Sic ’Em with Silence: KJ Makins’ Mindset from Parks & Rec to the Big 12

Kendrick “KJ” Makins didn’t grow up surrounded by football trophies or blueprints for success. He was raised in a part of South Carolina where football is everything, but opportunity isn’t. The people around him weren’t always the best influences, and the road ahead wasn’t clear. But even as a kid, he understood that comfort could kill focus. “I always wanted more,” he said. “I never got too comfortable. Because I felt like as soon as I get too comfortable, I’m stuck there.” He didn’t want to survive his environment; he wanted to rise out of it.

Football wasn’t just a game for KJ, as it was a way forward. He spent years watching it from a distance, asking his mom over and over to let him play. When she finally said yes, it didn’t spark tears or celebration. It sparked stillness. “I was just in the back seat, looking out the window, smiling,” he remembered. Football became his outlet, and eventually, his voice. And from that first Parks & Rec practice on, he knew that this wasn’t just something he loved. It was something he needed.

Photo Provided by KJ Makins

“Whatever you want to do in life, put yourself around that,” he said. “Because it’s a lot around you that may not be for you… It’s best that you be around what is inspiring you, or where you want to be in life.”

From the first day KJ stepped onto a football field, it was never about being flashy but about being focused. Parks & Rec gave him a jersey and a playbook, but what stuck with him most was the structure. 

“It taught me how to be a man.” It was the one place where being locked in wasn’t optional, because it was a matter of survival. “It isn’t just glitter and gold,” he said. “To be what I want to be, I gotta get it. Nothing’s gonna be given to me.”

In a community where football meant everything, he began to shape his identity in between the whistles. The game taught him accountability, and it gave him something to care about. It also gave him a reason to stay sharp when things around him threatened to blur.

He played everything from football and basketball to track and field. Each one pushed him in different ways, but football hit him in a particularly profound way. It wasn’t just about skill. It was about mindset. 

Football was the sport that stuck with KJ, but it was the players who came before him that showed him what was possible. Players like DJ Swearinger and Josh Norman weren’t just stars; they were role models and inspirations. Their grit, intensity, and fearlessness lit a fire in him. If they could do it, he could too.

Parks & Rec may have given him his first taste of the game, but by the time he reached high school, that discipline had turned into a mindset. “It’s not just talent, though,” he said. “It’s a habit. That’s what separates you.” 

KJ learned early on that his work ethic had to speak louder than any highlight reel. “I’m gonna show up, and I’m gonna outwork you. Period. I don’t need to be seen. I just need to be ready.”

His awareness became his armor. While other kids followed crowds, KJ watched quietly. He studied the energy in the room, the pull of his environment, and the weight of his choices. 

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He never needed to announce his dreams. He just needed a chance to chase them. However, witnessing the struggles within his family made KJ realize that his journey wasn’t just about him. It was about creating something bigger than himself. 

College wasn’t just a personal goal anymore. It became a symbol of breaking generational limits and rewriting the story for those who came after him, such as his nieces and nephews. Every step he took felt like it carried more weight because he wasn’t just representing himself anymore. 

“I’m the black sheep,” he said. “I’m the only boy in the family outside of my cousins… Everything I’m doing, I’m the first ever to do it in my family.” This has driven him to keep going, aim higher, and redefine what was possible. 

He doesn’t say it with arrogance. He says it like a quiet declaration. That’s how he carries everything: with calm, but with weight. From a young age, KJ knew he wasn’t wired like everyone else. 

He couldn’t always explain it, but he felt it. A quiet intensity. A hunger to do more. A mindset that saw past limits. He especially knew it when he trained alone during the COVID-19 pandemic.

When COVID shut everything down in his senior year of high school, KJ didn’t just sit around. He didn’t complain about closed gyms or canceled team lifts. Instead, he got creative. 

“I was training in the front yard, backyard, around the block, and trying to get in any kind of training I could get.”

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He also had some help. His longtime trainer, who had been with him since sixth or seventh grade, sent him daily full-body workouts, giving him no room for excuses.

While others waited around for the world to return to normal, KJ didn’t let it slow him down. “What it taught me was: maximize what you have instead of making an excuse for what you don’t have,” he said. “If you really want it…, you have to be motivated to do it instead of trying to find the excuse of why you can’t do it.”

That season became a test of how badly he really wanted it, a personal reckoning with adversity and ambition. He learned that chasing greatness isn’t easy, but it’s grit, pain, and persistence. If he wanted to be who he claimed to be, he had to earn it. Nothing was going to be handed to him.

KJ trained like someone who already had something to prove. Not to anyone else, but to himself. To his future.

“I’ve always been the person who doesn’t ask questions. Just do what I gotta do,” he said. “Handle what I can control. That’s just who I am.” Even when nobody’s looking, even when the circumstances don’t feel fair, KJ shows up.

Football also gave him direction. “It inspired me seeing all the love people had for the game, and seeing it as a way I could go to college with a scholarship,” KJ mentioned.

His teammates might have partied after games, but KJ kept his head down. He studied film and paid attention to the small details. “That’s how I learned how to win,” he said. “I watched. I learned. I moved differently.” 

While others focused on the moment, KJ was already thinking two steps ahead. His play style wasn’t built on reaction but on readiness. That’s the difference that earned him his first scholarship offer as a ninth grader, a quiet reward for years of quiet work.

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After his first scholarship offer, KJ’s path took him to play two seasons at Lenoir-Rhyne University. It was a stepping stone, an early test of how badly he wanted to keep climbing. 

KJ’s fierce yet calm mindset in every part of his life is precisely what makes him built for one of football’s most demanding roles. Some positions allow you to blend in with the team. Cornerback does the opposite. 

It puts you on an island, exposed, isolated, and responsible for every inch behind you. One mistake, and it’s six points the other way. One misstep, and it’s a highlight for someone else.

“I wouldn’t want it any other way,” he said. “Corner… is one of the hardest positions. It’s a detailed position, and you gotta do everything backwards. I feel like I’m the person who can handle that.” 

One moment, you’re locking down a receiver, and the next, you’re getting burned. However, for KJ, the volatility fits his personality. He’s never been the type to spiral, whether things go great or fall apart. 

“That next-play mentality goes along with my position,” he explained. “There are highs and lows to it. But if you don’t have a short-term memory, then it’s kind of not the position for you.” 

No matter what happens, good or bad, KJ knows he has to keep it moving. Dwelling on mistakes only makes them heavier, and getting too caught up in success leaves you wide open for the next hit. It’s about staying level and focused, always ready for the next play.

KJ’s mental balance is setting him up for success. It didn’t even start on the field. It started with how he lives. “I stay true to myself, stay real with myself,” he said. “I don’t compare or try to be like anybody else. Just being who I am, trusting who I am, and never pulling away from the roots of my foundation.”

He not only wanted the wins and cheers, but he wanted the challenges, the ones where the margin for error is small, and only the mentally locked in survive. That’s part of why the cornerback position stuck. The game forced him to stay sharp, humble, and ready, which also paved the way for his transfer to Houston Christian University. 

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Transferring to HCU in 2023 after another two seasons meant leaving behind familiarity and comfort. He was walking into the unknown with nothing but belief, discipline, and three suitcases. 

“I had three suitcases,” he said. “ I knew I couldn’t go back home, because I didn’t have anywhere to go. So I had to make this work.” This was going to be his home for the next few years, so KJ wasn’t about to waste this opportunity.

He leaned on the locker room early. While he didn’t know his new teammates at first, those strangers quickly became something more. “I gained a brotherhood… those boys are still my brothers,” he said. “We came from different places. I'm from South Carolina, you from Chicago, you from Texas… but at the end of the day, we all play football, and we are trying to go to the same place in life.”

Even with strong friendships and on-field growth, adversity still came. A surgery forced him to the sidelines. For someone whose identity is tied to hard work, being off the field is a significant loss. But he didn’t let it break him. 

His faith never wavered, but when it mattered the most, KJ leaned into it. “The whole time I was praying. I feel like that really helped me mentally,” he said. “I wasn’t down on myself. It was just like… God got me.”

That faith gave him the strength as he healed, physically, mentally, and spiritually. Even when he was off the field, he stayed in meetings, attended practices, and continued to study the game. He refused to fold. And as his body caught up with his mind, KJ started looking ahead.

KJ also realized he couldn’t separate being a student from being an athlete, because if he missed an assignment in the classroom, how could he expect himself not to miss an assignment on the field? Discipline had to be holistic. He couldn’t expect precision between the lines if he didn’t live with precision everywhere else.

With renewed clarity and drive, he mapped out his next chapter and took the leap earlier this year to the Big 12 stage at Baylor University for the 2025-26 season, where the lights are brighter, the pace is faster, and the competition never lets up. But even then, the pressure never rattled KJ. 

What has helped him stay grounded in the transition is something different from the support he’s had in the past. “Having Nilson in my corner has meant a lot,” he said. “It’s a resource I never had… and knowing that they want what’s best for me, not just what’s best for the brand.” 

This partnership between Nilson and KJ has allowed him to lean into each moment, striving to be the best person and player he can be in every aspect of his life.

Photo Provided by KJ Makins

KJ Makins doesn’t need flashy praise to feel validated. He doesn’t chase clout or compare timelines. He puts his head down and gets to work. In silence, adversity, and the shadows of programs and platforms, he’s been building something real. He’s never asked for shortcuts, only chances. He’s taken every challenge and setback as fuel. He trained when nobody was watching. He recovered when people thought he was done. But now, at Baylor University, he’s stepping onto a new stage with the same foundation that’s carried him from the beginning: faith, discipline, and fire. 

KJ doesn’t just want to play the game. He wants to reshape what it looks like by leading by example through discipline, silence, and steel focus. Every rep is calculated, and every snap is another chance to prove that everything he has invested into the sport was worth it. Now, he’s ready to “Sic ’Em” as a Baylor Bear, knowing this isn’t the end for him, but another step toward the man and athlete he’s working to become.

Disclaimer: The thoughts, experiences, and opinions shared in this article are solely those of KJ Mackins and are based on his personal journey. They do not necessarily reflect the views of any organizations, sponsors, or institutions with which KJ may be associated with.

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