K’Von Sherman has been tackling people since he was supposed to be learning flag football.
That part of his game came so naturally that, as a six-year-old in his first game, he kept putting kids on the ground instead of letting the flags do the work. The punishment came quickly.
The habit, though, never really left him. It just evolved into something UConn can build around.
Now the Huskies’ new star linebacker is stepping into a much bigger job than cleaning up ball carriers. He’s also being asked to help shape the identity of a defense full of newcomers, and that’s a role Sherman seems ready to embrace.
Growing up in Pearland, Texas, about 20 minutes south of Houston, Sherman learned that football could open doors - but only if everything else came along with it. The public high school stadium there seats more than 12,000, and Sherman came out of Pearland High as a two-star recruit. The grades weren’t there for major Division I interest, so he landed at Hutchinson Community College in Kansas.
That move turned into a launch point. Sherman put up 77 tackles, 5.5 sacks and 7.5 tackles for loss there, and he also realized he had to get his academics in order if he wanted the rest of his career to keep moving forward.
That’s when Toledo found him.
Sherman spent his first year under Jason Candle in a limited role across all 13 games, then blew up in 2025 with a First Team All-MAC season. He led the team with 93 tackles and added 4.5 sacks, a pass defended and a fumble recovery.
Even after Candle left Toledo, Sherman had other options in the transfer portal, including a possible power conference landing spot. He still chose to follow the coach he already knew.
“I’m really a guy about the process, and I understood (Candle’s) process by being in it for the past two years. So I knew I was always going to be in good hands if I came here,” Sherman said after serving his role as a disruptor in Saturday’s scrimmage.
That decision also fit the moment at UConn. The Huskies’ schedule gives Sherman a chance to put his work on display against power conference competition, and UConn is the only Group of Six program hosting three Power Four opponents this season. Sherman said that mattered when he weighed his next move.
“I told the guys that we can do something special here because we have so many home games, if we win, good things will happen. We’ll have the crowd, we’ll have the (state) behind us, we’ll have a bunch of support,” he said. “That was something I thought about (while in the portal), I was like, man, we play against P4 opponents, I’m looking at the schedule like, ‘Okay, I can put together a decent year and hopefully go to the next level.”
UConn sees Sherman as the kind of linebacker who can set the tone the way Jackson Mitchell, Jayden McDonald and Bryun Parham did before him. He’s got the production, the edge and the voice to match.
Penn transfer John Lista said the two of them have already formed a strong pairing on the field.
“I feel like we’re like two missiles just shooting downhill and definitely feeding off of his energy,” said Penn transfer John Lista. “He gets pretty loud and excited, I’m more of a quiet, reserved guy.
So it’s definitely like we’re two different players, but we mesh really well on the field and we go out there and just make plays. It’s been a blast, he’s been great.
I’m learning a bunch from him in the film room and also off the field as a person, so it’s really cool.”
Candle sees the same thing. He called Sherman a player whose best football is still ahead of him.
“He brings an emotional piece to the game,” Candle said. “He’s obviously a really good player statistically and accolades postseason last year would reflect that.
I just think that his best football is ahead of him. He’s just now scratching the surface of what it could be, so I’m excited to see what it’s gonna look like for him.”
Defensive coordinator Ryan Manalac described Sherman as a “physical specimen and an intelligent football player,” and Sherman has already become the kind of presence that teammates gravitate toward. He’s also counting the days until the season starts. Sept. 5 is on his mind constantly, and he said the anticipation makes it hard to sleep.
For now, his biggest job is happening away from game day. UConn’s roster is loaded with transfer additions, so Sherman is spending his energy on learning people as much as learning schemes. He knows leadership takes more than barking orders.
“It’s like going to a new job,” he said. “You’ve got to understand where people come from, you’ve got to understand their background, got to know what pushes their buttons and you’ve got to know how to push them so they can get to the level you want them to be, and the level they want themselves to be. You’ve got to learn about the person and then try to take the steps and figure out how to lead.”
The Huskies still have plenty to sort out defensively, especially with so many players adjusting to a new system and to one another. But Sherman is already at the center of what they want to become: the enforcer, the connector and, if everything goes right, the guy who helps hold the whole thing together.
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