For years, KU linebacker Jayson Gilliom sat and watched as other members of the Jayhawks’ linebacking corps got their turn to serve as leaders on the KU defense.
Rich Miller, Cornell Wheeler and others, in other ways, all held the role with Gilliom doing what he could to support them.
So, now, as the fifth-year Jayhawk enters his final season of an injury-filled comeback career, is it his time to take on that kind of leadership role once filled by his former teammates?
“I think so, yeah,” Gilliom told R1S1 Sports this spring. “I’ve been here kind of from the very beginning, coming in here with Les Miles. And I just feel like I’ve been through it all.”
That’s putting it mildly. From missing an entire season because of a gruesome leg injury to working his way back first as a role player and then a regular contributor, Gilliom has played a lot of football in a lot of different ways during his time at Kansas.
He also watched how those other leaders before him conducted themselves both as football players in the heat of the action and in the locker room as leaders of the team.
It’s not just the players, either. He credits head coach Lance Leipold, position coach Chris Simpson and strength coach Matt Gildersleeve for setting the standard of what a leader looks like and then expecting that the players deliver when it’s their time.
“Some people just say, ‘Hey, lead,’” Gilliom noted. “But there’s ways to do it with certain people and the actions to take and the steps to take. I feel like I’ve learned it, I’ve studied it and I’ve gained great experience under great leaders like Cornell and Rich and I think now it’s just time for me to step into that role and be that person.”
“I’ve been here kind of from the very beginning... and I just feel like I’ve been through it all.”
— KU linebacker Jayson Gilliom
This spring, Simpson mentioned Gilliom by name as a potential leader on defense, but he also noted that the leadership piece was still a work in progress.
As such, he said there were instances throughout spring practices when the coaches were “almost forcing it” when it came to seeing who could lead and who couldn’t.
What did that look like?
“He definitely lays the ground for people to step up and have that voice and be leaders,” Gilliom explained. “That’s what the linebackers are on the defense.”
Simpson equated growth in leadership skills to taking another rep.
“I always try to tell guys to find an opportunity to lead somebody,” he said. “Even if it’s not the room, it might be a guy. … You’re putting them in situations where they have to take control, whether it’s in the meeting room, asking guys to speak up and articulate thoughts, or in those situations where nothing’s gonna happen unless (they) say something.”
Miller, who came to KU from Buffalo with Leipold and his staff, was a leader from the start. Wheeler, however, took more measured steps to getting to that point. That’s why Gilliom watched closely last season to see how Wheeler took over when his time came, and he’s hoping to do the same thing this season.
“When his time came he stepped into that role,” Gilliom said of Wheeler. “He kept swinging the bat at leadership and being vocal, and that’s something I really saw last year.”
Finding his voice is something that Gilliom views as critical in his own leadership journey. More laid back and calm by nature, the 6-foot-2, 225-pound redshirt senior from Suwanee, Georgia, knows that he’ll have to push himself beyond his past comfort zone to truly lead.
But one thing that he believes gives him a head-start is the position he plays.
“Whether you’re a starter or you’re a walk-on, linebackers have to lead,” he said.
So, in addition to thinking back on all of those linebackers he has played with and recalling closely how Miller and Wheeler handled their business, Gilliom has taken advantage of the recent addition on staff of one of KU’s all-time great linebackers, defensive analyst Joe Dineen.
“I’ve been talking to him, asking questions and getting whatever I can from him,” Gilliom said.
Dineen, you may recall, was an All-American linebacker at KU from 2014-18, leading the NCAA in solo tackles during two of his seasons and the Big 12 in tackles and tackles-for-loss, as well. He was also a three-time KU captain and the face, heartbeat and unquestioned leader of a couple of his KU teams.
Like Dineen in his day, which was fraught with losing, Gilliom believes the effort he puts in and the perseverance he has shown to fight through injury and fight for opportunity has earned the respect of those around him.
Many of his teammates have heard or read or been told about what Gilliom had to overcome to continue his football career. And they have not been shying about praising him in passing.
“I still have players on the team that say, like, ‘Wow, Jayson, that’s crazy that you’re playing right now. If it was me, I wouldn’t be playing,’” he said. “Just having that support from them means a lot. Sometimes I kind of forget all the stuff I’ve been through. And then people will say something about my injuries and it kind of brings me back to, ‘Oh, wow, I am here.’”
“I’ve gained experience, and that’s one of the things that we talk about in our culture — knowing what you’re supposed to do and how to do it.”
Gilliom has done plenty of that during the past four seasons and now it’s time for one final run.
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