D.K. McDonald brings NFL coaching experience to Kansas football’s defense

LAWRENCE — Lance Leipold had an idea Scott Fuchs might leave college for the NFL one day.

In February, Leipold recalled the conversation from when the two first met. Fuchs didn’t want to be a coordinator or a head coach, just the best offensive line coach he could be, hopefully in the NFL.

So when Fuchs had the chance to leave Kansas football for a job with the Tennessee Titans after the Jayhawks’ 2023 season, Leipold knew it would be tough to keep him. Sure enough, Leipold eventually wished Fuchs the best and began looking for his replacement.

Leipold lost a coach to the NFL during the offseason, but he also took one from it. Not the guy to fill Fuchs’ void, but one to fill a vacancy on defense. And in the short time D.K. McDonald has been the Jayhawks’ co-defensive coordinator/cornerbacks coach, people have already sought him out for his perspective.

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“You’ve seen the questions with everybody, because that’s the goal,” McDonald said earlier this month. “I mean, every guy here wants to play at that level. And so, just being there does give you some credibility of just, ‘Hey, I’ve been here.’ I can show film during a meeting of when I’ve coached and what guys have done, and I was fortunate enough at that level to coach Darius Slay — who’s been an All-Pro and a Pro Bowl guy.”

As McDonald noted, his professional experience with the Philadelphia Eagles can be an asset to more than just a couple players. Among those he’s spoken with is Kenny Logan Jr., a former Kansas safety whose college career ended in 2023. But the Jayhawks do have a couple of current cornerbacks, in Mello Dotson and Cobee Bryant, who have a chance to become pros themselves in the near future.

McDonald said that, if you’re around football, you know who Dotson and Bryant are. He heard about the two All Big 12 Conference-caliber talents while he was in the NFL, and quickly found reason to praise their leadership and competitiveness. McDonald highlighted how they are the first to step up if a younger player needs help, and competitive beyond the field to the extent they could be shadow-boxing or trying to shoot something into a trash can.

McDonald will look to develop depth among a group of cornerbacks with a lot of young players with potential, and navigate the even younger name, image and likeness (NIL) landscape. He’ll look to recruit future Jayhawks. But Leipold also took time to really emphasize the effect McDonald could have on Dotson and Bryant.

“If you brought in a guy who coached in the Super Bowl the year before … and been in the playoffs … when he’s talking about what he sees and what it takes and what are some of the things, it’s pretty factual,” Leipold said. “So, once Cobee and Mello saw that I think they’ve embraced it. Now, there’ll be a little different coaching style and the guys have kind of said it. But again, there are going to be things that they can take from it and grow and get better.”

For McDonald, though, the players were the icing on the cake. Before he arrived, he really did his research on his co-workers. Leipold, defensive coordinator Brian Borland, linebackers coach Chris Simpson and more stood out, and he added that how they go about their business has been proven on the field.

McDonald has previous college coaching experience in the Big 12 at Iowa State and, from his perspective, Kansas has had the talent to compete in the league before. But through the first three years of Leipold’s tenure, wins are following at a level they didn’t when McDonald was with the Cyclones. He’s striving to be a part of a Big 12 championship with the Jayhawks.

“Even on Saturdays in the NFL when I had time to turn on the TV, and I turned on a game, like you could tell that the University of Kansas played hard,” McDonald said. “And that was fun to see. That was fun to see, and like I said it’s a credit to these guys buying in and doing what they need to do.”

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Jordan Guskey covers University of Kansas Athletics at The Topeka Capital-Journal. He is the National Sports Media Association’s sportswriter of the year for the state of Kansas for 2022. Contact him at jmguskey@gannett.com or on Twitter at @JordanGuskey.

This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Kansas football co-DC D.K. McDonald brings NFL experience to Jayhawks