Podcast: E041 – Kenny Logan Jr.

He was one of Les Miles’ first KU recruits and he’s quickly becoming a defensive leader for the Jayhawks. Sophomore safety Kenny Logan Jr. has made a big leap from his rookie season to now, and as the little brother of a two-time All-American at Florida, Logan has big dreams for his own career trajectory at Kansas.

Logan grew up in St. Augustine, FL as one of 15 kids between his mother’s children and father’s children. That number might seem overwhelming to some, but Logan loved being a part of a big family and says there was never a dull moment.

“It was exciting,” described Logan. “There was a lot of us, so there was always pretty much something to do.”

One of his siblings was his older brother, Brandon James, a star kick returner for Urban Meyer at Florida. Separated by 13 years of age, Logan always looked up to James starting back during James’ prolific high school career.

“Growing up I always watched my brother play at St. Augustine High and then on to the Florida Gators,” recalled Logan. “So, it’s always been a dream of mine to follow in his footsteps and play football too.”

Logan watched his brother win a 3A state championship at St. Augustine before winning two BCS National Championships at Florida. James never let the bright lights of the big time SEC football stages keep him from checking in on his little brother though.

“It was exciting every time he called to check in,” said Logan. “It was just like, ‘Dang, my brother called me after the game and he just made all these plays.’ It was just always exciting and it always just felt like, ‘Okay, you gotta go, ‘cause this could be you someday.’”

With James’ career as the standard to shoot for and armed with weekly advice from his superstar big brother, Logan would attack each day with tremendous motivation to realize his own football dreams. Along the way, he and his mother decided he should transfer from St. Augustine High to Menendez High, in part, to carve his own niche from outside of the large shadow his brother’s legendary career had cast.

“He was pretty much a legend there,” said Logan of his brother. “Going to that high school I always had the, ‘Oh, you’re going to be like your brother’ footsteps (comment). So, when I made that transition (to Menendez HS), it was like, ‘Oh, he’s being different.’ So, I just tried to make my own path. I felt like it was a better opportunity for me to be different and separate myself.”

Logan did just that. Along the way to helping Menendez beat St. Augustine for the first time in nearly two decades, he turned heads amongst college coaches from all across the state and around the country. Logan piled up offers from schools like Auburn, Miami and Nebraska but ultimately, it was Kansas and Les Miles that swooped in late with the best pitch.
“They hit me up in January on the backend of the signing period,” Logan said. “Just talking with Coach (Chevis) Jackson and Coach (D.J.) Eliot and just having the chance to come up here and really meet those guys and see the coaching staff we had up here. I just felt like I wanted to be a part of that change and change the arrow.”

Two years later, though still very a young unit, Logan is helping the arrow of the Kansas Defense start to point upward and he fully expects the overall program to make a similar ascent during his time here.

Bowl games, national relevance and eventually a spot in the NFL are all a part of Logan’s dreams for his Jayhawk career. He knows he’ll be hard-pressed to match what his brother accomplished at Florida, but he just wants to be the best version of himself he can be and see what that adds up to in the end. Logan’s early impact at KU shows that his time here could be something truly special. Hear more about his plans to help Coach Miles rebuild Kansas Football on this week’s edition of The Jayhawker Podcast.

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