THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
THURSDAY, AUGUST 29, 2013
FOOTBALL
PAGE 3B
Eight freshmen join transfers
MAX GOODWIN
mgoodwin@kansan.com
The first week of classes involve thousands of freshmen wandering campus, searching for their classes, adapting to the workload and generally enjoying the sense of freedom that comes with being a rookie.
With a high influx of junior college transfers, the Jayhawks have 22 freshmen on their roster but eight of them were signed this past recruiting period. The newbies have been busy adjusting to the routine of a college athlete, practicing time management and finding a mental balance between academics, football and social life.
"So far things are running smoothly," freshman linebacker Colton Goesa said just before the start of the school year. Goesa has likely faced a bigger adjustment than any other player in his first year, as he is further
from home than anybody else. His home town is Milliani, Hawaii, so Lawrence is obviously a major change. He said he does occasionally miss the beaches and the ocean, but he is mostly able to focus on improving his abilities as a linebacker.
GEORGE MULLINIX/KANSAN
Freshman safety Tevin Shaw practices with junior nickelback Cassius Sendish at practice Aug. 16. Kansas' few freshmen look to make an impact this season
most of his time off the field with freshman teammates.
"We play video games, go out to eat, just like typical college stuff," Goes said.
For quarterback and Bishop Miege graduate Montell Cozart, there hasn't been much of an adjustment off the field at all. Cozart knows receivers Tre Parmalee and Justin McCay well from playing with them at Miege, and offensive line coach Tim Grunhard spent three years coaching Cozart at Miege.
Cozart said that for him, having those guys has made the transition from high school to college an easy one.
"It's like having my family here," Cozart said.
There has been plenty of help adjusting to the differences between high school and college on the field as well, Cozart said. Quarterback coach Ron Pawls has worked with both Cozart and fellow freshman
Teammates have provided Goeas with a feeling of comfort and camaraderie. Goeas said he spends
"With how well they've played here, if I can take some of the stuff that they know, that's going to help immensely."
COLIN SPENCER Freshman running back
quarterback Jordan Darling to learn the terminology of calling plays in the Kansas offense.
Coazart went straight to starting quarterback Jake Heaps with questions about the lesson, and
the junior had no problem helping the freshman get to know the playbook and continued to give him advice on the practice field.
"This summer I worked with him a lot," Cozart said. "I would go to him two or three times per week to help get to know the playbook. He has a lot of coaching points for me throwing-wise, getting my feet right and things like that."
Coach Charlie Weis and the team captains agreed that last season the team was lacking leadership and correcting that has been a point of emphasis throughout camp.
Freshman running back Colin Spencer knew that he was coming
into a perfect learning situation with the depth of talented and experienced running backs on the team. He watches and listens to them to pick up as much information as he can.
like an outsider as one of the new guys at the position. When he has a question, Spencer feels like he can approach any of the other backs.
As a group the running backs are fairly tight-knit, Spencer said. Just as Cozart experienced in the quarterback group, Spencer never felt
"With how well they've played here, if I can take some of the stuff that they know, that's going to help me immensely," Spencer said.
lege transfers this season, so this freshman class is smaller and will likely not have many opportunities to contribute to the team on the field, but it doesn't hurt to be prepared.
"You just ask 'em," Spencer said. "I had a little problem the other day learning with some of the protections and Taylor [Cox] came up to my room that night and we went over all of it, we wrote all of it down, we worked on it and got it down."
Weis decided to load his team with an abundance of junior col-
Edited by Jessica Mitchell