Leroy Harris III’s performance as a sophomore in 2025 might have come out of the blue for Kansas fans, and perhaps even for his own coaches, after he arrived as an unheralded transfer from Chattanooga.
Not so much for Harris himself.
“It was never a surprise,” he said.
The 6-foot-5 defensive end from Brentwood, Tennessee, ultimately earned enough playing time as to receive more snaps on the season than the returning All-Big 12 player at his position, Dean Miller. Harris rewarded the Jayhawks by turning in consistently strong performances — he was KU’s highest-graded defender on Pro Football Focus to play at least 100 snaps — and he led the team in both sacks (4.5) and pass breakups (eight).
“I came in here when I transferred here, I asked them if I could play, they were honest with me, said you have a chance to come in and compete for a spot, so that’s what I did,” Harris said.
As Harris explained, an early-season injury to Miller last year helped him prove his merit with additional reps, and he even started the season opener as a result. This season, there is little question that Harris will start early and often, but, he said, “I’m attacking it the same honestly, just trying to show up every day, try to get better, work on my craft.”
Now a junior and one of KU’s most promising talents, he is the headliner of a defensive end group that also returns Alex Bray and Dakyus Brinkley and adds Michigan State transfer David Santiago.
“We think we got some guys,” defensive coordinator D.K. McDonald said. “I think Leroy can be special out there. It’s good to see Bray doing what he has done. David Santiago has really flashed and done some good things for us there. Dak is probably the most talented guy that we have — can he continue to put it together from a mental standpoint?”
No player with additional eligibility is guaranteed to return these days, and with his proven production as an underclassman, not to mention NFL genes (his father played seven seasons as a guard with Tennessee and Detroit), Harris would undoubtedly have had suitors if he chose to go elsewhere. But speaking to reporters on Saturday early in his first set of spring practices as a Jayhawk, he said he knew he would be back as soon as the season was over.
“I really just wanted to develop,” he said. “I believed that they wanted me here, I wanted to be here, I wanted to get that chance to go to the next level. They invested in me, I wanted to invest in this program. I want to see this program do good.”
Ongoing development for Harris takes a lot of forms. For one, already tall and long, he’s now up to 267 pounds, about 30 heavier than when he arrived at KU last summer: “He’s like a big boy now — and running, like (a) good athlete,” defensive ends coach Joe Dineen said.
“It definitely took me a little bit, had a little tightness with gaining the weight, trying to get my body used to it,” Harris said, “but after that, it’s been smooth sailing. If you can put the weight on, might as well, to give you an advantage.”
Otherwise, there is no shortage of avenues for potential on-field growth: “trying to work on my pad level, striking with my hands, striking on the rise, just being consistent with my plays, my reps every play, paying attention to detail, trying to finish, straining on blocks, straining on finishing all the reps, running to the ball, pursuit, just trying to develop my game.”
Harris is doing all that under the watchful eye of Dineen, newly promoted to full-fledged position coach after he spent last season assisting Taiwo Onatolu as an analyst. (Onatolu is now solely focusing on his role as special teams coordinator.)
“It’s been a smooth transition,” Harris said. “I’d definitely say the intensity’s been there. It’s been good … He’s been ripping us a little bit, but that’s good for you to get you developed right.”
Even with Harris’ breakout last year, KU managed just 15 total sacks in its nine league games, which was 11th in the Big 12. Getting more pressure on opposing quarterbacks will be one of many ingredients in the Jayhawks’ quest for overall defensive improvement in 2026, McDonald’s second season as the coordinator.
“We just got to be more consistent all around, just run to the ball,” Harris said. “We can’t have those big plays, you saw that a lot last year, where we were just getting the top taken off us, big gashing runs, we got to cut those out. We’re really working on that, working on the pursuit and everything, and that’s really it.”
