Updated 3:10 p.m. Monday, Dec. 16:
The Kansas football team began to rebuild at another position of need on Sunday night.
Former Alabama cornerback Jahlil Hurley will join KU next season. He shared a social media post by On3’s Hayes Fawcett announcing the move, citing Hurley’s agent Casey Gunn.
The Jayhawks are looking to strengthen an inexperienced position group after losing Cobee Bryant and Mello Dotson to graduation, and while Hurley didn’t see the field much with the Crimson Tide — he has 80 career snaps to his name in two seasons, including just 19 on defense — his background certainly suggests he could contribute immediately in the Big 12. The native of Florence, Alabama, was a consensus top-five cornerback prospect in the nation coming out of high school.
Hurley will have three seasons to play because he redshirted as a freshman at Alabama under Nick Saban’s now-departed staff. His addition helps directly replace outgoing transfer Brian Dilworth, although the Jayhawks may still choose to look for more help at cornerback. The rest of the unit consists of veteran LSU transfer Damarius McGhee, rising sophomore Jalen Todd and a host of other young cornerbacks including Jameel Croft Jr., Jacoby Davis and Todd’s classmates Austin Alexander and Aundre Gibson.
This is the Jayhawks’ second portal addition to the defensive backfield after former Oklahoma State safety Lyrik Rawls, as well as their third overall on Sunday.
KU recently promoted D.K. McDonald, its former co-defensive coordinator and cornerbacks coach, to defensive coordinator, and analyst Brandon Shelby to defensive backs coach. They will be in charge of supervising Hurley and his position group.
