Kansas defensive tackle Eamon Smalls’ journey to college football is an inspirational one.
The Beaufort, S.C., was rated as the nation’s No. 208th defensive line prospect and the 34th-ranked prospect out of South Carolina. Holding offers from Liberty, Eastern Michigan, Coastal Carolina, Charlotte, East Carolina, West Virginia and UAB, eventually committing to play for the Blazers out of the class of 2023.
“So I grew up there [Beaufort], single mom, single-parent household. I had an older sister, a younger brother," opened Smalls on the latest Hawk Talk.
“And one of the programs that really helped me out a lot was the Extra Mile Club mentor; you know, he saw me one day being a class clown in school and stuff like that.”
“And from that day, he just really changed my life and turned my life around. Just really taught me how to be a man. Just taught me how to have good character and stuff like that. And like, he really changed my life. His name is Mr. Chris Dantzler.”
Dantzler is the founder of the Extra Mile Club of the Lowcountry mentoring program, something the U.S. Army veteran founded in 2008. According to the organization’s website, the EMC has served over 500 kids aged 5-17.
Despite Smalls joining UAB and then KU, he still keeps in constant contact with Dantzler.
“He just really changed my life and had a big, powerful impact on my life…I call him like every day. He calls me every day. And we've been together since [I was nine]. He used to take us all over the country to camps and stuff like that and traveling, play ball. They never asked for a dime or anything like that. So it's been a very powerful impact in my life.”
Smalls is making a great impact on the Kansas Jayhawks
In 23 games at UAB, Smalls notched 23 appearances where he marked 71 combined tackles 4.5 tackles for loss and 1 sack.
Smalls’ standout season came in the 2025 campaign, where he compiled 50 tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss, and one QB hurry. Smalls played a stellar game against No. 15 Tennessee despite suffering a 56-24 loss, Smalls finished the game with a career-high 7 tackles.
So far in his three games with the Jayhawks, Smalls has put together 5 tackles, including 1 tackle for loss as a rotating member of the KU defensive front line.
Despite Kansas’ 1-2 start to the season, the defense shouldn’t be responsible for as much of the blame, as the offense has often pinned KU into several unfavorable starting positions.
Through 16 games this season, the Kansas defense has tallied an outstanding 7.3 tackles for loss, measuring out to 22 total. That 7.3 is good for 16th-best in the nation.
While Smalls and the KU defensive line is overperforming, the fact that the Jayhawks sit at 1-2 into the season proves there is an ample amount of work to do.
Up next for Kansas is the Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders in what has become a must-win in order to keep bowl hopes alive and push the team to 2-2 on the season.
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