During Kansas’ preseason training camp, linebackers coach Chris Simpson said he believed the Jayhawks could go three players deep at the linebacker positions and feel good about doing so.
That may still be the case at some point this season, but KU’s reserves at its two primary linebacker spots have depleted quite rapidly during the first two weeks of the 2025 campaign.
Longtime program fixture Jayson Gilliom and Bowling Green transfer Joseph Sipp Jr. were already out due to injuries before the Jayhawks had to play Friday night’s game against Wagner without starting weak-side linebacker Bangally Kamara.
On Wednesday, four days after an impressive debut against Fresno State in which he had tallied four tackles with a strip-sack, the South Carolina transfer Kamara went down with what head coach Lance Leipold described as a non-contact injury in practice.
“His status will be unknown for a while,” Leipold said.
Then, adding another wrinkle in the opening quarter of what developed into KU’s 46-7 victory over the Seahawks, high-upside redshirt freshman Jon Jon Kamara, who had been serving as Bangally Kamara’s replacement, got ejected for targeting when he flew in to make a tackle on Wagner’s Zayden Davis.
Leipold said that from what he could see, the young linebacker was leading with his helmet.
“That’s a learning moment and a fundamental thing,” Leipold said. “It’s not only for the defender, it’s for him as well and his health. Here he makes a big play, he’s all excited and next thing you know his day’s over. It’s unfortunate because he’s talented and quick and physical and I know he’ll be better for this.”
The result was that the once-three-deep group instead played with three main players for much of Friday night: redshirt junior Trey Lathan, its usual middle linebacker who is a redshirt junior transfer from West Virginia, along with the promising weak-side prospect Logan Brantley and Lathan’s walk-on backup Ezra Vedral, a redshirt sophomore from Omaha, Nebraska, who had debuted against Fresno State.
“They’ve been working their tails off for this moment,” Lathan said. “It’s an unfortunate situation, how they got the moment, but they’re in the moment now and they got to seize the opportunity.”
Brantley finished with four tackles, and Vedral had one solo stop in the third quarter in relief of Lathan.
“Logan Brantley played his most football as a Jayhawk — I thought he held his own,” Leipold said. “Ezra Vedral got quite a bit of work as well and again, did fine. We were able to get some other guys in there as well, but it’s a position right now that we need to get healthy at, and hopefully we will sooner than later.”
Freshman Malachi Curvey, redshirt freshman JaCorey Stewart and redshirt senior walk-on Cole Mondi all saw the field, according to KU’s participation statistics, on a night when Leipold said 88 players participated.
“It’s next man up,” Lathan said. “We got 10 guys in that room, everybody gets reps, and everybody’s prepared for the moment. So everybody had to pitch in in their part.”
Whatever turnover KU continues to face on the weak side, the Jayhawks are increasingly confident in Lathan’s leadership in the middle of the defense.
“He’s been steady through camp and that, but really when the games come on he’s played even better than probably we anticipated, just showing he’s got a knack for finding the ball and avoiding blocks and doing things,” Leipold said. “He’s playing with a lot of confidence right now in this scheme and we’re going to need him.”
Lathan, who has 12 tackles with three for loss through his first two games in Lawrence, attributed his success to getting to know his teammates and understanding what motivates them all to give their best effort on the field.
“We share our stories every Friday before the game, and just seeing what guys go through and knowing what they play for, it just makes you want to go harder for the guy next to you,” Lathan said.
Indeed, as much speed and athleticism as Kamara displayed in his debut before he missed Saturday’s game, the linebackers will also need to replace his leadership — all while “making sure he’s in the right headspace because eventually he will come back,” Lathan said.
“Bangally brings our energy to our room,” Lathan added. “Him being a much older guy, him bringing the enthusiasm in our room, I definitely have to take it upon myself this week.”
The position group will certainly need to deliver its best effort next Saturday, when KU travels to Missouri face the Tigers, who ran for 219 yards and passed for 341 in a 61-6 victory over Central Arkansas on Thursday.
Kansas senior Trey Lathan celebrates a stop against against Fresno State at David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium Saturday, Aug. 23, 2025 in Lawrence.
Kansas head coach Lance Leipold watches a replay on the videoboard during the fourth quarter against Wagner on Friday, Aug. 29, 2025 at David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium. Photo by Nick Krug
Mike Gunnoe/Special to the Journal-World
