Jalon Daniels trading rambunctiousness for focus in final college season
Throughout Jalon Daniels’ first five seasons at Kansas, you could describe him with various upbeat phrases– rambunctious, fun-loving, happy-go-lucky, etc. However, as he approaches his sixth and final season, his mindset has shifted.
Director of Sports Performance Matt Gildersleeve talked about seeing Daniels change from rambunctious to focused. Gildersleeve has seen Daniels’ “gameday eyes,” a level of ultra-focus, every day since January.
“The biggest growth for Jalon has definitely been mental. It’s not even close. His approach to the day-to-day has changed,” Gildersleeve said. “Football’s always been important to JD, and he’s always had a very rambunctious personality. You haven’t really seen that as much this year. He’s focused.”
Gildersleeve said Daniels is approaching everything with a gameday mindset, from training to leadership to even the team group chats. Daniels is bringing another level of focus into the 2025 season.
“He was the first one in the building this morning—pulled in right behind me. He’s got a different aura now in the way he approaches every day,” Gildersleeve said. “He’s always approached the game at an elite level, but I’m talking about training, leadership, even the team group chats—he approaches it all with a game-day mindset. It’s been really impressive.”
Daniels thinks mental approach can help mold newcomers
Daniels’ main focus is getting Kansas to the next level. He said that locking in on the mental side of the game gives him clarity and allows him, one of the oldest players in college football, to show the rest of the team how things are supposed to operate.
“I feel like the mental aspect of the game gives me more clarity,” Daniels said. “I feel like that’s something you have to be able to show the guys, especially the young guys who are looking up and trying to learn the ropes of how we operate the program. Sometimes it’s not always about being the happy, funny guy. Sometimes, you have to be able to show that when it’s time to win, that’s the main goal—to try to win every single game.”
Daniels said the switch happened internally over the offseason as he reflected on things he could do better. With 50 new scholarship players on the roster, he felt as if the daily gameday mindset would best serve this team, while still balancing being the fun guy.
“Every offseason, I go into looking at what I need to do to help the team better, what I can do to put my best foot forward for the team every single day,” Daniels said. “We have a whole new team trying to learn the ropes while also trying to be successful under the umbrella of doing so. So it’s definitely a happy medium between both that I have to have. But I’m looking forward to taking on the challenge.”
