PAGE 4B
THURSDAY, AUGUST 22, 2013
FOOTBALL
THE UNIVERSITY. DAILY KANSAN
GEORGE MULLINIX/KANSAN
Junior defensive lineman Marquel Combs works out during practice on Aug. 16. Combs, who was ranked as the No. 1 junior college recruit by ESPN, is one of the many junior college transfers who joined the team for the 2013 season.
Combs' personality shines on and off the field
CONNOR OBERKROM
coberkrom@kansan.com
Marquel Combs ignites the room. He has an amicable, playful personality that evokes laughs and smiles. His body language displays his flirtatious personality and hearing him talk reinforces it. Football players are, at times, intimidating and hard to approach, but Combs is engaging and welcoming.
Combs was one of the most sought-after junior college recruits last year and ranked No. 1 by ESPN. He's at Kansas this year not only to bolster their defensive line but also to add that something extra, something that may have been devoid of last year's defense, a personality that invokes optimism and something that you can build from.
Combs, a Memphis native, arrived in Lawrence a chatterbox inside the locker room and on the field. While his positive, outgoing attitude is welcomed, some of the noise isn't.
Combs even purchased a yo-yo to curb his room-filling chatter.
"I want to hear me talk, not him," head coach Charlie Weis said, "He'll probably hear that several times in the next couple of weeks."
"I just be yo-yoing around, so I
don't talk as much," Combs said.
Weis, however, who is known to be a talker himself, said in his weekly press conference on Tuesday that he doesn't try to eradicate the flavorful identities on the field.
"On the field I don't stifle personalities." Weis said. "I like people that have personalities. I just try to teach them the right way to present themselves on the field. I don't mind guys trash talking, I kind of like it to tell the truth, but there's a right way and wrong way of doing things."
Anyone as open with words as Combs can create great relationships and spawn stories that the team can latch onto, making them closer. Combs said as far as the comedy goes, everything is just natural for him.
"I'll say something crazy that makes everybody laugh, I don't realize until everybody laughs," Combs said.
The influx of junior college recruits, Combs included, provided some tangible advancement in the Charlie Weis era. This specific class coined the term "Dream Team." It's been rampant among the players coming in and Combs, the headliner of the group, has been hammering it home to everyone since
arriving in Lawrence.
"We just coming in, trying to put KU back where it should be like that Orange Bowl feeling," Combs said.
The term stemmed from Combs' Twitter account, @TheReal_92, when he created a movement with some of the other junior college players. They decided they wanted to get together and play at Kansas. This movement included two oth-
Marcus Jenkins-Moore and Brandon Holloman who played with Combs at Pierce Community College in Woodlands, Calif.
Combs also played with Kevin Short and Rodriguez Coleman, two other junior college
consecutive games, Combs is ready to step into a role on or off the field and has the makeup to do so.
"I'm just here to play my role," Combs said. "If being a leader helps, then I'm here to do whatever it takes to win."
Despite the hype and hoopla surrounding the Dream Team moniker and for a team that hasn't won a Big 12 conference match in 21
"On the field I don't stifle personalities, I like people that have personalities. I just try to teach them the right way to present themselves on the field."
The Jayhawks hope he can be a physical body that can disrupt the numerous talented backfields in the Big 12, something that plagued Kansas' defense last season.
"I'm trying to build a dream team here." Combs said.
recruits playing at Fort Scott in the summer of last year.
CHARLIE WEIS Head coach
Keon Stowers, a junior defensive lineman who played with Kansas last season, was originally roommates with Combs until the day Pearce Slater arrived. Stowers said that it's well-documented that Combs likes to endlessly talk.
never puts down his phone and is always sparking up an entertaining conversation with someone.
Stowers said he
But when they hit the gridiron and get into serious business, Stowers said Combs is one of the most determined players he knows.
"Off the field he's going to joke
with you," Stowers said. "As soon as we step in between the lines, he goes to work."
If you needed further evidence of Combs' top-notch work ethic, there is nothing better than taking a look at his ability to reduce his weight from 320 pounds when he first arrived in December to a lean 290 now. He said the transition was strenuous.
Combs, playing in'a newly integrated defense at the time at Pierce Community College, had to put on some pounds. Once he transferred to Kansas, he knew the roles had to be reversed, and the only task at hand was getting down to the ideal weight for Kansas' defense.
Combs has been adamant in his decision to go to Kansas after receiving more than 50 scholarship offers and is unrelenting in his surprising choice after decommitting from Ole Miss because he wanted to graduate from Pierce early. Combs is comfortable in his element and thinks that it's the right place for him.
"I wanted to go to a program that was on the rise or was sort of losing." Combs said.
until he did his research. Combs was in disbelief after learning that Weis has four Super Bowl rings.
He wanted to pick up a program that was struggling and become one of the driving forces of that resurgence.
"We want to be the reason why this program came from here all the way to the top and I think it's the perfect year to do it," Combs said.
Combs plays an integral part to both this new recruiting class and to the program as a whole. This recruiting class holds the keys to what could be a bigger amount of talent in the next recruiting classes.
While the yo-yo may preoccupy Combs for now, when he steps on the field in September he is going to be shredding tackles. The allure will only matter if he can reinforce those special talents that have been emboldened by his personality.
For a player who has built a reputation on talking, his aspirations have him at a shortage of words.
"The Dream Team here" Combs said. "That all I can say"
Edited by Hayley Jozwiak
THE
A field play wha ing. Send ey
Dies are they colle for b
FOOT
MA mg