Former Kansas University safety Isaiah Johnson, the 2013 Big 12 defensive newcomer of the year, ran through his first taste of SEC football on Tuesday with his new team, the South Carolina Gamecocks.
Speaking with reporters after practice, Johnson, who chose to leave KU in the offseason to play out his final season of eligibility closer to his Cary, North Carolina, home, said it felt good being back on the field despite the new surroundings and reports indicated that he worked primarily with the second unit.
Because he’s no longer wearing crimson and blue, I get that most Jayhawk fans could give a rip about Johnson, the Gamecocks or how either of them fares this season.
But in the brief interview I saw from Johnson after practice, he did touch on a topic that I thought KU fans might find interesting.
“I liked it,” Johnson said of his first SEC practice. “Overall, I thought I did pretty good. It’s cool being out here adjusting around these guys, coming from a different level.”
Not content to just let those thoughts drift off into the South Carolina swelter, one reporter followed up by asking Johnson to compare the Big 12 and the SEC.
“Competition-wise, I think it’s around the same,” Johnson said. “Really, I just think it’s more of a tempo thing, coming from the Big 12 to here, from more up-tempo, hurry-up offenses to kind of being more, not lackadasical, but more you’ve got time to rest as a defender and a DB.”
None of this should come as much of a surprise, but it was interesting to hear nonetheless. For years, these two conferences have played contrasting styles, with the SEC favoring more of the pound it on the ground, 17-13 games and the Big 12 choosing to air it out and play games in the 40s and 50s.
All the while, the debate has raged on about which conference was more powerful. The SEC, with its string of seven consecutive national titles from 2006-12, always has used the ultimate prize and postseason success as its trump card. And backers of the Big 12, which has not fared as well in the postseason recently, always have claimed that the Texas-based league is stronger from top to bottom.
Plenty of players in the past have suited up in both leagues, but I can’t remember many — if any — coming from Kansas. That makes Johnson’s move at least worth tracking and it should be very interesting to see how he fares with his new team this season.
Johnson was great during his first season at KU but fell back a little last year and was merely average. With just one season remaining in his college career and dreams of playing in the NFL on his mind, you can count on the former Jayhawk giving all he’s got this season.
“It’s not a lot of pressure,” he said. “I’m used to it. I’m ready. I came in with my mind right and I’m just going about my business.”
