After it was announced late last week that Kansas linebackers coach DeMontie Cross would be taking the same position at TCU, the Kansas coaching staff wasted little time making sure their talented group of JUCO linebackers were staying Jayhawks.
“Samson {Faifili} was the first one who text me after Coach {Jeff} Blasko called”, Marcus Jenkins-Moore told TheShiver.com over the weekend. “I told him it’s about being family and staying together. One man isn’t going to stop our show. He agreed and we’re just ready to go.”
Cross will be replaced by last year’s assistant defensive backs coach and special team’s coordinator Clint Bowen who has experience coaching linebackers over his 12-years as an assistant coach.
Though Coach Bowen and Jeff Blasko will fly out to meet with both Jenkins-Moore and Faifili this week to solidify their commitments, both players say they never wavered.
“{Coach Bowen and I} talked for a good 10 minutes on the phone”, says Samson Fiafili. “He knows what he’s doing because he’s coached linebackers before. He was telling me what he has planned for us. I’m not worried because I know Coach Weis put him in that spot because he trusts him so I know we’re in good hands.”
Jenkins-Moore had a similar outlook.
“When I found out he was leaving I was upset”, says MJM. “I understand it’s a business though, so it is what it is”.
A large group of the 2013 recruiting class, known on Twitter and other social networks as #2013DreamTeam, have been very close throughout the offseason and showed their solidarity immediately following the announcement of Cross leaving.
“We all talked about it with Ben Heeney, myself, Marquel Combs, and Marcus, and we all made up our minds to stay committed”, says Faifili. “We’re not going anywhere.”
Though neither player will be on KU’s campus until late May, they still maintain the same excitement to help turn the Jayhawks football program around.
“I’m ready to be a Jayhawk”, says MJM. “I can’t wait to take on the challenge and get out there and start grinding.”
Both players expressed that no grudge would be held toward Coach Cross, but have said through their respective Twitter (@KU_Jenk and @samsonfiafili ) accounts that they will be looking forward to the October, 12, meeting with TCU in Fort Worth, TX.
“That games going to be a little extra special because we got Coach Cross over there now”, Faifili told TheShiver.com. “No hard feelings, we just gotta go put one on them”.
Markus Jenkins-Moore, Samson Fiafili, and the rest of Kansas’ 2013 recruiting class will make their commitments official on National Signing Day February, 6.
Samson Fiafili Highlights
Marcus Jenkins-Moore Highlights
