Tommy Brandt said he knows Kansas is the right place

When Tommy Brandt visited Kansas for junior day, he had a good idea it was a place he could see himself going to college. The offensive tackle from Saint Thomas Academy (Minn.) kept those thoughts to himself until he returned to campus for his official visit.

Brandt looked back on his first visit and what he felt in February for that junior day visit.

“I knew it right when I stepped on campus,” he recalled. “It was just my gut feeling. I just didn't want to say anything about it. I don't know. It's just that feeling in my gut. I really liked Coach Meadows and Coach Miles.”

For the next five months Brandt went through recruiting but had that feeling of what he experienced at Kansas. This weekend he took his official visit with his family and that was all he needed to make his decision.

Brandt knew he was leaning to giving the Kansas staff his verbal commitment. He was sitting in the hallway when another recruit, Nick Martinez, came out and told him he just committed.

“He came out and gave me a big hug,” Brandt said of Martinez.

Little did Meadows and Miles know in a matter of minutes they would get another one of their top offensive line targets.

“I went in, talked with my parents, and they felt the exact same,” Brandt said. “Then I went and told Coach Meadows. I said, ‘I want to be a Jayhawk.’ He was pretty excited.”

The next step was going in to meet with Les Miles. The Kansas head coach was going into his pitch how many offensive linemen he’s sent to the NFL. While Miles was trying to convince Brandt and his family Kansas was the right place, Brandt spoke up.

“I just looked at my mom, then at Coach Miles and I asked her ‘should I tell him?’” Brandt said.

Miles responded and asked what he was talking about.

“I told him I’m going to be a Jayhawk,” Brandt said. “Then he went crazy. It was pretty funny.”

There were several factors that led to Brandt giving the Jayhawks his verbal commitment. The first was the relationship he built with Meadows and Miles.

Brandt’s offensive line coach in high school was recruited by Meadows at South Dakota. That connection helped start the relationship with the staff and it grew from there.

“I'd say the main, deciding factor for me was the coaches,” he said. “I’m going to be there with them every day for four or five years. In the long run they're the people that I'm going to need to have the best relationships with. Coach Meadows is just like my offensive line coach, so it wouldn't be any different for me and we'll have a lot of fun.

“Coach Miles is such a great guy. He's one of the most genuine guys that I've met. He's been amazing to my parents, and amazing to me. He's taken me under his wing. It just feels like home.”

One of the other factors is being on the ground floor of something getting built. Brandt talked about the Jayhawks rebuilding their program and he went through much of the same at his high school.

Last year St. Thomas Academy hired a new football coach and they turned their program around in just one year. He believes the same thing can happen at Kansas.

“I want to be a part of what’s going on at Kansas,” he said. “Just come out the gates flying. And I just want to be a part of that. I think that's pretty cool. It’s like the same thing that I did at my high school. We just got a new coach last year. We hadn't had a winning record through six years, and we ended up going to the state championship.”

The Kansas staff saw a lot of good things from Brandt on his high school film. One his strengths is run-blocking and playing physical. His high school team relied on their ground game to get to the state title game and Brandt was a big part of that.

“We barely pass the ball,” Brandy said. “We're like a blue-collar, all boys military school. We manly run power, iso, and counter. Coach Meadows saw that, and that's the exact running scheme that they're going to run. He said they need fast and flexible linemen. That's what he saw on my film.”

Brandt also spoke highly of the academics and the positive feel he got from his host Nick Williams. He plans to go into the Honors Business Program with an emphasis on Finance.

After five months since his first visit to Lawrence it was a good feeling when he landed home to know he has his college future figured out.

“I'd say I feel relieved,” he said. “Just because I know I'm in the right place. I know I picked the right place. I don't have any regrets. No remorse, no nothing. I feel amazing. I can't wait.”