LAWRENCE, Kan. – Kansas senior cornerback Cobee Bryant was named Second Team All-America by the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA), the organization announced on Friday morning. Bryant, a native of Evergreen, Alabama, becomes the seventh Kansas football player named to the AFCA All-America team, and the first since Bruce Kallmeyer was selected as a First Team All-American in 1983. Other past Jayhawks to earn a spot on the team were David Jaynes (1973), Bobby Douglass (1968), John Zook (1968) and Gale Sayers (1963, 1964), all of which were first team selections.
The AFCA All-America team is one of five outlets recognized by the NCAA to determine consensus All-Americans (Football Writers Association of America, Associated Press, Sporting News and Walter Camp Foundation). The teams have been chosen since 1945 and have evolved to now include each of the AFCA's five divisions. In 2016, the AFCA added a second team All-America.
With his selection, Bryant becomes the second Kansas football player to receive All-America recognition this week, joining fellow cornerback Mello Dotson, who was named a Second Team All-American by the Walter Camp Foundation on Thursday night. Dotson and Bryant become the first defensive back duo in program history to earn All-America honors in the same season.
Bryant, who previously became the first Kansas football player to earn All-Big 12 First Team honors in three consecutive seasons, ranked third in the Big 12 with four interceptions this season. He finished his career with 13 interceptions, which tied for the third-most among active cornerbacks nationally at the conclusion of the 2024 regular season. Bryant's 13 career interceptions are also tied for No. 2 in Kansas football program history, trailing only Ray Evans, who finished his career with 17 interceptions.
In four seasons at Kansas, Bryant totaled 128 tackles (107 solo, 21 assist) and added 22 pass breakups, three forced fumbles, two fumble recoveries and 1.5 sacks. He scored four career touchdowns, one fumble recovery (vs. BYU, 2023), two interception returns (at Texas, 2021; vs. West Virginia, 2022) and one blocked field goal return (vs. Tennessee Tech, 2022). He had at least two interceptions in each of his four seasons at Kansas, included four during both his junior and senior seasons. Bryant made history in Kansas' 42-14 victory over Houston on Oct. 19, as he tied the single-game school record with three interceptions.
For his performance, Bryant was named the Bronko Nagurski National Defensive Player of the Week, Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week, Paycom Jim Thorpe Award Defensive Player of the Week, Reese's Senior Bowl Co-Defensive Player of the Week and East-West Shrine Bowl Defensive Player of the Week. He was the only FBS player with three interceptions in a game this season and the first power-four player to accomplish the feat since 2022.