A big part of the Kansas program under Lance Leipold will be placing an emphasis on special teams. While there will be many new faces in the program the special teams will see several players back from last year.

As Leipold and his staff continue to build depth it will help the special teams. This spring Jake Schoonover took over as the special teams coordinator and preached about details.

“The big emphasis this spring was really teaching kids how to practice,” Schoonover said. “Teaching the kids attention to detail, what real effort looks like and what competing really looks like. There was first couple of weeks, obviously we taught a lot of technique and all that, but there were a lot of habits that we needed to just make sure we're progressing towards getting yourself in position to be successful.”

Schoonover said successful special teams can be taught just by focusing on the small things. He touched on the fact special teams does not get the same amount of time in practice as the offense and defense, so he tried to ramp up the competition level in his first spring.

“I just tried to help them understand the importance of each little thing we do and that was a big emphasis for the spring,” he said. “What I saw once we got through some learning curve stuff, the kids really embraced it. We put a competition of this on every single drill we did. We put a point system on it, split the team in red and blue, and we attacked every drill like it was competition to see who wins and losses. The kids said they had not done that before.”

One thing that has hurt the Kansas special teams over the years is staying behind the scholarship count. It has been well-documented that the roster has been shy of the maximum number of players, but that is starting to change.

It has limited the ability to play some of the more skilled players on special teams because coaches were concerned about the lack of depth.

One position they had success was kickoff return where starting safety Kenny Logan finished fourth in the Big 12. Going into the season Logan will be among a group of players expected to compete for the return jobs.

“We have a couple of returners that can do some things with the ball, if we give them space,” Schoonover said. “Jamahl Horne on kickoff return, and Kwamie Lassiter punt return. Kyler Pearson is a guy that got some punt return reps this spring that I'm excited about to see where he goes and grows.

“We have a nice group. And of course, you have Kenny Logan. So we have a group there that could do some things. Obviously, you’ve got to give them space. You’ve got to give them opportunity.”

Jacob Borcila returns as the leader to handle the place-kicking duties. Last year he was six-of-nine and made four of his five attempts between 40-49 yards.

“Jacob's a consistent kid and gets the ball up really well from 25, 30-yard line, which comes out to a field goal in the 40’s,” Schoonover said. “I feel good about where he's at. He’s got to build strength and get length to his leg. He can be more consistent but has a big-time leg. I'm excited about him.”

Reis Vernon took over the starting job the last five games of the season and averaged 37.8 yards a punt.

“Reis did a good job this spring,” Schoonover said. “He was a little unorthodox at times and some different stuff, but the ball gets up all the time. We're all about hang time and location. And he did a great job this spring consistently putting the ball on the numbers and the great hang time to give us a chance to cover it. I feel really good about where he's at.”

Last year the Jayhawks finished last in the Big 12 in net punting and kickoff coverage. Schoonover believes the special teams will be better and knows the challenges the league will present.

“Overall, I am excited,” he said. “I know, obviously how talented the league is with special teams. There are some dynamic returners and there's great specialists around the league. To see how we compare to that is going to be exciting for me, but I feel good about where we're going. I know there was area or room for improvement last year.

Schoonover continued: “But I do feel good about saying that we're going to be a sound unit. When you turn on the film, you're going to see kids playing really hard. You're going to see kids that really care and are invested.”