Kansas didn’t just add another body to the secondary when Khijohnn Cummings-Coleman transferred in from Iowa State. It sounds like the Jayhawks think they landed a pretty specific kind of defender - one D.K. McDonald believes can do a little bit of everything.
McDonald said earlier this month that Kansas checked in with former Iowa State defensive coordinator John Heacock before making a move on the safety, and the feedback came back glowing.
“When he was in the portal, you know, I called Coach Heacock and just kind of asked about who he was, approachability, things like that. And all that stuff is off the charts.
And the one thing Coach Heacock told me was, you know, he was voted one of the top five athletes on their team there. So that was really impressive there,” opened McDonald to the media earlier this month.
That kind of endorsement mattered to Kansas, especially coming from someone McDonald already knew from his time on the Iowa State staff from 2016-2020, when he worked as a passing game coordinator and corner/safeties coach under Heacock.
Cummings-Coleman’s Iowa State run was short, but there was enough there to catch attention. The redshirt sophomore finished with 9 tackles and 1 pass breakup, with two starts, before a season-ending injury cut his year down to five games. He was on the Cyclones’ bench for the 38-14 win over Kansas last season, a game that helped Iowa State finish 8-4 while the Jayhawks missed a bowl for the second straight year.
Kansas had seen him before, too. Coming out of high school, Cummings-Coleman was rated the nation’s 91st-best athlete and the eighth-ranked player in Minnesota in the class of 2024. He drew power-conference offers from Minnesota, Iowa, Iowa State and, interestingly enough, Kansas.
Once he hit the portal, his stock was listed as an 85-overall transfer and the No. 1,399 player overall.
McDonald sees a player who fits a very specific role in KU’s defense.
“Just to hear that, the type of kid he was and that was exciting to get that type of caliber kid. He started in the Big 12 there. Coach Heacock was really excited about him…”
And on the field, McDonald believes the fit is even better.
“He's an explosive young man. When I talk about guys who are able to blitz and cover, you know, he's able to do that.
He's a thicker body there, so he's able to hold up in the run and do those types of things. And he's kind of an athlete that we haven't had here in a while, playing that nickel position.
So it's exciting to have that type of body able to do those things.”
For now, the expectation from Ourlads is that Cummings-Coleman sits atop the depth chart at nickelback. That spot still isn’t locked down, though, and the picture should get clearer when Kansas releases its official chart ahead of LIU on September 4.
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