He didn’t plan on playing college football. Now he’s a pillar of KU’s tight ends room

When he was younger, Kansas Jayhawks tight end Trevor Kardell never expected to step foot inside David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium as anything other than a fan.

After all, he came to KU to play baseball, in addition to football.

“Baseball is fun; that was my sport growing up,” Kardell said in April. “I had no intention of playing college football, believe it or not. But, you know, the staff here puts their hearts and souls into us.”

So, after playing both sports dating back to his high school days at Lee’s Summit West, Kardell decided he would only play football this spring.

“This is actually the first spring where I haven’t been focused on baseball,” he said. “I figured the transition would happen at some point in my life. It just happened to be this spring. (Kansas baseball) coach (Dan) Fitzgerald was super understanding about it. Devin (Neal) and I put a lot of thought into it. You know, it was time for both of us.”

The decision has already begun to pay dividends for Kardell.

“It really helps with the retention of the offense and reading defenses,” he said. “It’s not going to baseball, putting all your focus on baseball and then coming back to football — trying to remember things that you’ve learned the previous day.

“It was difficult and it was definitely a challenge for us (Neal and Kardell). This spring, being able to focus on football is really big for us.”

Indeed, Kansas offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki raved about the duo’s play in spring football.

“I think they’ll notice it more when they get into fall,” Kotelnicki said. “I think both of those guys have had a good, great spring. TK’s had a great spring. I would say that you could notice that now.

“He would tell you if you asked him that question. He’d be like, ‘Yeah, I’m just a little bit fresher.’ You could imagine just the time demands of doing two things is challenging.”

Last season, Kardell was the third-string tight end behind starter Mason Fairchild and backup Jared Casey. Kardell didn’t get much receiving action but played 12 games — finishing with five receptions for 65 yards.

Those three tight ends are back for the 2023 season.

“We’re striving to have the best tight end group in the country,” Kordell said. “The strides we’ve made this spring, the competition we’ve had, it’s really showing. It’s going to be really fun.”

Although Kardell is all in on trying to be part of the best tight end group in the nation, he’ll always miss his first love.

“Stepping up to the plate and rocking one,” Kardell said, “is something I will miss for the rest of my life.”