Locked On Jayhawks - Daily Podcast On Kansas Jayhawks Football & Basketball - RUMORS SHOT DOWN? Latest on Bill Self - Will He Retire or Return to the Kansas Jayhawks Next Season?

Starting point is 00:00:00 It is a cluster right now to figure out is Bill Self going to retire? Is he going to return? We'll break down the latest that's been going on all the different quotes and stories and rumors on this bonus episode of the show. You are Locked on Jayhawks, your daily podcast on the Kansas Jayhawks. Part of the Locked on podcast network, your team every day. What's going on, Derek Johnson, with another episode of Locked on Jayhawks, a little bonus episode for you here today. as the latest on Bill Self is going everywhere.

Starting point is 00:00:41 It's a roller coaster. It's a whirlwind right now trying to figure it all out. So we'll get a little bit on that and what's been going on there. And then we'll continue on with spring football. Starts up on Thursday for KU Football. We'll get into some of the fiercest position battles to keep an eye on for KU football in spring ball. Let's start right here with the latest on Bill Self. This is quite the quote here from Gary Bedore of the Kansas City Star.

Starting point is 00:01:03 He said Bill Self tells me as of now there's no news to report. regarding his decision. In fact, he told me, quote, BS, bad info and quote, referring to some comments out there. That's as of now from the head coach. Now, none of that says that he is for sure coming back. None of that says he's for sure retiring. It's him just like this could be a couple things, right? It could be the he actually hasn't decided yet and people are jumping the gun and trying to be first and, you know, we can go on the diatribe of like where we are as a society and why does this happen and why does everybody feel like they need to be first in a society where if I asked you who was the first to report this or that, nobody would remember who it was. But we don't

Starting point is 00:01:42 need to go down that road. Instead, I am viewing this from the standpoint of like, I kind of feel like this is Bill Self-in. He might want to come back. It could just be that. Or it could be if he, if he does end up retiring, I'm going to look back on this and say, it's him trying to control the message, which in KU basketball history and, you know, he should be able to, and he has a lifetime contract, he should be able to announce on his own terms. And that's kind of how I view it. Like if he's going to retire, let him make that decision. It's kind of like when, like, I miss the good old days.

Starting point is 00:02:21 I miss the good old days when like, you know, even 10, 15 years ago, when in recruiting battles for like, you know, college basketball, big recruits and stuff, like the Cliff Alexander, like you have no idea where Cliff Alexander is going to go. It pulls the fake out. He pulls the Illinois and then he puts the Kansas on, right? And it's longer like it happens occasionally now where we don't know where the kid is going. But I feel like four out of five sometimes I don't know, maybe it's even more recruits. We like know where they're going to go before they actually announce.

Starting point is 00:02:50 So we know where they're like rumored to 99% of the time and then you have the 1% that's like McKenzie and Baco. But like, I don't know. We don't get the surprise anymore. We take that out of everything for some reason. But that, you know, that just basically means that I don't know, for now, we don't have a decision on this. Now, Jeff Goodman of the field of 68 also, I guess, talked to Bill Self and then went and did a podcast for the field of 68. And here's one of the quotes from Jeff Goodman in that. Bill Self told me there's no truth to the speculation that he's retiring today.

Starting point is 00:03:21 But he didn't say he wasn't going to retire. He said, quote, I've got to think about this, end quote. I don't know what he's going to do. So basically we're at square zero. Nobody knows what he is going to do necessarily, right? And that's, I think, kind of the idea here. Now, I do find it interesting. There was also something that came out from Matt Norlander about that like he hadn't

Starting point is 00:03:43 decided yet. I do find it interesting. It's just funny because you get a lot, like a lot of the national media people who sometimes it can be, hey, we'll feed you this nugget if you help us out with, you know, releasing this information or hyping it up or whatever it is, right? is that what's happening here again to kind of control the message or is this real that Bill Self is actually going to come back. I've just kind of remained in a, I'm just holding, it's a 50-50 decision right now and we're

Starting point is 00:04:13 just going to kind of wait and see what happens there. This one does have, this one to me is the most interesting quote of the day. This was also from Jeff Goodman on the Field of 68 podcast. I thought Jock Vaughn was a done deal for coach and waiting, but sources have told me they don't think that's the case. It could still end up being him, but hypothetically, Kansas would open up a search. So again, you're kind of hedging both ways, like what's going to happen there? But I don't think you would say that unless the idea was that they're going to. And here's the other thing. You could still hire Jock Vaughn and open up a search. But to me, that implies that it's not going to be Jock Vaugh

Starting point is 00:04:49 necessarily, which, listen, I think that's like you don't have to hire within the family if you were KU. You know, go out and get the best candidate. And if a bunch of people tell you know, Jock Vaughn's sitting there, that's fine. But I think there are better candidates out there. So I think that is a good thing. So we just kind of wait and see what happens with the rest of this with Bill Self.

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Starting point is 00:07:36 What are some of the biggest position battles for KU football as spring practice starts up on Thursday? I mean, obviously the one that everybody's going to be going to be talking about all off season is going to be who's going to be QB1 for KU? Jalen Daniels is no longer here. He finally graduates away and departs from Lawrence. And you have the Cole Ballard experience in terms of he has a couple starts under his belt. He's been the backup. You have Isaiah Marshall, maybe the ceiling, the running ability,

Starting point is 00:08:05 and you have kind of the wild card here with Chase Jenkins coming in from Rice. That position battle is going to be very, very interesting in who kind of takes it over, especially from the standpoint of it seems like Marshall is more of a gamer. And it feels like Ballard has been more consistent day to day week to week in practice. So that means that this becomes extra important for Isaiah Marshall because can you close the gap in terms of the practice? practice habits to where you can make that jump and get on the field more to, to, you know, show that gamer-like tendencies, right? I look at the running back position, too, for KU as we move on through the rest of the

Starting point is 00:08:40 offense. And I'm going to be really intrigued how they divvy out the snaps, right? We've typically seen Kansas have kind of a 1A and 1B approach, but it's interesting because Edwards is more of a package-specific back that you're not necessarily going to be given 20 carries to. Dupree would be more of your Devin-Neil-style runner, the transfer from Colorado State, Jalen Dupree. And you've seen Willis would be more of your Daniel Highshaw power type running back, the transfer from Syracuse. So do we have those two? And then Edwards is kind of just doing a

Starting point is 00:09:09 little bit of everything. He's return game. He's playing some slot as receiver two running backs. I don't know. It's going to be very, very interesting what KU decides to do. Do we see Edwards just be the bell cow and one of those two lose out. I'm very curious how the snaps kind of play out at the running back position for KU. And I think in general, like Edwards feels like a different type of running back than Willis and Dupree. Again, Dupree more of the Neal style and Willis more of the Hyshaas style if we're just talking style of running games. So they are all different, but it does feel like whichever back is better between Willis and Dupree really sets themselves up in a big way. Receiver position, I look at Nick McMillan, like, can you come in and just

Starting point is 00:09:47 establish that connection with the top quarterback as likely being the number one receiver for KU? Same with Cam Pickett as being the top slot option. But then I think good competition, between Nasey Cox, who's a talented, contested ball winner, big-bodied receiver against Keaton Quebec, who has much more experience in the system. Then you look at the tight end position, and I think it's wide open, Carter or Carson Broome coming off the injury. I don't know if he'll be available for spring ball, but you look at Carter Moses and that you brought in via Albany and then Jalen Butler that you brought in via Old Dominion, Layton Cure back for another year with the experience. KU's going to play a lot of two tight end sets. So if you've used,

Starting point is 00:10:27 you Carson Bruin is one of them, that means those three guys down for one spot. Okay, you will play some three tight end sets too. So really, it's the top two. And then the other guy who's with Brun gets a lot more playing time, right? How will they divvy out the offensive line? You look at the biggest question I think is kind of who's going to be the center. Are we going to see Kasen Carpenter, the former Tulsa Golden Hurricane and Oklahoma State cowboy?

Starting point is 00:10:51 Or are we going to see a mere herring move over to center and open up two guard spots potentially for like Connor Stro, the train. transfer from Texas, who is a giant and Tavaki, Tuukolovatu. Or do we see, again, Carpenter at center with herring at guard and then one of Stroh or Tuico Lavatu? Then you look to the tackle positions. Does Clements stay at left tackle or does he move to right tackle? Then that would be a question for Nick Morrow, who has played left tackle exclusively

Starting point is 00:11:14 at Cal. Does he move to right tackle if Clements is more comfortable left or does he stay in at left tackle? And where do some of the depth position comes from, come from for KU on the offensive line? Who can establish themselves? because the real goal you want to get in that top eight, right? If you can get that top eight on the two deep, I know they'll release a full two deep with 10 guys,

Starting point is 00:11:32 but that top eight are really the ones that are in the, I'm going to play consistently, a kind of rotation for KU. Now, where are some of the starter battles on the defense? We'll get to that next. This is locked on Jayhawks. Our episode today is brought to you by Indeed, workplace chaos, deadline stacking up,

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Starting point is 00:12:54 Terms and conditions apply. need to hire. This is the job for indeed sponsored jobs. Thanks you for joining us here. Derek Johnson. You can give us follow at D. Johnson Radio or at L.O. underscore Jayhawks. And thanks for making it your first listen every day. We will have another transfer portal deep dive on tomorrow's episode of the show. So make sure you're subscribed. And hey, if we can get up to 5K subscribers by the time the transfer portal urge,

Starting point is 00:13:21 whenever, when we hit that mark, I will do a bonus episode. So we'll have two, two episodes every day until, the basketball transfer portal closes, but you got to get to 5K subscribers first. And right now I'm doing a second episode. So I guess I'm a hypocrite, but whatever. Okay, defensive position battles for KU. I think defensive, like David Santiago, Alex Bray, I think they're both going to play big snaps.

Starting point is 00:13:44 I guess who's going to start, but I don't feel like that one is super consequential. Again, like Leroy Harris, Dak Brinkley, both going to play big snaps. Defensive tackle, like Blake Harold, I feel like is one of the starters. Who's the other starter? I feel like if you're doing betting odds, Trayvon McAlpine, the transfer from Tulane for that Texas Tech is probably the favorite to do so. But it's not just about the starters. And I think it is open enough. Like could Eamon Smalls, the transfer from UIBE, could Marcus Calvin, who has some experience here?

Starting point is 00:14:13 What about a Kevin Oatis breakout? What is Gibral Condé going to provide as kind of a home run type of swing from the D2 level? Could any of these guys break up and win that other spot? but then it comes down to who's part of the rotation and who is good enough to play. If they have four good ones, they'll play four good ones. They have six good ones. They'll play six good ones. So how they kind of do that will be interesting.

Starting point is 00:14:36 Linebacker feels like it'll be crouch and layfin, but how's the two deep going to wind up, right? What if one of those guys goes down with an injury? Who would be the first to step up? Would it be some of the seniors you brought in who are from the SEC level in Geron Willis from South Carolina and Lyndon Watson from Kentucky? Would it be Gabriel Alameen coming over from Marshall, who's, you know, or is he more of kind of that hawk position as kind of a athletic linebacker? What about Quincy Davis from Mexico State?

Starting point is 00:15:00 What about some of the young guys who we've been hearing a lot about from their high school ranks and guys like Malachi Curveh. Like, what could those guys bring to the table at linebacker? Does KU play two linebackers? They play three linebackers. Those kind of have the big question there. Furthermore, on the Hawk position, you know, do we see it being Alameen? Do we see it being more of a safety type?

Starting point is 00:15:21 We saw Mason Ellis start there last year. Do we see it be one of the new safeties? That'll be very, very interesting for KU as well. Corner position, Jalen Todd, starter. Will he start on the inside or start on the outside? That becomes a question. And then who are the other starters? Roman Pearson you brought in as a senior.

Starting point is 00:15:38 Can Austin Alexander beat him out? I think Vosson Alexander can beat out Roman Pearson. That's a good thing for KU because you have an experienced player in Pearson who's a big body corner that you can still use in different ways. You're looking for growth from Austin Alexander from his redshirt freshman season. to his redshirt sophomore season. And that would be a good first sign in that. And then you have Saeed Gibbs who can factor into this as well,

Starting point is 00:15:59 either for a starting corner spot. If you're saying you have three starting corners with the opposing team passing itself. And then I think safety is going to be one of the fiercest competitions because I just think there's a lot of good players in that safety room. Corey Gordon is the one I feel good about being a starter, transfer from Louisville before that Baylor experienced player. But then it's like you have Taylor Davis,

Starting point is 00:16:18 who started for you last year, does he get to move back to more of a natural position this year? Kejohn Cummings-Colman, who I'm very high on, transfer from Iowa State, Mason Ellis, who started at the Hawk position last year. And then you have Jaden Harris, who was a starter two years ago for Miami and played kind of sparingly for Georgia this last year. That's a lot of names for three potential starting spots. If you have the Hawk as a safety, three starting spots for five guys. If you don't, it's two starting spots for five guys.

Starting point is 00:16:47 So that becomes a very, very competitive position that I'm very, very curious. to see how it works out for KU. All right, that will do it for this episode of the show. We'll be keeping an eye on KU Football Springball. We'll be keeping an eye on Bill South. All of these things to come at you right here on Lockdown, Jayhawks. Thank you so much for joining us and see you next time on L.O.J.

Locked On Jayhawks - Daily Podcast On Kansas Jayhawks Football & Basketball - RUMORS SHOT DOWN? Latest on Bill Self - Will He Retire or Return to the Kansas Jayhawks Next Season?

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