Kansas University cornerbacks coach Kenny Perry was not in Lawrence for the 2014 season so he does not miss departed seniors JaCorey Shepherd and Dexter McDonald quite as much as most people associated with the program.
Perry’s focus is on finding a way to replace the two 2015 NFL Draft selections and, thus far, it has been one heck of a grind.
Speaking with the media prior to the eighth practice of preseason camp, Perry talked in general terms about his group and broke down four KU corners individually. It seems clear that, at least at this point, that Brandon Stewart, Tyrone Miller, Ronnie Davis and Matthew Boateng — most likely in that order — are the top four cornerbacks on the roster. And that quartet has combined for 18 Division I appearances, 13 tackles, six pass break-ups and zero starts.
“Right now, we’re in survival mode,” Perry said. “Everything’s kind of grasping, and that’s when you make a lot of mistakes. They’re not seeing things. They’re not remembering formations and concepts.”
But that’s not for a lack of trying. Perry said each one of his top four corners has shown improvement from the spring to now and all of them show up every day willing to give max effort in order to improve.
That’s a great starting point, but it makes for some long days and slow progress.
“It’s a process,” Perry said. “Every day someone does something good and one guy, who, the day before, was great doesn’t look so good. That’s what you’re gonna get when you play young kids.”
Perry said Stewart, a junior-college transfer from Trinity Valley CC, was the farthest along of the foursome. After breaking some bad habits in the spring which caused him to play like “a rabid squirrel,” according to Perry, Stewart has started to pick up and rely on better technique and smarter play.
“He’s taken that step of wanting to be great,” Perry of Stewart, who did not return home once this summer and instead stayed in Lawrence to workout, lift and have a perfect summer conditioning attendance record.
Miller, a true freshman from Saline (Michigan) High, has been the guy most often running with the first team on the opposite side of Stewart. Perry said the two, who both stand 6-foot tall and weigh within find pounds of one another around the 175 mark, even resemble each other a little bit.
“I hate talking about young kids just because he’s so young,” Perry said of Miller. “But he’s done everything I’ve asked. He just comes to play doesn’t say nothing.”
Boateng, who played a lot as a true freshman early in the season last year, continues to be a work in progress, but, like the others, continues to show a strong desire to get better and get on the field.
“Once Matt gets everything lined up, he’s gonna be all right,” Perry said. “He’s just gotta learn that Pluto and Saturn … When those things align, he has good practices. He needs to start hoping that the solar system aligns more for him. He’s a good player.”
Davis, a fifth-year guy now in his second season with Kansas after transferring from Northeast Oklahoma prior to the 2014 season, has started to earn some first-team reps in practice and, according to Perry, is “playing pretty good.”
Perry credits Davis’ improvement to his willingness to soak up lessons from 2014 cornerbacks coach Dave Campo, as well as Shepherd and McDonald.
Davis said he still watches film of both former Jayhawks and even dubs one press coverage technique the “Dex Mac” technique and tries to emulate the way Shepherd stayed as low to the ground as possible throughout each play.
“We have the right pieces to replace those guys,” Davis said. “They are very big shoes to fill, but, with the coaches we have, we’ll be ready. And we are closer to being ready than I would’ve ever thought.”
Perry agreed, and said the key, from here on out, was allowing these guys to learn on their own.
“We’re kind of starting to (cut) down (on) telling the kids what to do a lot and letting them make the mistakes and correct them on film. Mentally, I don’t think we’re where we need to be, but they’re getting there. They want to win. That’s not the issue, it’s just mentally we don’t know how to push ourselves past that point to be great yet.”