There were a lot of college coaches who reached out to Mike Novitsky once he entered the portal. And that really came as no surprise.

Last season Novitsky was first team All MAC at center for Buffalo and attracted a lot of attention when he announced his intentions to transfer.

Novitsky said Texas, Notre Dame, Michigan, Rutgers, Texas Tech, Syracuse, Baylor, Missouri, and Ole Miss were a few schools that recruited him. In the end he stayed with Lance Leipold and the coaches who recruited him to Buffalo.

“I've just created such a special bond and relationship with all of those coaches,” Novitsky said. “I wouldn't trade any of that for the world. Looking at Kansas it's a place with a lot of potential.

“The culture that the coaches are going to implement with the environment and the facilities it looks like this place has a lot of potential and it absolutely can be turned around.”

Novitsky could have gone to several Power Five schools all over the country. But he liked the potential at Kansas and has seen what Leipold can build.

“You know, I've been in the same kind of culture for a couple of years, and it was successful when we were doing it back in Buffalo,” Novitsky said. “For me to grow up in that culture when Leipold recruited me, I came in as a freshman and you don't learn it from basic blocks.

“This group seems like a very special group of guys with a lot of potential. And I think once we get the right system in place and all of us are on the same page it will be successful.”

Last year Pro Football Focus rated Novitsky as the fourth best center at the division one level. He graded out at 89.0 and only trailed Linderbaum (Iowa), Dickerson (Alabama) and Jackson from Kentucky.

He gives some of the credit to Scott Fuchs who will now be his line coach at Kansas.

“He's one of the best at his position in the whole nation,” Novitsky said of Fuchs. “No doubt about it. He's a very smart man. He's a great coach. He’s a player’s coach and he cares about his players first and foremost.

“The best part is you don't always talk about football with him. You can just talk about life. It's that different relationship because he connects with the players. That's what makes him different.”

Novitsky has been a part of what Leipold built at Buffalo and believes he can do the same at Kansas.

“He's got a great eye for talent and he's a very personal coach,” Novitsky said of Leipold. “He wants to create something big. He builds a relationship with all of the players. And then his players develop a belief in him. And when you have a group of guys that believe in the head coach, then we start to rally around each other, and we will be stronger than we were before.”

Novitsky signed with Buffalo out of Victor High in New York. Now he’s going to travel to Kansas and follow a lot of the coaches be believes in.

“It's a great opportunity,” he said. “I feel that at Kansas was the best place where I could excel on and off the field. It's just a great opportunity for me to be on a bigger platform and meet a whole new group of guys and create bonds that I'll never forget.”