Kansas football: Les Miles shifts focus from junior college recruits
Kansas football head coach Les Miles has a different view than his predecessors on JUCO athletes as evidenced by the Jayhawks’ December signing period.
Kansas football had a solid early signing period. The Jayhawks’ class currently ranks in the top 40 on Rivals, and in the top 50 on 247 Sports, and there are still a few verbal commitments to Kansas they may not be honored until next year.
That being said, there’s one demographic of Kansas football’s 2020 class that’s a lot smaller than it has been in recent years: junior college transfers.
Between 2012 and 2018, the Jayhawks were averaging 11 college transfers per class; however, this season that number dropped to just three (so far). The reason for the dramatic shift isn’t too hard to figure out.
Head coach Les Miles made it clear during his press conference that while junior college transfers weren’t being shunned, the staff had a much stronger preference for finding high school recruits and developing them over four years, which makes sense.
“That to me is the recipe for success here.” – Les Miles on developing recruits over four years
Miles talked about how a transfer can be useful for filling a specific need that the team may be lacking, which seems like a good way to look at a transfer.
It seems so obvious to the average fan that building a team from the ground up out of four-year guys is the best decision, but it’s also one of the toughest.
Kansas football isn’t exactly an easy pitch to a recruit, so the fact that Miles is willing to gamble on the coaching staff’s ability to actually coach up almost all three-star high school recruits is certainly a breath of fresh air.
It’s not all about the stars though. It’s about finding the right recruit that’s willing to try and build something at a place that isn’t seen in a positive light by the rest of the college football world.
ku basketball. Top ten Jayhawks of the decade. light
Les Miles’ strategy when it comes to recruiting is different than that of his predecessors, and that’s a good thing considering none of them made it at Kansas. It’s a sign that maybe, things will be different in the future, and Kansas football just might climb out of the basement that it has been in for the past decade.