Luke Dalton breaks down meeting with Leipold, Fuchs

Last month Luke Dalton got a chance to work out with Kansas offensive line coach Scott Fuchs at a camp in Illinois. Shortly after the camp Dalton picked up an offer from the Jayhawks.

Kansas head coach Lance Leipold was also at the camp and spoke with Dalton to tell him about the offer. Dalton told them he would take a visit to Kansas, and he was true to his word.

The offensive lineman from Marian Central recently toured the facilities and met with the coaching staff along with his family.

“The visit was good,” Dalton said. “I really enjoyed it, and I was surprised at how pretty the campus was. I was not thinking it was going to be as pretty as it was. It's really cool with the layout, with the rolling hill and also how nice the dorms were. They were the nicest dorms I've seen yet. So, it's got a lot of upsides. It's definitely something I'm really excited about.”

Dalton had a short interaction with the Kansas coaches at the camp in Illinois and the visit gave him a chance to learn more about the program.

He worked out with Fuchs during the camp and got a close-up view of how he runs the offensive line.

“What coach Fuchs did that was really awesome, and I haven't really been able to do it a ton of other places is, I can look through like how he does his schemes,” Dalton said. “I got to see what he likes to do and how he runs his room and his offense.”

After meeting with Fuchs, Dalton met with Leipold one-on-one in his office. He talked about his impressions of the Jayhawks first-year head coach.

“Honestly, one thing that I've picked up is there are some head coaches who are flashy and, they know they’re the dude, and then there's other coaches that just really like to work hard,” Dalton said. “They don't flex their muscles too hard, and they get the job done. I just get a feeling that Coach Leipold is a hardworking coach. And he doesn't settle, he doesn't accept losses, and you look at what he did in Buffalo, he's phenomenal.

“And even what he did at Whitewater too, it's very impressive what he’s done in his career. You can tell right when you sit down and talk to him, he's a very hardworking man. He's a very driven man. And I think a good side you see just talking to him. I could tell that he's really bought in and wants to turn Kansas's program around.”

Dalton has visited Kansas, Iowa State, Indiana, Michigan, Miami (Ohio) and Ball State.

“With the dead period I’m just thinking over everything I've seen,” Dalton said. “I’m talking to some schools about doing another visit in that last week of July when things open back up. I’m just trying to see all my options, trying to see, what I like, what I don't like, to compare things here and there, and, you know, really get a sound understanding for what is it that I'm looking for.”

He does not want to set a deadline for making a decision and said he will not rush into it. He wants to keep building relationships with coaches, make more visits, and see what other opportunities may develop.

“I would say that I don't really have a strict timeline,” he said. “I would like to be able to get this off my shoulders going into my senior season. I'll say that. It's definitely something I'd like to wrap up, so I can just go play football and be a regular 17-year-old and go have fun with my guys. So, that's really what I'm looking to do.

Dalton continued: “I’m willing to leave my recruitment open a little bit longer just to see what options could come and where things in relationships stand with other schools. So, I'm not rushing, but I guess if you had to say when I will be committed by, I could say somewhere around early fall.”

New users can take advantage of our Summer Promo that gives you Jayhawk Slant FREE until the Jayhawks kick off their first game in early September.

To sign up and get Jayhawk Slant free with the new offer CLICK HERE