The Kansas football team has more than 100 players but only four of them are chosen to lead the team. This year quarterback Todd Reesing, wide receiver Kerry Meier, running back Jake Sharp and safety Darrell Stuckey — all seniors — were voted captains by their teammates.

Kansas football coach Mark Mangino said these four players had always been leaders on the team.

“If you’re a leader on the team, you show it from the beginning,” Mangino said. “So far they’ve done a great job at leading the team.”

Mangino said that all four players had very different personalities but shared common traits — none of the captains were complacent, and they all wanted to win. Mangino described Reesing and Stuckey as both wanting to prove people wrong. Neither player was highly recruited in high school, but both have since had a large effect on the team.

“Darrell is a little more quiet than Todd, but they both have a chip on their shoulder and want to show people what they can do,” Mangino said.

Here is a breakdown of what each player had to say.

Kerry Meier

Mangino said Meier had a lot of pride and wanted to be perfect on the field. Meier said the energy and excitement of this year’s team was different than his previous seasons and that the team had a little bounce in its step.

“This year is a little something extra with it being my senior year,” Meier said. “It’s different going into this as my last season as a Jayhawk.”

Jake Sharp

When it came to Sharp, Mangino said that football was his life. Sharp agreed that, right now, football had to be everyone on the team’s life. On top of averaging more than 1,063 all-purpose yards and 11 total touchdowns the last two seasons, Sharp has had a huge effect on the Kansas running game and continues to work toward the goal of another bowl appearance.

“When people count on you, you feel you need to do more,” Sharp said. “It’s not all about you when you play football.”

Todd Reesing

Mangino said Reesing was never satisfied. Reesing had similar sentiments when talking about his expectations for the season. Reesing said that he had to prove to his teammates that he could work hard and that they could win in this conference.

Reesing also said the older players had a responsibility to show the younger players how to do things on the field. Because the coaches can’t watch everyone all the time, Reesing said, the captains and the other seniors had to step up to show them how to make minor adjustments that could really improve their game.

“Everyone’s got something to work on each and every day,” Reesing said. “If you don’t take that approach to football, then you don’t need to be here.”

Darrell Stuckey

Like Reesing, Stuckey said there was something he wanted to prove to people. He said he wanted his legacy, as part of Kansas football, to be that he influenced every player that he came in contact with during his four seasons. Mangino said he thought Stuckey could be a politician some day and lead this team and others to victory.

“It’s an honor for him to say that about me,” Stuckey said. “It shows he trusts me and my role as a leader, and I’m ready to lead.”

This class of seniors will graduate with the same number of players that they came in with as freshmen. Mangino said the team had a lot of work to do. The group seems willing to do it, and he felt good about them, he said. Everyone’s goal was to win the Big 12 North this season. Whether that will happen depends on these four men.

“We’re going to find out this season if we can go that far,” Mangino said.

— Edited by Jonathan Hermes