebackers, growing up in Oklahoma

Linebacker Gavin Potter is making the most of his sophomore season.

He's tallied 23 solo tackles for the Jayhawks’ defense so far, and he’s arguably been one of the more consistent defenders over the course of 6 games.

At this point in the year, Potter feels he’s making the right personal strides.

“I feel like I'm definitely making a lot of progress,” Potter said. “You think you understand it, and then you really start doing it and you're like, ‘Well, maybe I don't understand it that much.’ I would probably say the challenges were just maturity, as in physicalness, just because those dudes (2020 season) are way stronger. I can feel when I play other teams the difference between when I was a freshman and now."

He says there’s a change in the linebackers’ room, a position group that’s been under a new direction with assistant Chris Simpson.

Potter says putting in the hours is a big part of getting things to click.

“I feel like every game I can see all my teammates on my position group just getting better,” he said. “Because it's really a different feel going from a 3-4 to a 4-3. It's just a different feel the way you fit gaps and everything and how to fit them. You slowly start to see a shift in how we're all playing.”

He continued: “I think we just need to stick at it, stick to hustling around and doing our thing. I just think that it's going to come with time. You see the progress with everyone, looking around. You can feel the progress too. People are starting to really get to know everything and get the experience in the new defense.”

An Oklahoma native, Potter looks forward to taking on the Sooners again this weekend. He enjoys the challenge of squaring up to his home state.

Potter helped lead his high school to an Oklahoma state championship in 2018.

“I used to watch them on TV,” Potter said.” I like playing against Oklahoma, it's fun for me. OU and OSU, both of them. I just like to do that just because I know that they're my home state. Of course, all my friends are watching the game too, so it's nice to play and just go against everyone's team.”

The Sooners backed freshman quarterback Caleb Williams with the starting job in Week 7, practically ending the position battle at the Sooners with a 52-31 over TCU.

Impressed with the true freshman, Potter shared his thoughts on what he’s seen from the young quarterback rising alongside one of the Big 12’s most competitive offenses.

“I think he's pretty good,” he said. “I think he has a little spark about him. He seems like a competitor. I know what it's like to be young and playing. I know some of the stuff that he's feeling, and when he does good and when he does not so good, you can tell how people take that.”

He continued: “They have a good scheme. Their coach puts a lot of things together that complement each other, so you think one thing's coming, and the next thing happens. And I think that that's one of their biggest things, but they also have a lot of good players on their team.”