A day after landing three transfers from Buffalo, Kansas football coach Lance Leipold has added three more.
Offensive lineman Michael Ford, linebacker Rich Miller and defensive tackle Ronald McGee all announced Monday they would be joining the Jayhawks’ football program.
Ford should be able to impact the offensive line right away. After redshirting last season for Buffalo, the 6-foot-3, 285-pound Ford was expected to compete for starter at right tackle before Leipold left the Bulls.
“I wanted to come to Kansas because I knew it’d be a great decision for my future,” Ford told Jon Kirby of JayhawkSlant. “I know that the coaches are great people. And I know that the culture and the environment is just quite honestly a great one to be a part of.”
Miller will add experience to a linebackers group that struggled with depth last season. As a sophomore in 2020, the 6-1, 230-pound Miller played in all seven games while posting 13 tackles with a tackle-for-loss.
“I always knew that they see the potential I have,” Miller told JayhawkSlant, referring to KU’s coaches. “Once I entered the transfer portal and I got the call, I’m like, ‘They really do see the potential in me, and it’s meant to be.’ If it wasn’t meant to be, then I wouldn’t have gone to Kansas.
“I feel like Coach Leipold has had a lot of success everywhere he’s been, so it’s only right for me to come help him try to turn the program around.”
McGee, as a junior last season, played in four games and started one for Buffalo with seven tackles and two sacks. He previously played at Highland Community College in Highland, Kansas.
“After I was eligible to leave (Highland), Coach Leipold was actually one of the few coaches that offered me, after I was eligible and everything,” McGee told JayhawkSlant. “ … He gave me a chance, so I took that really personal. I took it as, ‘He really cares about me.’ Because a lot of coaches don’t do that. They don’t always take players from the junior colleges.”
KU also landed offensive lineman Mike Novitsky, defensive tackle Eddie Wilson and receiver Trevor Wilson from Buffalo on Sunday.
Novitsky is the most significant. As a 6-foot-5, 295-pound sophomore, he was graded the fourth-best center in the nation last season while earning PFF honorable mention All-America honors.
After entering the transfer portal, Novitsky told JayhawkSlant he received interest from Texas, Notre Dame, Michigan and others.