In search of a place ‘more football-focused,’ Spencer Lovell chose to transfer to Kansas

LAWRENCE — After an injury cut his 2022 season at California short, Spencer Lovell said he was ready to make a change.

He'd leave the Bears after just one season and would continue his college football career elsewhere. Lovell, who’d started his career at Arizona State in 2018, would be aiming to find somewhere to land that he felt would be “more football-focused.” Lovell thinks he's found that at Kansas.

Lovell, speaking well into his first spring ball with the Jayhawks last week, pointed to how often the team talks about culture. The redshirt junior offensive lineman highlighted the extent to which it’s reiterated, how much of a difference the little decisions someone makes every day mean in the end.

“Doing that stuff on a daily basis becomes part of your process,” said Lovell, who played regularly for Arizona State his last three years there. “And when you build a good culture, and when you can hold people accountable and call people out, then you’re going to have a great culture and you’ll be able to have, like, a player-led team. And I thought that was really cool. And I think the culture here, compared to the other universities, is probably — is the strongest I’ve seen.”

Since Lovell joined the Jayhawks, coaches and staff have praised his maturity, intelligence and sheer size. The maturity and intelligence, one can decipher through a single conversation with him. The size, one can understand from a single look —he comes across as every bit of the 6-foot-6 and 330 pounds he’s listed at.

Lovell is still acclimating to his new surroundings, both personally and when it comes to football. Considering the timeframe of his arrival, it can feel as if everything — developing relationships, learning the playbook and more — is happening all at once. But he has confidence it'll slow down in time.

In offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki, Lovell sees someone who runs some of the most elite and complex stuff he’s seen. In offensive line coach Scott Fuchs, Lovell sees someone who is innovative for the college level. And in the offensive line itself, Lovell sees a group that doesn’t lack depth.

“This is probably one of the deepest O-line rooms I’ve been a part of, as far as guys who are ready to play and that will play for us,” said Lovell, who was at Arizona State in 2018 when it had one of the best offensive lines in college football.

Lovell, who is part of a room that has more than 10 players with in-game college experience, said he feels most comfortable at guard. That’s where all his starts have been in college and where he’s been spending the most time at Kansas. But while it is trending toward him playing at right guard, he understands that could be subject to change and that Fuchs likes for people to be able to play multiple spots along the line.

Further adapting to what Fuchs wants, whether that’s at guard or elsewhere, will just take more reps, film work and discussions with coaches. Lovell appreciates being able to bounce ideas off of redshirt junior offensive lineman Logan Brown in that respect, considering Brown is a Wisconsin transfer and therefore new as well. What they’re learning has Lovell talking, even with people outside the program.

“I’m talking to former players I’ve been with and former coaches and stuff, and be like, ‘Hey, look what we’re doing,’” Lovell said. “And they’re like, ‘Yeah, that’s interesting.’”

Jordan Guskey covers University of Kansas Athletics at The Topeka Capital-Journal. He is the National Sports Media Association’s sportswriter of the year for the state of Kansas for 2022. Contact him at jmguskey@gannett.com or on Twitter at @JordanGuskey.

This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Spencer Lovell adds depth to Kansas football's offensive line room