The Kansas Jayhawks reeled in 14 defensive transfers who are all looking to make their mark come Friday, Kansas’ season opener against LIU.
As is the way college football is nowadays, two of the Jayhawks most likely to help lead KU back to a bowl game are both transfers in linebackers Trey Lathan and Bam Crouch.
Lathan spent last season being one of the very few consistent pieces in a defense that was anything but. The former WVU transfer notched 86 tackles, 7 tackles for loss and 1.5 sacks to go along with 1 interception, funnily enough, against the Mountaineers. Lathan ended last season as an All-Big 12 Honorable Mention for his efforts.
Crouch meanwhile plyed his trade with the Boston College Eagles for three seasons, even becoming a captain ahead of last year, before an injury-mired campaign took over. Crouch comes to KU with 107 total tackles, 8.5 tackles for loss, 3 sacks, 1 interception and 2 forced fumbles. Crouch joined KU after being rated as the 818th-best prospect in the 2026 portal.
Earlier this week, Kansas defensive coordinator D.K. McDonald spoke about what the pair offers
“Bam is a really instinctual player. He can blitz off the edge; when he doesn't do that, he always finds his way to the football, which is really nice for a linebacker. And then you turn over, and you see Trey, and Trey's that thumper. Led the team in tackles last year, but he can really lower that boom on people and knock people backwards and separate people from the football,” opened McDonald to the media.
Something that has been repeatedly mentioned over the offseason is Kansas’ struggles in drumming up leadership last season. With both Crouch and Lathan being redshirt seniors playing what McDonald describes as the “quarterback” of the defense, those two will have to play a pivotal role in shoring up the problems that were present a year ago
“And so you kind of got them two. But the good thing about it is you got two guys who have played a lot of football, and so they're able to communicate and see things, and they really, you know, turn into our quarterbacks on the defense, which is really good to have that and to bring those younger guys along with them too.”
Lathan was recently nominated as a 2026 captain, and as previously mentioned, so was Crouch last season.
In 2025, KU struggled mightily to string together consistent stops. The Jayhawks allowed at least 30 points in six different games last season and conceded scores as high as 42, which happened against Missouri, Texas Tech and Kansas State. Now, of course, it wasn’t always their fault; there were several instances where a quick three-and-out from the offense offered little respite for a tired defense, but with Lathan and Crouch taking bigger roles as leaders, when those situations come about, hopefully the Jayhawks aren’t left getting burnt again.
Kickoff against the Sharks is set for Saturday, October 4, at 7 p.m. CT, with streaming available on ESPNU.
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