What Kansas football coach Lance Leipold said on Trey Lathan’s return

LAWRENCE — There are players back, from the 2025 season, that Kansas football coach Lance Leipold has noticed a lot of physical development from.

There’s redshirt sophomore offensive lineman DeAndre Harper, who Leipold thinks has changed his body immensely, as well as redshirt junior offensive lineman Antonio Wilson. Junior defensive end Leroy Harris III continues to develop, and Leipold likes where redshirt freshman defensive end Garrett Martin is at. And after having a little slow two-to-three weeks off of a break, across the last four-to-five, Leipold thinks redshirt senior linebacker Trey Lathan has been putting together some quality days.

But the fact that Lathan’s development is something Leipold can continue to monitor wasn’t always a given over the course of the offseason. Lathan detailed at one point on social media he’d be entering the transfer portal, before later announcing he would be coming back to Kansas. And with his return, KU has a valuable piece of its defense for 2026.

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“It’s extremely important to have Trey back,” Leipold said Thursday, with spring ball underway for the Jayhawks. “He’s the leading tackler, played about the most snaps for us last year. Very consistent. A guy that’s very instinctive, knowledgeable. He’s got a good feel for the game as a whole, and for what you need and what you have coming back — again, not an overly vocal guy, but he’s been working on that just like Blake Herold, Jalen Todd, some guys.”

Herold, a redshirt junior defensive tackle, and Todd, a junior cornerback, like Lathan, are the ones Leipold appears to be looking to step out of their comfort zones and help lead the defense. Right now, that side of the ball doesn’t have a ton of vocal leaders, from Leipold’s perspective. Two more names to know in that respect are redshirt junior safety Taylor Davis and senior defensive end Alex Bray.

While there was uncertainty surrounding whether Lathan would come back, Leipold noted that Lathan communicated well as they eventually got things to a good spot together. Leipold thinks a lot of Lathan, both on and off the field, and mentioned it’ll be important to make sure he’s a healthy contributor for KU this season. If someone has thoughts of potentially leaving, Leipold allowed, you try to find ways to explain why it’s in their best interest to stay.

The linebacker position as a whole is one that Leipold is interested in following this spring, because as they get more into practices with pads on, the Jayhawks will be able to get an idea of how the group’s size and athleticism can be used. As they see who blitzes best or covers well, they’ll be able to tell how to mix and match and get the right guys on the field. They can determine whether to play more with three linebackers on the field at once or go with a more 4-2-5 look.

Jordan Guskey covers University of Kansas Athletics at The Topeka Capital-Journal. He was the 2022 National Sports Media Association’s sportswriter of the year for the state of Kansas. Contact him at jmguskey@gannett.com or on Twitter at @JordanGuskey.

This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: What Kansas football coach Lance Leipold said on Trey Lathan’s return