You can never really be sure where on the field a Kansas tight end might line up, but at least this season, you can be quite certain which players you’re going to see.
KU’s tight end group is one of its most familiar on a roster characterized by continuity. Back from 2022 are senior Mason Fairchild, a safety net for quarterback Jalon Daniels who came on strong last season; junior Jared Casey, a former walk-on, hybrid player and all-around fan favorite; and junior Trevor Kardell, a longtime two-sport athlete (emphasis on the athlete) now fully committed to football.
All three, along with senior blocker Tevita Ahoafi-Noa and redshirt sophomore Will Huggins, are back this year; so too is offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki, the one responsible for moving them from position to position, and KU’s de facto tight ends coach.
“He really emphasizes using everybody’s skill sets,” Kardell said Wednesday at fall training camp. “There’s so many different things that people offer to the table, and that’s really what we try and focus on, is taking people’s skill sets and using them to our advantage.”
Kardell added that having Kotelnicki as the position coach — a rather rare arrangement for tight ends — helps the tight ends gain a better overall comprehension of the offense. That helps with the intricate “choreography” that sees them vex the defense by lining up all over the place.
“We can ask him a question to clarify anything,” Kardell said, “and he’s got it right then and there.”
Of course, the tight end room itself has enough experience to know the system inside and out at this point. (Although there are some young players present too, like freshmen Dillon Mong of Shawnee Mission, whom Kardell praised, and Jaden Hamm of Eudora; redshirt freshman wideout Quinton Conley has also worked out with the tight ends.)
Fairchild, now a fifth-year senior, played in all 12 games his freshman year, which was Les Miles’ first at KU. He’s seen a total paradigm shift in the intervening years.
“We’ve never had this kind of continuity in my time here, that Coach Leipold’s brought,” he said. “Being able to have the same playbook from year to year, you’re able to see the level of confidence grow in not just the tight end room, but all the rooms. You can see it in how complex Coach K really gets with the playbook the longer we’re all in it.”
Fairchild was the Jayhawks’ third-leading receiver last year with 35 catches for 443 yards and six touchdowns. His 28 catches in the final seven games of 2022 were more than he accumulated in his previous three-and-a-half seasons at Kansas. Building on that momentum in the offseason, he said, relies on “just not being content with what I did last season, trying to build off that. You know, there’s always things that you can improve on.”
Even with his late-season surge, Fairchild said that the tight ends “are still challenging for starting spots. I don’t think anything’s set in stone.”
“We’ve just got that friendship, or that chemistry, where you’re competing every rep,” said Kardell, who caught just five passes last season as the third option. “It doesn’t matter how you’re feeling, what’s going on.”
They have a lot of fun in the process, Fairchild added.
“I think we have some of the most fun meetings in the entire building,” he said. “People always say they hear us laughing and stuff. Coach K keeps it casual but he’s a teacher at heart.”
Casey, who caught 16 passes last year, said that levity translates into tangible results.
“It’s going to help on the field when you build relationships off the field,” he said.
Kansas tight end Mason Fairchild (89) celebrates his touchdown catch against Texas during the first half of an NCAA college football game in Austin, Texas, Saturday, Nov. 13, 2021. (AP Photo/Chuck Burton)
Kansas tight end Jared Casey (47) lunges for a 2-yard touchdown reception against Arkansas in overtime during the Liberty Bowl NCAA college football game Wednesday, Dec. 28, 2022, in Memphis, Tenn. Arkansas won in three overtimes, 55-53. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)
Kansas tight end Trevor Kardell is chased by Duke defensive back Joshua Pickett as he scores a touchdown during the first half of a game on Sept. 24, 2022, in Lawrence, Kan.
Borland: Defensive line still searching for go-to pass-rusher
Kotelnicki was initially slated to speak Wednesday but Borland took to the podium instead, and he touched on one of the few positions where KU is looking to replace departing talent from last year: defensive lineman. Players like last year’s Lonnie Phelps, Caleb Sampson and Sam Burt have moved on, leaving gaps for opportunistic Jayhawks to fill.
“We’re faster, I think we’re probably a little more athletic overall across the front up there this year, and surprisingly guys have some pretty good strength numbers too,” Borland said.
However, KU lacks a central player in the vein of Phelps to pressure opposing quarterbacks: “I don’t know who the star is right now,” Borland said. “I don’t know if we have one necessarily, but I think we’ve got seven or eight guys across the board upfront that can play and that can flash at times.”
He mentioned returning end Hayden Hatcher as a candidate, then touched on a few teammates like Auburn transfer Dylan Brooks by name as well, but said he wasn’t sure if anyone would emerge as the primary threat.
It’ll be one area of the defense to keep an eye on as Borland attempts to retool the unit following last year’s up-and-down showing.
“There (were) times last year when we were a good solid kind of a dominant unit once in a while, but that wasn’t an every-week thing,” he said. “We’ve talked a lot about being the strong link in the chain, and not that weak link in the chain.”
Kansas defensive coordinator Brian Borland instructs his players during the first day of Fall Camp on Tuesday, Aug. 1, 2023.
Henry Greenstein/Journal-World photo
Charlie Riedel/Associated Press
Chance Parker/Journal-World photo