Matt Gildersleeve was a guest with Morgyn Seigfried last week on the 100 Yard Walk, a series hosted by KU Athletics.
The Jayhawks are welcoming seven transfers into the program who showed up on campus in January. The arrival of the players from the transfer portal has Kansas fans excited because many are expected to contribute this season.
“They should be excited,” Gildersleeve said. “This is an incredible group of young men. I've been so impressed with those seven guys of how they've really just come in and, most importantly, fit into our culture.”
There are good football players in the portal from all over the country, but one thing the coaching staff put an emphasis on was making sure they would be a good fit in other areas.
“I mean, that was the most important thing as we went through that whole process of recruitment of was it going to be a good fit,” Gildersleeve said. “And the alignment we have right now on our football team, it's incredibly fun to be part of, but those guys have already stepped into a leadership role, which has really made the transition as smooth I've ever seen.”
Gildersleeve, the Director of Sports Performance for football and came with Lance Leipold from Buffalo last May.
Last year Gildersleeve and his staff were in a time crunch because they arrived on campus so late, they had to cram strength and conditioning into a small window. They got the players for six weeks until fall camp started.
Now things are starting to settle down and their system is in place.
“I think the biggest piece for us right now is that cultural aspect of there is a level of expectation and we kind of call it Jayhawk talk,” he said. “We're all speaking the same language now. And the standard is the standard, no matter who you are in our program. And the fact that we've gotten that alignment, and everybody truly understands that that's the coolest thing what we're doing right now.”
The players learned what Gildersleeve expects from them, and the strength and conditioning program kicked into full speed last month. It will be a big advantage for the program to have a full year in the system.
“You can't even put into words what it'll be for these guys to truly get the full idea of what this thing looks like and probably more importantly from a developmental aspect,” he said. “To be able to go through eight months of preparation versus the six weeks we had in summer.
“The physical team we'll put on that field next year, you guys won't recognize them. And that's the biggest thing that will make a difference.”
Some players in the program have gone through three strength and conditioning coaches. One of the big things Gildersleeve is trying to install is making it easy for everyone to understand and fit in the program.
“Our biggest thing this year is we wanted to align and simplify,” he said. “And so, I kind of refer back to that Jayhawk talk I talked about. It's so that our core values, it's one thing to know the word, but culture is action. For us to define those words and make them very simple, I think that's really created that alignment.”
He continued: “And that's been the biggest thing these first couple weeks is define the culture, make sure that everybody knows what it means so that when we demand that expectation, it's very easy to meet.”
Gildersleeve was asked how excited he is about the future of the Kansas football program. He pointed out the leadership and facilities as part of the positive growing process.
“The resources that we have here, the people, the leader with Travis Goff and with Coach Leipold and the foundation that's here, I've never been more excited to be part of something,” Gildersleeve said. “That's truly every day you walk in, I got to tell you, it feels different. And our players say the same thing as just when you walk into that facility in the morning, there's just this positively eerie feeling like something really special's happening because it is. And they're working their butts off and it's a really exciting time to be a Jayhawk.”
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