Locked On Jayhawks - Daily Podcast On Kansas Jayhawks Football & Basketball - Locked On Jayhawks - Episode 1

Episode Date: October 15, 2019

Sean Kellerman talks Kansas Football's new Offensive Coordinator, Kansas Basketball's first commit of 2020 and more Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What's up everyone? Welcome into Locked On Jayhawks. I am Sean Kellerman, Learfield IMG Broadcaster and University of Kansas Insider. This is Locked On Jayhawks, your daily podcast on the Kansas Jayhawks, giving you insight, numbers, and a chance to hear from all the voices within Kansas athletics. Very excited to begin this journey with the Locked On Podcast. Network your team every day. Monday through Fridays we will be on. We're going to try to get this posted in the mornings would be great.

It might be a little bit later in the afternoon. Obviously busy times around here, but make sure you give us a follow at LO underscore Jayhawks on Twitter. You can follow me personally at Sean Kellerman. Really excited, especially with this time of year with basketball coming up without question. We've got the Duke game coming up not too long from now, November 6th. That's going to be here before we know it for this highly rated Kansas basketball team. And then, of course, Kansas football. We've got a lot to talk about on that front as well with the new offensive coordinator, Brent Dierman.

Les Kenning being relieved of his duties following KU's 45-20 loss here in Lawrence to Oklahoma. And we'll hear from Les Miles about the new offensive coordinator, Coach Dierman. And a little bit later in the show, we'll talk KU Hoops. We're a little over a week away from the first exhibition game against Fort Hayes State. Kind of amazing to think about, but that is where we're at. And as I mentioned, that Champions Classic game against the Blue Devils, always an entertaining night, will be one that a lot of fans will have

circled and that'll be kind of good to see where this Kansas team really is at the beginning of the season. A little bit later in the show we'll talk about the Big 12. Big game of course last Saturday the Red River Showdown they now call it because Red River rivalry is too difficult to say. Oklahoma staves off Texas in a game that featured a lot of defense in the first half and a lot of offense in the second half. But the Sooners, they stay unblemished as they are ranked number five in the country. And they're looking once again to crack that top four and make the college football playoff. So we'll get into all of that a little bit later. I'm going to start with kind of the news of the week.

It's the second consecutive season that the Jayhawks have had to make an offensive coordinator change during a bye week, actually. It was about midway through last season when KU's coach David Beatty relieved Doug Meacham, if you recall, from his duties as offensive coordinator. And now Les Miles is going to turn to Brent Dierman, kind of a young up-and-comer, as Les Kinning is no longer with the program. Brent Dierman joined the KU staff this season. He had a one-year head coaching stint at Bethel University, which is in Tennessee. Bethel averaged 540 yards per game in a nation's best at any level, 55 points per game, the highest scoring offense, as I mentioned, any level. Bethel's in the NAIA. We know that that's not maybe the greatest yardstick you want to measure yourself on,

but still, awfully impressive numbers. Coach Dierman talking about how grateful he is without question. He's already been a part of the program, as we mentioned, but now he's getting a chance to be the one to work with the players on the offense closely and the one to call the plays of course on Saturdays Les Miles had his press conference today and he had an opportunity to talk about coach Dearman and here's what Les said he's just got a really fresh approach he's been fun for our players to work with. He's playing quarterback and just kind of seems to fit that quarterback role for us. Interesting that Les singles out quarterbacks because that's been a problem around these parts for what about a dozen years since the Texas gunslinger Todd Reising was here in Lawrence.

And Kansas just cannot seem to get someone to perform consistently. Stanley and his hopes that Carter can end up being the quarterback that he was when Kansas went up to Chestnut Hill and beat Boston College compared to some of the uneven performances that Stanley has had in past weeks. Of course, tough competition last week in Oklahoma, no question, but it's been a problem now for over a decade, Kansas and that quarterback position. I mentioned a little bit ago that Brent Dieierman has been a part of this program throughout the year, so it's not exactly an outsider who doesn't know these guys at all. Coach Miles talked about new coach Dierman's relationship with the guys. Yes, I think he's got a great relationship with the team

or certainly starting a great relationship with the team. I think there's opportunities to throw and catch, and I think any time there's opportunities to throw and catch, the receivers kind of like to hear that from the guy that's calling the plays. It's kind of interesting, of course, with the way that college football and even the NFL is going these days. I mean, you look at all the young coaches even in the NFL. I mean, you've got Cliff Kingsbury, you've got Kyle Shanahan, Zach Taylor, these guys who are taking on new roles in their mid to late 30s. Of course, don't forget about Sean McVay. He was in the Super Bowl last year and he's in his low 30s. Kind of the same

thing in college football is that you're getting these coaches with a new line of thinking, and Brent Dierman, you would think, would fall in that category. I mean, he's just been a part of offenses, coach offenses, that have put together numbers that are video game-like, and that's kind of the way football is moving with the spread offense and everything. Been moving that way for quite some time, but that's kind of the way football is moving with the spread offense and everything. Been moving that way for quite some time. But that's what made the initial hire of Les Kinning so interesting. Now, Les Miles did say that Les Kinning didn't do anything wrong. And, of course, we don't want to necessarily throw anyone under the bus.

But Les Kinning was not getting the job done at the university of kansas and now it's time for a younger brent dearman to come in and have an opportunity here's what les miles said about les kenning being the initial hire i thought the initial hire was the best hire okay and i felt like that there needed to be change and I think was to the strong job I think he did he worked hard just needed a change and that's change philosophically as I saw them. So, but again, I think Les is a quality man and did a great job for us. So it's time for us to look at Deerman.

Yeah, so Coach Miles not going into too much detail about Les Kinning being relieved of his duties, but you kind of wonder, and we'll hear from Les on shows later this week, you kind of wonder if this was planned, maybe not in a mid-season type situation, but if this was planned for quite some time, that they were going to go to a guy like Brent Dierman when they hired an older guy in Les Kenning.

It's interesting because now this is going to be technically Les Miles' third offensive coordinator since he's taken over at Kansas. Of course, Chip Lindsey was initially hired to be the guy. What was it, three, four weeks that Coach Lindsey was here on campus before he took the head coaching job at Troy. So again, Kansas football, as we all know, and all you faithful fans in Jayhawk Nation have been right there with me through all of this. It's just consistency has just not been there. It's been consistent losing. Other than that, there's not been the consistent type of effort that you like,

not been the consistent amount of results that you like, and that's something that hopefully Brent Dierman can be a big part of, this next wave of Kansas football where this team can start on a winning track. I don't think, I don't want to speak for everyone. I'm sure there are a lot of Kansas fans out there who want this team to win 9, 10 games a year, but particularly with how successful the basketball program is, it's just gotten to a point where you've got to get this team back to being competitive. You've got to get them back to where they are consistently making bowl games

and being a factor somewhat in this Big 12 race. As far as I'm concerned, Kansas should be right up there without question with Iowa State and Kansas State and some of the other teams. You could even argue Oklahoma State and Baylor, West Virginia. I mean, there are teams that there's no reason Kansas shouldn't be right on line with, especially with all the new facilities and everything coming in in Lawrence. And Jayhawks are coming, like Coach Miles has said. Yes, they're 2-4, they're 0-3 in Big 12 play, and there's been a lot of losing around here recently.

But got a great recruiting class, and we're going to get those scholarship numbers back up, and hopefully the Jayhawks are indeed coming soon, because that would make falls around here even more fun than they are. So coming up, we're going to talk a little bit about Kansas basketball. I know that's never too early to start talking about KU Hoops, and as I mentioned, it's a week from Thursday, the first exhibition game against Fort Hayes State. We get a chance to see this team that a lot of pundits have ranked in the top two heading into the preseason polls.

And, of course, we have a lot of other stuff going on with Kansas basketball as well, but we'll try to kick it to what is on the court absolutely. The Lockdown Podcast Network, the local experts on the biggest stories. Coming up, it's Jayhawk Hoops right after this. So let's transition to KU Hoops now. As always, there's a lot of excitement around this basketball program here in Lawrence, and we're going to leave the Snoop Dogg performance at late night out of this, but we did have late night a couple Fridays ago and got a chance to see some of the guys and coming up

on the Locked On Podcast Network right here on Locked On Jayhawks, we're going to get an opportunity to take a deeper dive into each one of these players as the opening tip comes forward here as we have a couple of exhibition games ahead of the Duke game on November 6th, the official start of the basketball season. Thursday, October 24th, is the first exhibition game against Fort Hayes State.

Can't wait to get an opportunity to see these guys live at Allen Fieldhouse and really see if they can be who we think they can be, which are really good players on a really good team, to be quite frank. I mean, this is a team that had a lot of high expectations heading into last year. It did not work out with some injuries, of course, some guys underperforming. So there's going to be a lot to get into about hoping this 2019-2020 version of the Jayhawks holds up to its billing a little bit better than last year. And certainly they've got

all the pieces. And like I said, we'll get into that a lot as the week goes on and as next week goes on ahead of the opening tip against Fort Hayes State next Thursday. Big news that came out yesterday regarding this KU basketball program was KU signing its first recruit for 2020. Commitment from Indian Hills Community College standout Tyen Grant Foster. Grant Foster, he's a 6'7", 187-pound guard from Kansas City, Kansas. He goes to IHCC in Ottumwa, Iowa, but he was in Lawrence for an official visit this past weekend. And apparently that was all he needed to make his decision. He talked a lot about his relationship with coach Jarence Howard and how he felt like they came from similar backgrounds, and they just clicked. Obviously, Coach Howard has been a great recruiter since he's been here at Kansas,

and this KU coaching staff continuing to get top-level talent. What's interesting is the junior college route, Kansas does not normally have to go that route in terms of basketball. Obviously, if you're talking the gridiron, then KU over the past, what, three, four, five coaches has loaded up with junior college talent in an effort to try to get right immediately. But for basketball, it's usually been getting some of the top prospects, top freshman prospects in their class. You get Andrew Wiggins and Josh Jackson are probably one and two on that list. And for Kansas, there have not been a lot of junior college guys. There have been more grad transfers than anything. But perhaps this is something that is related to the NCAA

investigation, or maybe it's just nothing. Maybe it's just the right fit at the right time for Grant Foster and for this KU basketball program. But bottom line is, he's still talented. The first commitment of the 2020 class, like I mentioned, and he has a potential to be the number one rated player in JUCO, and he's listed as a four-star prospect on many different outlets. So he's a guy that kind of fits the mold of what KU has been going after recently in regards to guys that can kind of do a little bit of everything. You look on this year's team alone, you've got Christian Brown, Jalen Wilson, Tristan Inaruna.

Even go further back, Marcus Garrett's going to run a little bit of point this year. Garrett played a little bit of the four last year. You're getting these guys who are long and athletic, and Grant Foster is listed at 6'7", 187, and he can do a little bit of everything. He can run the point. He can guard the four if need be. So he is going to bring another level of versatility to this team

that is always welcome, and that's how it is at Kansas. You're going to get these just pure athletes, and Grant Foster certainly fits in that mold. Anybody who's interested in this, he also had offers from the likes of Arkansas, Georgia, Iowa State, Kansas State, Oklahoma State, Texas, and many more, but he will be a slender guard, and he'll be built up a little bit. I'm sure Dr. Ramsey, the new sports performance coordinator at Kansas, I'm sure will be making sure that he is putting on some weight and keeping his athletic build. Ramsey Nijam, the new doctor, and replacing the great Andrea Hootie,

who headed off to Texas to handle the men's basketball program over there. But nevertheless, Grant Foster, the first official signing of the 2020 class for Kansas, and that's important. It's important to get some guys rolling even in the early signing period. Grant Foster says that he is planning on signing when that period begins on November 13th, and that will be great because Kansas is going to lose a lot of guys, as we know. They're going to lose some seniors without question. We don't know about potential red shirts, but we know that Yudoka Izabuki will be out on the floor. We don't know about Mitch Lightfoot quite yet, but he has an opportunity to play or redshirt, you would think. And then you've got a lot of guys you're looking at

who are going to be probably gone after this year. You're looking at the likes of Devon Dotson and Ochai Abadji. They're projected as first-round picks in many NBA mock drafts. And you never know with where this program is at and the NCAA investigations and everything, who exactly will be on this team and who will mold this roster in 2020, 2021. But we do know that Ty and Grant Foster will be on this team next season. And he was even asked about the NCAA allegations

and basically said that Coach Self was honest about it, said he was going to take care of it. And basically Ty and Grant Foster said he was not worried at all about those allegations. Certainly we look forward to whenever those end, but it feels good to get a recruit under our belt, a really talented guy, again, 6'7", 187, that should hopefully provide a lot of highlights in Allen Fieldhouse in 2020, 2021, and the following season perhaps as well. We're going to talk Big 12 football right after this. This is the Locked On Podcast Network, your local experts on the biggest stories.

Final segment on this initial edition of Locked On Jayhawks. Sean Kellerman back with you. Reminder, you can follow us on Twitter at LO underscore Jayhawks. You can follow me at Sean Kellerman. Had a chance to talk about KU football and their new offensive coordinator, Brett Dierman, in the first segment. Got to hear from head coach Miles on Coach Dierman and perhaps some of the things that he can do that can improve this team.

We'll hear, of course, more about that later in the week. And then last segment, we talked Kansas basketball getting the first recruit, first commitment, I should say, of 2020 as Ty and Grant Foster, a JUCO transfer, will be coming into the Kansas basketball program next season. I look forward to that as there are going to be many players who are going to be moving on for one reason or another from this Kansas basketball program. So they're certainly hoping to make 2019-20 a special year. Now transition back to football, kind of a bigger picture look.

We all know that the Jayhawks were off. They were idle last week. They actually have another off week coming up in about three weeks, but Kansas did not play. We will preview Texas a little bit deeper as the week goes on, but first want to recap what happened in the Big 12 this past week. It was six teams in action. There were only three games, and two of them were pretty much what people expected. They were very close games throughout, but an impressive win for Iowa State and Morgantown. They go up, and they defeat the Mountaineers 38-14.

Iowa State kind of up and down. They were ranked in the top 25 before this season, but they're back to 4-2, 2-1 in Big 12 play, and they pick up the road victory behind Brock Purdy, 19 out of 30, 229 yards. One touchdown, one interception. And again, for Iowa State, we've seen this so often in the past with David Montgomery, now Bears running back, running for the Cyclones. It's Brees Hall getting the bell cow carries for the Cyclones. He had 26 carries for 132 yards and 3 touchdowns in Iowa State's win in Morgantown. West Virginia falls to 3-3,

1-2 in Big 12 play. Their lone win, of course, coming in Lawrence against the Jayhawks. They won that game 29-24. That was a stinger just because you knew that was one that Kansas could have had. Now the Jayhawks are sitting still without a conference win. Other two games that were in action on Saturday were pretty close to instant classics, as I said. Baylor holds off Texas Tech in a double overtime game. The Bears, behind three rushing touchdowns from Charlie Brewer, defeat the Red Raiders 33-30, and Baylor moves up even more in the standings. They're now 18th in the country.

Brewer did not throw for a touchdown and threw for three interceptions, but the dual-threat quarterback certainly got it done on the ground. Texas Tech got a 362-yard passing performance out of Jet Duffy and two rushing touchdowns, 153 yards on the ground from Sir Roderick Thompson. But they perish in double overtime in Waco. Bears are now a perfect 6-0. Texas Tech tied for West Virginia just a game up on Kansas in the Big 12 standings. They're 3-3, 1-2 in conference play.

Then, of course, we know the Red River Showdown was the big story heading into the week, and it really did live up to its billing. It was a close game throughout, and Oklahoma ended up taking it in Dallas 34-27 over Texas. Jalen Hurts, maybe not as impressive statistically as he had been throughout the season, but you're going up against a much better Texas defense. Hurts, 16-28, 235 yards, three touchdowns and an interception. He also ran the ball 17 times for 131 yards and a touchdown, did Heisman hopeful Jalen Hurts.

On the other side, Sam Ellinger, he was 26-38, 210 yards through the air. Texas really struggled to get anything going offensively early in this one, but they were able to come back and at least make this thing close and interesting at the end. But Hurts, with his arm and with his legs, just once again too much. Oklahoma moves up a clip to number five in the country. They are still undefeated, 6-0, 3-0 in Big 12 play. Texas, 4-2, 2-1 in conference play. And the Horns are KU's next opponent.

We'll preview that, obviously, as the week goes on. So Baylor ranked 18th, Oklahoma 5th, and Texas 15th. If you're thinking college football playoff, Oklahoma is obviously your best bet at this point. But, man, there are some tough teams at the top of the AP Top 25. You've got Alabama, LSU, and Clemson, 1, 2, 3. Ohio State's been incredibly impressive. They are fourth now in the country.

All of those four teams are 6-0, as are the Oklahoma Sooners at number five. Wisconsin has just been obliterating their opponents, including three teams from the state of Michigan. And Penn State, they are also 6-0. They're ranked seventh in the country, and they get to host a very tough Michigan Wolverine team who's really picked it up recently. That game will be in Happy Valley,

and that'll be an exciting one in the Big Ten. So Oklahoma kind of just needs to keep winning like they've done in the past and hope to give themselves a shot at the college football playoff. The Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day. It's been a great first show. Look forward to many great shows after this.

And Kansas football, we're going to preview the Texas Longhorns even more as the week goes on. And we're not far from Kansas basketball as well. I am Sean Kellerman. Thanks for tuning in. We'll catch you next time. And Rock Chalk Jayhawk.