WKU Football brought in multiple transfers after the 2024-25 season to make an impact on a depleted defense following the departure of players such as cornerback Upton Stout.
Players like Al-Ma’hi Ali and Jaavan Mack transferred in and have impacted a defense that struggled throughout the 2024-2025 season.
One such player is senior linebacker Jaylen Wester. The Palmetto native began his collegiate career at Florida Atlantic University, playing two years for the Owls, recording 116 total tackles, 66 solo tackles, three pass deflections, two sacks and one interception.
Wester traveled from the Florida beaches to the mountains in Colorado for his junior season, where he learned under Buffaloes Head Coach Deion Sanders and pass rush coordinator Warren Sapp.
Wester and the Buffaloes saw their first non-pandemic bowl-eligible season since 2016. Despite this, Wester took more of a backseat compared to his time at FAU, appearing in six games and amassing 15 tackles and a forced fumble.
“It was definitely an overly blessed experience,” Wester said. “Coming from a line of great coaches like Sapp, Sanders, just learning the game more from those guys, even Willie Taggart at FAU. Those guys taught me the next steps I need to get to the next level I want to reach.
Since transferring to the Hilltoppers, Wester has totaled 58 tackles through nine games, leading the team. In WKU’s matchup versus LA Tech, he totaled a career high 15 tackles, helping neutralize the Bulldogs in a 28-27 overtime win. Wester has settled into his role as a ball-hawk defender.
Against New Mexico State, Wester left early on with what head coach Tyson Helton called a stinger during the postgame presser, but later returned to help out the WKU defense. He recorded four tackles and a pass deflection.
“This guy comes in, he’s a team player”, said co-defensive coordinator Da’Von Brown. “He plays hard, but he also practices with the same energy and passion. A player like that you love to have on your team. He’s a really good leader.”
Wester credits Brown and fellow co-defensive coordinator Davis Merrit, as well as his former coaches, in setting him on the right path for where he wants to go. He credits Sanders and Brown, both who were former players, in “elevating his game.”
“It’s not all the time that you have a coach that played the game and is a student of the game,” Wester said. “So getting those aspects, both of those aspects can not only elevate my game but elevate the whole defense.”
