Cobee Bryant embraces status as Kansas football senior: ‘It’s surreal, for real’

After checking out the players’ lounge, sauna, cryo chamber and massage chairs in Kansas’ revamped Anderson Family Football Complex last Monday, senior cornerback Cobee Bryant decided to retire early to bed in advance of Tuesday’s season-opening practice, set to start at 8:30 a.m. on the grass practice fields to the west of KU’s baseball stadium and Allen Fieldhouse.

“I couldn’t sleep. Around 5 o’clock, I woke up. I said, ‘Man, I can’t sleep, I’m ready to go play football,’’’ Bryant said in a chat with media members Tuesday.

Known as a tireless worker who never takes a play off — much less a day off through his first three seasons at KU — Bryant enters the 2024 campaign with even more energy.

And it’s not just because he and fellow cornerback Mello Dotson both have embraced high expectations after being named preseason all-Big 12. It’s because Bryant, who tied Dotson for team lead in interceptions with four a year ago, now is a senior with this final year of eligibility remaining.

He as well as fellow senior defensive backs Dotson, O.J. Burroughs and Marvin Grant are trying to set a good example for the younger DBs in the program.

“It’s surreal, for real. I remember when we were freshmen,” Bryant said. He never had a redshirt season at KU. “Now we’re all seniors. Everybody’s calling us old. We don’t like that sometimes. It’s crazy how life moves fast.”

He’s tutoring a batch of young defensive backs including freshmen Taylor Davis, Jacoby Davis Jameel Croft, Jalen Todd, Jameer Moore, Aundre Gibson and Austin Alexander.

“We’re great, man,” Bryant said, asked to assess the talent in KU’s defensive backs room. “You’re going to have to see. Even the freshmen are going to be good. I told them, ‘This isn’t high school. Learn fast.’’’

Other DBs on the roster in the sophomore and junior classes include Damarius McGhee, Mason Ellis, Devin Dye, Jalen Dye, Brian Dilworth, Will Gavin and Tyler Soukhot.

The depth chart has not yet been released.

“They might be better than me, for real,” Bryant said. “Our freshmen … they can ball. I’m trying to teach them early. (I tell them), ‘Me and Mello are not going to be here next year, so you all have to learn fast. Everything’s going to keep moving every day. Get in the playbook, that’s the main thing if you want to play here.’

“I’m on the young guys hard now. I let them know what’s going on.”

Bryant, 6-0, 175 pounds from Evergreen, Alabama, said when he and the 6-1, 190-pound Dotson first arrived at KU, “We had to learn from coach (Lance) Leipold. Everybody knows coach Leipold doesn’t play games. We go hard teaching the young guys how it’s going to be so when we’re not here next year it’s going to be easy for them (to) go with the flow.”

As for this team’s goals...

“We really want to be Big 12 (champs), that’s what we are pushing for,” Bryant said. “I feel we are working hard to get it. Our main thing going in every day is (get) 1% better every day.

“It’s always team first. ... I want the Big 12 (title). I want to make a playoff run. Also trying to get All American. That’s my main thing, with the team goal. It’s what I’m chasing.”

Daytona Beach, Florida native Dotson had 48 tackles and Bryant 32 last season. Kenny Logan, who has graduated, had 94 tackles and Burroughs 52.

“We already know we are one of the best duos in the country. That’s not a debate (for) anybody. If you don’t like it, we already know,” Bryant said with a smile, referring to himself and Dotson.

“It’s motivation. We don’t worry about it so much,” he added of the two KU defenders completing half of the all-league backfield.

He said Dotson has taken his leadership duties seriously.

“Mello is very quiet if you all don’t know. I was kind of surprised he came out talking to everybody,” Bryant said. “It kind of surprised me. Seeing him grow the last couple years … this year he’s going to even be crazier. He’s going to come hard this season. You all will see.”

Of Dotson earning preseason all-league mention, Bryant said: “I think he deserves it. We work hard. The whole defensive backfield … we work hard for this moment. To see Mello get it … he puts the work in. We both got it. We’ve got to keep grinding. We’re not going to let it get in our heads, just keep going every day.”

Bryant grinned when a reporter reminded him some teams threw away from Bryant, targeting Dotson last season.

“I feel they are going to be scared to try both of us now,” Bryant said of opposing QBs. “Since they didn’t throw to me last year, they tried Mello, and Mello made ‘em pay. I feel they don’t have any option but to run the ball.”

The Jayhawks, who have completed a week of official preseason camp, will continue working out in preparation for the season opener against Lindenwood set for 7 p.m. on Aug. 29, at Children’s Mercy Park.

This is the year KU will play all its home games in Kansas City.

“I’m jealous. It’s my last year here. I can’t see it like I want to see it,” Bryant said of David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium. “I want to thank the boosters, the donors (for giving dollars to stadium project). I want to thank coach Leipold. It’s crazy how he’s changed the stuff. I’m going to live in there, the training room (in Anderson).

“I told the trainer, ‘I ain’t going home. I’ll be here all night.’”