Kansas defensive lineman Marcus Calvin knows that he probably could have chased a bigger pay day and quicker playing time during the past couple of offseasons.
But that’s just not him.
In an era when teammates and friends across college football have left for their second and even third schools by now, Calvin, a 4th-year defensive tackle from St. Petersburg, Florida, has been content to stay at Kansas and develop.
By his own admission, it’s a bit of an old-school approach. But he likes it that way and he likes where things are headed.
“That’s always been me,” Calvin told R1S1 Sports this spring. “I’ve always been the kid that’s been willing to work and not run away from challenges.”
With that being the mindset, KU and Lawrence are as good a place as any to continue to grind.
“I wasn’t gonna run away,” he said. “For one, I love being in Lawrence. For two, I realize that even if I change the scenery, the work would still have to get done.”
That way of thinking has been music to the ears of the Kansas coaches, particularly defensive line coach Jim Panagos, who said this spring that Calvin is “a great testament of what we’re trying to do here at Kansas in developing players.”
“It’s a journey,” Panagos added.
And, so far, Calvin has enjoyed the ride and all of the lessons that have come with it.
“At first, I was very immature,” he said. “Seeing guys leave and things like that, it did feel weird. But as I matured, I realized everybody’s story’s different, everybody’s situation is different.”
He continued: “When it comes to my development, I need to be worried about myself and nobody else. Instead of me knocking somebody else for their opportunities and their situation, why not grind and work on bettering my situation. … “I’m just a worker. That’s what I do.”
“I came here to feed my family. I came here to change my life. I came here to change my situation and inspire others. So, I’m going to maximize my opportunities.”
— RS-junior D-Lineman Marcus Calvin on the next step for him at KU
He said the last few years and watching teammates leave through the transfer portal — and even return in one case — have inspired him to be brutally honest and realistic about his game, his reality and his future.
Because he never had it in the past, he never wanted to get into a position where he expected things to be handed to him now. In part, again, because that’s not how he was raised. But also because he’s smart enough to know that’s not how the real world works.
“If God blesses me to go to the next level, what do you think is gonna happen then,” he said. “I’m gonna have to be the same young kid, come in, be the sponge, learn and get better. No matter how good I am, I’m gonna have to find something to get better at. So, why not create these habits now?”
The proof is in the outcome, of course, and this will be a big year for Calvin and his future. Like every year, the Jayhawks brought in players at his competition to compete for snaps and take big roles, and Calvin will have to be sharp to jump from the 16 or 17 plays per game that he logged down the stretch last season to a bigger factor on the D-Line this season.
But there’s one thing that both he and Panagos believe makes that possible.
“I see a real confident Marcus Calvin out there,” Panagos said. “He’s taking his game to the next level and I’m really, really pleased with his work ethic, I’m really pleased with where he’s going.”
Added Calvin: “At first, I wasn’t as confident because I knew I had to work on a lot of things,” Calvin said of his first couple of seasons as a Jayhawk. “But now that I know I’ve worked on a lot of things and I know I can do it now, I know that it’s not my abilities no more. At this point, I’m confident and it’s just time to go out there and have fun.”
No matter how things play out, the fun has already started, and Calvin is thrilled with the position he finds himself in entering his fourth year as a Jayhawk.
“It’s a lot more exciting because I know what I did to get here,” he said. “I know it didn’t just fall out of the sky. I watched the pain. I put in the blood and the sweat and the tears and I watched it go from failure to try again back to failure and try again and probably failure again to a little bit of success to try again and it’s finally working. Now, I feel like I’m just a lot more excited and confident going into the season.”
He added: “I came here to feed my family. I came here to change my life. I came here to change my situation and inspire others. So, I’m going to maximize my opportunities.”
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