Jayhawk Insider: Signing Day from a fan's perspective

By: Jordan Cronan

For many Kansas football fans, the fandom usually begins with Saturday tailgates on the hill and ends with waving the wheat inside David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium, but this wasn’t the case for four lucky fans on National Signing Day.
 
Angie Fritz, Darcy Claycamp, Santiago Escobar and Jeff Picazo all entered to win a once in a lifetime opportunity to experience Kansas Football Signing Day all from behind the scenes.
 
For longtime fan, Angie Fritz, it was a no brainer on deciding to participate in all the Signing Day festivities.
 
“I’m really excited about coach Miles and I’ve seen the program go from 2001 to what it is now,” Fritz said. “It’s really neat to see how it’s evolved over the years.”
 
The lucky winners arrived to campus early Wednesday morning to grab their seats and watch the Jayhawk TV Network broadcast live Signing Day coverage from Anderson Family Football Complex.
 
The four winners and some of their friends and family looked on as head coach Les Miles and KU assistant coaches broke down the 2019 signing class. Additionally, members of the 2019 signing class who were already on campus stopped by the television broadcast for live interviews.
 
“I’m blown away with how much we’ve gotten to see with all the interviews and the media,” Fritz said. “It’s something I’ve never gotten to see before and it definitely exceeded my expectations.”
 
The 90-minute Signing Day show allowed for everyone to listen in as defensive coordinator D.J. Eliot, offensive coordinator Les Koennig and other assistant coaches talked about the upcoming 2019 season.
 
“It’s been really cool to see how excited the coaches are to see the new kids come in,” Escobar said. “They want to prove to the fans that they mean business and they want to change the culture surrounding the program.”    
 
Along with all the coaches, the Signing Day winners got a sneak peek at some of next year’s talent when quarterback Thomas MacVittie and wide receiver Ezra Naylor Jr. stepped into the live broadcast to give their input on what’s to come in 2019.
 
After the live Signing Day coverage, everyone moved down the hall of the Anderson Family Football Complex as head coach Les Miles took center stage for his press conference.
 
Coach Miles shared his thoughts on every new member of the 2019 recruiting class while breaking down film for members of the media, Kansas football alumni and the four lucky winners.
“Being at coach Miles’ press conference, it was awesome to see him break down the kids’ films and some of the plays they’ve made,” Escobar said. “It was great to hear Miles talk and see how passionate he is about what’s going on here.”
 
These diehard Kansas football fans are no strangers to Saturdays on the hill, but for one day, they got to experience what it’s truly like to be part of the Kansas football family for a day.
 
“The vibe around the team and the coaches is incredible,” Claycamp said. “I think we’re putting all the pieces together and we’re going to make some noise.”
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