Locked On Jayhawks - Daily Podcast On Kansas Jayhawks Football & Basketball - Jayhawks & Wildcats SWITCHING SIDES? | Jordan Peterson, Dylan Edwards Rumors + KU vs K-State Hoops

Starting point is 00:00:00 We got players, we got coaches changing sides. What is holy anymore in the Sunflower Showdown? We're going to break it all down on this bonus crossover episode of Locked on Jayhawks, locked on Kansas State Wildcats. You are locked on college crossover. Part of the Lopped on podcast network. Your team every day. What's going on?

Starting point is 00:00:32 Derek Johnson here along with me is Christian Rao. This is locked on Jayhawks. This is locked on Kansas State. We're going to be breaking down some of these Dylan Edwards rumors. We're going to be breaking down Jordan Peterson going to Kansas State. Edwards formerly the running back at K State, Peterson, a former assistant coach at Kansas and just kind of crossing enemy lines, so to speak. Also get into a little bit. We're a week away from KU hoops taking on K State in Manhattan.

Starting point is 00:00:57 And we'll talk about that one a little bit in the third segment of the show. Today's episode is brought to you by Fan Dual Sportsbook, and you can get in on all the football action coming up in this little three-day. weekend. We got the divisional round coming up on Saturday and Sunday. We got the Natty coming up on Monday. Get in on the action. They've got a bunch of boosts going down at Fandul as well. Okay. So Christian, let's just start here. The rumors are flying. There was Pete Nacos from on three reported that there was some interest coming from Kansas for Dylan Edwards. I mean, Edwards is somebody that KU recruited in high school. Obviously, he didn't pick them. He was somebody that they even looked into the transfer portal last time he was in there. Obviously, you know, goes to Kansas State in the end. And then we got, Rice and stricter tweeting out that he's going to be at Kansas. We got Pete Nacos tweeting out shortly after that he had not signed anywhere yet. I mean, there's just rumors abound with what is going to happen here with Dylan Edwards. So I guess let's just start here. What is your first reaction to hearing that a former Kansas state starter could potentially be a Kansas Jayhawk?

Starting point is 00:01:59 Illegal. Doesn't feel right. Like, not good. Look, there's a lot of polarizing thoughts about Dylan Edwards, the way they he left Kansas State, all the case may be. He's a great player. Let's put it that way. First and foremost, he's a great player.

Starting point is 00:02:16 I think, you know, we're kind of having a talk off the air when all these news started going. We're like, we need to have a conversation about this for all our everydayers. And the first day came in my mind was like, he's fantastic. His ceiling is amazing. But it's when he has the opportunity to do so. He haven't really got the chance to see him be an everyday type of running back. I will be the first to tell you that when he was going in as the starting running back this year after moving on from DJ Giddens, who's with the Colts now, and he was supposed to be running back one, and he was heading into Dublin in a week zero this year. The entire offseason, all I could talk about is how good this running back room could be with Dylan Edwards being the star.

Starting point is 00:02:56 But injuries come in the way, a couple offseason off the field instance apparently as well. Nothing solid, nothing that actually has been confirmed, but definitely a lot of rumors. And you know how that goes when it comes to the K-State and K-U faithful in some of these, some of these times. But overall, it doesn't feel right. It doesn't feel right that there's a potential for somebody to be on Kansas State and then playing Kansas next year. It's going to make an interesting Sun and Flower Showdown, that's for sure. Yeah, no kidding. I mean, if you end up with Dylan Edwards, you know, one of two ways, right?

Starting point is 00:03:30 If Dylan Edwards like fumbles against K State and they lose the game, like people are going to be, oh, we love you again, right? if it goes the other way, runs for 100 yards, and Kansas finally breaks the streak, who knows. But I guess this, like, I'm sure there's people commenting on YouTube already, and certainly from everything I've seen on social media, there are a lot of Kansas state fans who have voiced their displeasure with Dylan Edwards. And I think a lot of that, you know, comes down to how it ended in his time with Manhattan. Do you think that had he not kind of quit on the team, for lack of a better term,

Starting point is 00:04:04 through the four games and left. Like, do you think hypothetically, if Dylan Edwards finishes out the season for K State and he transfers to any other school, let's say like an SEC school or Big Ten school, one that's not in the forefront for Kansas State fans, do you think there would be this much vitriol online or do you think this is a bit of a,

Starting point is 00:04:27 no, it's because of the combination of those two things, leaving the team in the season and going to Kansas, potential? Oh, absolutely. It's definitely the combination because there's so many big name players that Kansas State has had to leave the portal this year. Jace Brown going to LSU, Austin, Romaine, sticking in the Big 12 and going to Texas Tech. You got Toby Osum Sommi and Chee D.OBI's going to the who I expect the new reigning national champion, Indiana to be going to be with the Hoosiers next year. So it has everything to do with the fact that, one, the way that it was reported that he quit on his team, that there was some sort of off-field incident happening in Dublin after he fumbled that punt return.

Starting point is 00:05:06 There's a report, a speculation that he kicked the bench, and that's the reason why he was injured. Nothing confirmed on that, by the way. Although that everybody's going to tell you that it is confirmed, nothing has been confirmed on that front. And then, of course, the fact that there was this agent going out saying he was going to redshirt, then you had the speculation the week back and forth. Chris Klyman, kind of being the player coach that he was, trying to keep it calm inside the locker room, keep it calm in front of the media, kind of pushing it to the side until he couldn't hold it anymore. And then it just finally ended and they decided to redshirt and make it a public

Starting point is 00:05:39 announcement before the season ended. If it wasn't for those moments, and there was a lot of moments, don't get me wrong, sour taste from the very beginning of the season, Kansas State had high expectations last year. I walked into this season thinking that Kansas State could be as good as 10 and two in battling the Big 12 championship. I wasn't the only one that believed that. I don't think that was a home or take. I think that was actually a very solid take by a lot of people heading into this season for Kansas State. Dylan Edwards being one of the main reasons that I took that as a choice. And then it just didn't fall through. If he would have finished the season and played normally, or he got injured, even the injury, if that would have occurred, if it would just been a normal

Starting point is 00:06:16 at the end of the season, hey, thank you so much. Respect my decision. I'm going to enter the transfer portal and chose anywhere else. But Kansas, maybe Iowa State as well, I don't think, I don't think you'd have the same type of feeling towards them. Do you think there is any case to be made that Kansas like, okay, because in my eyes, who knows, he has a kid from the state of Kansas, went to Derby High School. Like maybe this is a little bit if he does wind up at KU. Maybe it is a bit of, hey, I can still be close to home. But it's hard for me not to view how these last couple of years have gone, the different

Starting point is 00:06:50 schools he's committed to, decommitted to, transferred to, transferred out of. It's hard for me not to view this all and think that, like, it's. Is there any part of him when he entered the portal and left K-State, was he thinking he was going to get a big payday and wind up in an even bigger school, potentially? And maybe those authors just weren't there because of some of that background that has led to this, to where I almost wonder if him potentially going to KU is a little bit of a, hey, I didn't get my first option and now I have to settle for this.

Starting point is 00:07:24 And it's an opportunity for both parties to come together and kind of. kind of get something good out of each other. Like, is there a case to be made that Kansas could be buying low here essentially and basically saying, hey, you should be as motivated as you've ever been to have a good season and stay on the field? Absolutely. 100%. The fact that he got the red shirt this past season didn't lose any eligibility in 2025

Starting point is 00:07:49 after the dreadful season that he and Kansas State had in this past season. Moving ahead now, I'm sure he was expecting to maybe get a couple offers. He went from committing to Notre Dame and then going to Dion's Colorado and then going to Kansas State. I mean, he had all of these very marquee things from the jump. In his freshman year, when everybody was paying attention on the spotlight to Colorado, he was one of those main players as a freshman. Actually, when we were preparing for this show, I was looking up some past tweets, and I saw some tweets with myself talking about Dylan Edwards when he was with, or excuse me,

Starting point is 00:08:24 when he was with Colorado as a freshman, a huge 75-yard run. had a quote tweet for it just from back years ago in 2023. He's been in the news for a very long time. So I think there was a little bit of an expectation there for sure. But if Kansas is playing buys low here. Look, the ceiling is absolutely high. If he comes in healthy, there is nothing, I will say, negative about Dylan Edwards' play when he's healthy and available.

Starting point is 00:08:50 We just haven't seen it enough. We've really only seen it in a special teams aspect when he was in the first season of Kansas state with DJ Giddens taking over. And then when DJ Giddens declared for the draft, Dylan Edwards took over in the rate bowl game in 2024. He was electric. He gave everybody hope thinking that this running back room didn't need anything in the transfer portal. They found their guy.

Starting point is 00:09:11 And then you had the issues happen in Week Zero in Dublin. He came back for one decent game in the middle of the season against UCF and was insane, took off. And then it kind of fell apart again. When he's on, when he's available, he's one of the best running backs, not just in the 12 in the country. I'll stand on that. It's just that's so far and few between. The ceiling's so high, but the floor is just so dang low. And it's because of availability, not because of performance. Well, I certainly will think Jordan Peterson will be available every day. That goes with being a coach.

Starting point is 00:09:42 So let's break down the former Jayhawk assistant coach, who's now the Kansas State defensive coordinator in just a second. First, today's episode of the show is brought to you by Fandual Sportsbook. The college football playoff championship is coming up on Monday, night and Fanduel is given all customers, even more ways to get in on the action every game day of the playoffs. We get NFL playoffs going on this weekend, too. College basketball's in full swing and conference play. And right now, Fandual users are getting a profit boost, waiting for them in the app for the college football playoff title game. You can pick Indiana to cover the spread and continue their nomination. Pick an alt spread. You think Indiana is going to blast Miami like they've

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Starting point is 00:10:53 versions of Locked on Jayhawks and Locked on Kansas State. You also get to join the Discord server and the links are locked on jhawks. Dot supercast.com for the locked on Kansas for locked on Kansas State. It's locked on Kansas state. It's locked on Kansas state. com. Okay. Jordan Peterson was a former Kansas assistant coach. Goes down to Texas A&M for a year or two years, his alma mater.

Starting point is 00:11:17 Now he's back up at Kansas State. And he's the defensive coordinator coming along with Colin Klein. I guess I'll flip this over to you. Like, what questions do you have about Jordan Peterson now in what will be year one as the DC? Yeah, he seems like an exciting piece. And obviously coming from Colin Klein, coming with Texas A&M, he thought that there was a good relationship there. You know, one of the biggest things that I heard over and over again, and you're going to obviously have a really good insight on this because you've got to see it firsthand is that he's an excellent recruiter. Now, we've seen this kind of already start to take shape in the portal, but portal is one thing.

Starting point is 00:11:55 Recruiting is a different aspect of life. What have you seen from him as a recruiter and how that's going to impact, especially in state, both with Kansas and Kansas State? The advantage in this case, if he's a good recruiter, is maybe going towards Manhattan here. Yeah, and I was looking at some of the guys that he was bringing in while he was at A&M, and it looked like he brought in some good guys there, too. I don't know if that'll have any impact of there. But in terms of just at Kansas, he was the,

Starting point is 00:12:20 the go-to recruiter for KU by the time his career was wrapping up the last couple of years. And he had a big hand in. So KU brought in a recruiting class in, gosh, now mixing up the classes, was at 23 or 24. But it was the one with DJ Warner. He ended up being a top 100 kid in the class. He was a 96 rated four-star recruit in 24-7 sports, along with several other either four-star or high-rated three-star recruits. some of them with Kansas. Jalen Todd just had a good season for KU in the back end.

Starting point is 00:12:53 They brought on a bunch of kids from Desert Edge, which was a high school in Arizona. Carter Lovruski was a tackle. He just entered the portal a week or two ago. Dak Brinkley was partially recruited by him and he showed some flashes last year. So it's a lot of good recruits. And even in some years where guys haven't worked out, like I forget if there's the class of 22 or 23, KU's two highest rated recruits that year, Jamil Croft and Jacoby Davis. You know, Croft entered the portal and neither guy has made a big impact for Kansas. In fact, Croft actually made a bigger impact for K State when he stepped out at the one yard line a couple years ago on the kickoff return.

Starting point is 00:13:29 But those were KU's two highest rated recruits in that class. He was bringing on all these highest rated recruits in 24. Some of them have worked out. Some of them haven't. But you would think if you continue to bring in highly rated recruits, the more dark throws you have, the better chance you have to get a bullseye if they're, I don't know, bigger darts or you're closer to the dartboard, which is basically, what Jordan Peterson was doing. So he was known as being an excellent recruiter for KU. I was going to be curious because some of those guys,

Starting point is 00:13:55 John John Kamara entered the portal, like guys that he recruited entered the portal. I was going to be curious if any of them wound up at Kansas State. I haven't seen any of that happen yet. So I don't know if it was a situation of, hey, these guys got to Kansas. He shortly left after to A&M. And they kind of just viewed it as,

Starting point is 00:14:10 okay, well, I don't know. I guess there's no loyalty. Like, I'm just going to do what's best for me. But very good recruiter in his time at KU. And that is something that I'm very worried about from the KU perspective, that you almost have this like perfect combination of Peterson who has been really good, but specifically recruiting out of state, recruiting in the state of Arizona or on the West Coast or in Texas.

Starting point is 00:14:32 And now you have Colin Klein as the head coach who like every high school football coach and high school football player in the state of Kansas is probably going to know who Colin Klein is. So if Colin Klein's cleaning up in state and Jordan Peterson's helping them clean up out of state, That is kind of a good combo for the Wildcats. Yeah, and they've added a couple other pieces and the positional coaching staff that I think are very good recruiters in the state of Missouri in the surrounding area as well. And the fact that they have Texas A&M, Ties helps be in the state of Texas. And I've said this over and over again. I would think you would agree as well.

Starting point is 00:15:05 In the Big 12 in recruiting, you have to have some sort of just at least some sort of influence in the state of Texas to win in the Big 12. I think that still is true today, even with NIL, transfer portal, the way that. it's changed. It was a lot more important maybe 10 years ago, but I still think you have to have wins in the state of Texas in order to be successful in the Big 12. So getting that from, you know, Texas A&M coaches coming to Manhattan definitely helps for sure. I think he's the most important coach, the most important piece for Kansas State heading forward because Chris Clyman was a defensive guy. Now you're switching this. Colin Klein, obviously an offensive-minded coach. I think he's your most critical hire because he's going to be all by himself. He's going

Starting point is 00:15:47 to be the defensive guy focusing on this. Matt Wells, the offensive coordinator under Chris Clyman the last few years, was heavily criticized because he was in charge of the offense. We knew Chris Clyman was a defensive guy. If anything goes astray with the defense, it's not going to be pointed at Colin Klein. It's going to be pointed at him. So I think he's a very important piece. He has a lot of experience with the defensive secondary, which I think will help him.

Starting point is 00:16:10 This transfer portal, he had a huge, he had huge shoes to fill with the defensive line, especially with people leaving for eligibility. with a lot of edge rushers either following Joe Clannerman to Baylor or going in the transfer portal, as I mentioned earlier, Indiana, SMU, things like that. I think he did a good job retooling and rebuilding. It's just interesting to see how fast it will happen. Is six and six in two years in a row last year with the final year of Chris Climent and first year of Colin Klein?

Starting point is 00:16:37 Will people be happy with that or are they expecting a lot more? That would be my biggest question. And I think a lot of it will be pointed at what this defense looks like in year one. Yeah. And from everything that I have heard, from people that I talk to, Peterson is a very sharp mind and a good tactician, somebody who is able to adjust on the fly, somebody who has a good mastering of X's and O's and how they adjust to opposing offenses. So I am high on Peterson, not just as the recruiter, but as the actual like defensive coordinator and defensive play caller. I think this was an A higher for for Kansas State when they made it. and it only is going to make it worse if the streak gets extended this year

Starting point is 00:17:18 and Jordan Peterson pitches a defensive masterpiece. That's a crazy thing too. Like we're talking obviously about the Sunflower showdowns here between Kansas and Kansas State. There is so much upside with Colin Klein coming in as the new head coach. What a perfect year for Kansas if they were going to win and break the streak in year one of Colin Klein. I mean, it would completely shatter a lot of people's hopes in Manhattan. and I'm sure that's going to be very focused on. I haven't had a chance to look at Kansas's schedule this upcoming season,

Starting point is 00:17:49 but Kansas State does not play BYU. They do not play Texas Tech. I think their toughest game on the schedule just based on last year's performance is probably Arizona or Houston. It's a very doable season for Kansas State in the Big 12. So if you are just borderline potentially getting yourself bowl eligibility or even better raising that floor in your Kansas State, I think those games against Iowa State,

Starting point is 00:18:11 from the farmageddon with their new head coach of short of course and then the sunflower showdown are going to be super important they might be just as important as they have been the last 16 17 years all right let's finish up here on the show kuk state take each other on in a week let's break that one down next all right so kansas takes on kansas state in basketball next saturday and things are not going well in manhattan for jerome tang but he's still in kansas fans the back of our minds right now. I think there's very much a worry about this game for some dumb reason. It's not a dumb reason. It's like Kansas State keeps beating KU at home over the last, what is it, three, four years or three years for Kansas State to where it's just like almost

Starting point is 00:18:54 an expectation KU's going to go into this game. KSate's going to get hot from three. KU's not going to play well or something. And KSate's going to win the game. So I guess take me through, like what is going on right now? Is this a potential like head coach job saving game for Jerome Tang? or is that ship almost sailed and this is just kind of a have an opportunity to make a good moment in the season? Man, it's tough to say, and I hate to keep going back at it,

Starting point is 00:19:19 but it's been a really dreadful season. There's no doubt about it. But the contract that Jerome Tang has, and I know this is like one that my fans are just so sick of hearing, but the contract he has is almost impossible to get rid of him in the middle of the season. Now the buyout gets a lot better after April of this year, so maybe this next, at the end of the season,

Starting point is 00:19:38 and they decide to move around. But I don't see an in-season firing or anything like that. I do think that this is the second year in a row that you've gone to the well. You have gone deep into the transfer portal and been one of the best transfer portal classes in the country. You spent the money on doing so last year, you know, led with Coleman Hawkins. This year led with PJ Haggerty. You're getting production out of Haggerty this year, but you're having a lot of troubles everywhere else and you're struggling.

Starting point is 00:20:04 This is the first time ever Jerome Tang has been in this position where you haven't won a big 12 game from the jump, right? He's won every big 12 opener until this year. Now you played BYU in Arizona to start your season. That didn't help out. But you're also losing a ton of games that you should not be losing. Arizona State being one of them. This is an interesting game.

Starting point is 00:20:24 Of course, you mention it. They always play a lot tougher. They always play with a lot of energy against each other. I'm going to lean Kansas fans back to just a couple days ago when everybody expected Iowa State to be just fine against you guys. And you guys came and tore the house. down and took down number two team in the country. Trap games are there.

Starting point is 00:20:41 I'm not saying that's happening. I'm not saying Kansas. I'm not going to predict a win for Kansas State until they actually do it because it's been very tough to watch this team play basketball. But you just never know. You just never know when it comes to basketball in Kansas State. And this is a fun rivalry. It's very fun to pay attention to.

Starting point is 00:20:59 Yeah. And I think it's going to hit an interesting crossroads. I know the next couple of games for both these teams lead up to it. So there still could be some different results. but K State's playing Utah at home in the game right before, so you think they should win that one. And then for Kansas, yeah, they're going to be on the road as well against Colorado

Starting point is 00:21:16 and KU has struggled on the road these past couple of seasons. But I find it very interesting that, you know, both teams are going to be favored in the game before if they can, you know, get a win under their belt and get some confidence coming into the game potentially. But what has been the issue for K State to this point? You mentioned Haggerty producing,

Starting point is 00:21:34 but the other things not really coming around. Yeah. So they have a great offense, but they're just so inconsistent. And they want to shoot the basketball as much as possible. Jerome Tang even came out and said he wants to shoot 43 point attempts per game and, you know, hopefully get 12 to 14 makes and that puts them in a good position. And they're not doing that. And then on top of that, if you want to be that type of shooter, well, you also have to

Starting point is 00:21:59 rebounds. You get second chance points. They haven't, I don't think they've won a rebounding battle at all this season. They're struggling as a rebounding team. That's been an issue for Jerome Tang. since he's made the elite eight for the last three seasons, a rebounding team has just not been a team in Manhattan. It's just been a big struggle.

Starting point is 00:22:14 And then you're talking about trying to play physical basketball with the best conference in America, the Big 12. You're not going to win those if you're not rebounding, getting second chance points. And if you're not making those three-pointers, you're not shooting better than 45% from the field. You probably don't have a chance. And that's exactly what's happening here.

Starting point is 00:22:30 They're relying too much on the long ball. They're relying too much on being just a shooter team and not all the other tangible things happening in a basketball game. And it's just not enough. They're very one-dimensional, and it's a lack of discipline. You know, Jerome Tang talked about how desperate teams usually win after losing the UCF the other night. And you would think a team that hasn't made the NCAA tournament for multiple years now, a team that has all Americans on their squad that are trying to become NBA draft eligible,

Starting point is 00:22:58 a team that obviously has a coach in the hot seat, whether buyouts happen or not, you would think that team would be desperate. it. But right now that's not the case. Maybe that changes when they play the Jayhawks. Desperation obviously might come into play with the Sunflower Showdown. It is so weird too. And as you're talking about the buyouts, like if you would have told me that Jerome Tang was going to last longer than Chris Clyman, that felt like a weird conversation. Obviously, it took somebody retiring. But going back to the kind of buyout conversation with Tang there, is that something that could get impeded because you have a new head coach in where I would

Starting point is 00:23:30 imagine, you know, just hiring new staff, paying money to the new coach. like filling out with the transfer portal could have kind of an impact on Tang, potentially being back for another year after this one. Yeah, I never thought Chris Clyman would leave under Gene Taylor. It took a retirement for that to happen. Gene Taylor spoke very highly of Jerome Tang when Chris Clyman retired, said that he thinks he made the right higher for a basketball coach, whether you believe that's the case or not.

Starting point is 00:23:57 Obviously, the last couple of years have not gave good credit for Jerome Tang. I'm going to continue with my take on this one and say, as long as Gene Taylor is the athletic director with this contract Jerome Tang has, I don't think he's going anywhere. Well, he's Christian Rao. I'm Derek Johnson, locked on Jayhawks, locked on Kansas State. Where can everybody find your work? No, locked on Kansas State, anywhere you listen to podcasts, just like Lockdown Jayhawks.

Starting point is 00:24:19 And of course, if you want to go ad free, check out the Everydayers Club for Lockdown Jayhawks or Locked on Kansas State. That's right. Everydair's Club. It is in the show notes. Make sure to check that out as well. Again, he's Christian. I'm Derek. That'll do it for this bonus crossover episode.

Starting point is 00:24:33 of Locked on Kansas, Locked on Kansas State, locked on Jayhawks, Locked on Kansas State, what am I even doing? And we'll be back for regular programming with each one of us separately. So make sure to check out all our other episodes, talking the transfer portal, basketball, whatever's going on in each of our feeds.

Starting point is 00:24:49 And see you next time on Locked On.

Locked On Jayhawks - Daily Podcast On Kansas Jayhawks Football & Basketball - Jayhawks & Wildcats SWITCHING SIDES? | Jordan Peterson, Dylan Edwards Rumors + KU vs K-State Hoops

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