Brandon McAnderson knows Kansas football. Hes a Lawrence native. Hes an Orange Bowl winner. Hes tied for third all time in career rushing touchdowns at Kansas. And hes now the sideline reporter for the Jayhawks radio network and host of the Crimson & Blue Show. So who better to talk to while getting ready for the Kansas football season? In part one, we dive into optimism around this team, his recruitment, conference realignment, and more. And make sure to check out part two tomorrow. Kyle Davis: Theres obviously a lot of optimism coming into this season given the way the season ended last year. Youre as locked into the program as anyone, how are you feeling coming into the fall? Brandon McAnderson: That question is always funny to me because I'm such a lifer that
Kyle Long Jersey I'm excited no matter what. So, you know, it doesn't matter what the circumstances are. I will say there's an elevated sense of, I think there are more knowns in this incoming year than we've had in a long time. The things that we could count on going into a season have been very few and I think there are several things that we can count on coming into this season. And I'm excited about it.KD: I would a sume youve gotten to know Lance Leipold a bit now. Hes been fascinating for me because there have been some big personalities leading the program of late and it hasnt worked out. But it does feel like the rapport hes built with the players so far and the way hes handled that first year is different. Can you give us a sense of if theres something different about him or what makes him succe sful? BM: You know, what I liked about him and I always say
Charles Leno Jersey this as a compliment I don't know if it always sounds like a compliment but this coaching staff kind of reminded me of high school coaches. And I mean that in the highest regard in that, you know, this is such an ego-driven busine s, and the coaches I played for and the coaches I've been around, they're all looking at career advancement, as they should. You know, like how much money can I make, where can I go next, what's on the docket for me, what's my dream job, that sort of thing.These guys are so present. Every one of them, and it starts with the man leading the charge in coach Leipold, hes just very present like he's focused on making better humans, better football players, and you hear them say all the time getting 1% better. You know, he's not a guy that's really selling anything. He is telling you what's happening, hes telling you what he's thinking.And not only is he telling you what he's thinking, he's probably communicating something similar to his team. And I think that's been what I've liked about him the most is that consistency and I think that the players and such a lot of the guys that have been here before him had been in such unstable environments. He just provides automatic stability in his demeanor and his approach, and I think it's appreciated.KD: And its worked for him wherever hes gone. So you went through your share of summer workouts at KU. Can you give us a sense of what those are like and do you have a go-to story you could share?BM: So that time, there's always intense workouts but there's also time to like focus on football. And you know, we would usually have like midweek where it had to be a player-
Dick Butkus Jersey run, seven-on-seven, o-line/d-line kind of situation where guys got workouts in, but it was player-led. So that always helped with building leadership going into the season.And in terms of the summer workouts themselves, man, they were hard. You're always preparing to take the run tests, you know, so you can pa s and show that you have the proper fitne s level. That was always kind of weary because a 300-yard shuttle was not fun.But the summer workouts, too, were also about having competition. And competition is going to be a major theme for this program because look how many people stayed and look how many people we brought in. We're going to have positions with six or seven po sibilities. You're going to have positions where, you know, I found myself talking the other day about a guy I'm really excited about in Tommy Dunn Jr. whos gonna be a redshirt freshman and he may not see the field at all. Or, he may be able to win one of these competitions and be a guy that factors into the rotation. I think you could make that argument acro s the board.You know, guys that have played in the past, like (Taiwan) Berryhill, where does he fit? He's a guy with some experience. He's a guy with some physicality, you know, good-looking body. Guy that can play a little bit, but he's going to be in a group where there's gonna be three guys that have played that weren't here last year that played significant snaps at other universities and then he's going to be behind three other guys that played a ton of snaps for this team.So there's going to be a level of competition that I'm kind of brimming with excitement about. Because this is not, you know, last
William Perry Jersey year. They kind of said we don't know the team. We don't know the guys, we're going to play the veteran guys, the guys who think they can get it done, and we're just going to stick with them and try to make them better.I don't imagine that's going to be the case this year. Not the getting better part. Obviously, that's going to be there. But there's going to be guys having other players nipping at their heels for snaps. It's not going to be a given that you're going to see the same guy every week, just because there's just way more depth than what we've had here in the past decade, let alone last season.KD: I think most people know you are a Lawrence native, Lawrence High, but how many people realize you were a top-65 recruit at linebacker? Was there ever a time where you thought you might
Buster Skrine Jersey be playing on that side of the ball?BM: Yeah, I mean most schools recruited me to play linebacker. Iowa recruited me to play linebacker. Wyoming, Mi souri. You know KU never even really talked about what I was going to play. I just got recruited and said he looks like a player here.And I think it's one of those things where, you know, me being a top-65 player at that position, I think people, those stories about us, that a lot of our players being recruited are kind of unsung, those have more staying power than reality. So I don't really even pay attention to it. Its not like I was someone that no one wanted. That's not the case. But that's kind of been the story. It kind of goes with our Cinderella story of our seasons and career so I'm like whatever, you know, that's cool, I don't have the attachment to that ranking.But I don't think a lot of people know. I think they just a sumed that I was some nobody that came from nowhere and that's partially true, that's just not all the way true. So yeah, kind of to your point, I got recruited pretty heavily to play linebacker. I was a very good spe
