Yusef Leak decided to come in from the cold, so to speak.

After spending his first three college years in the frozen North, the Florida native returned to the friendly, comfortable warmth of the South.

Leak transferred to McNeese State after starting his career at St. Thomas University in St. Paul, Minnesota. 

“It is nice to not have to wear a hood to keep my head warm every day,” said Leak.

Weather was not the reason the senior defensive back transferred to McNeese at the end of last season, but it is a benefit.

“This is the weather I am used to,” Leak said. “I liked it in Minnesota, but the first thing I had to do was buy clothes for the cold. I had nothing for that.”

The real reason the senior came to the Cowboys was to test his skills. He had already proven his worth at St. Thomas, but that was on the Division II level. Leak wanted to see how he would fare against a higher level of competition.

“I had a lot of confidence in myself,” Leak said. “I wanted the challenge of playing against the best competition I could. I wanted to show what I could do.

“Most importantly, I wanted to prove what I could do to myself.”

Leak has more than proved himself over the first 10 games of the season, leading the the way for a McNeese secondary that has been a solid group. 

He leads the Cowboys in pass breakups with seven and has an interception. Leak has also forced one fumble and recovered another. He has also recorded 37 tackles, 26 of them solo.

“Yusef has played a lot of good football for us this year,” said McNeese head coach Gary Goff. “He has made some big plays for us and been very consistent. He has been as good as we could have hoped for.”

In the offseason, the Cowboys added a total of 59 new players, with several of them coming from the top Division I level, FBS. Yet it is Yusef whose impact has been just as big as any others.

“I wanted to show what I could do,” said Leak. “I believed in myself, but you have to prove it to everybody else.

“I think I adjusted well here. It didn’t take long to get used to everything here but I was pretty comfortable right away.”

While the Cowboys have had their ups and downs, Leak has had a good time in Lake Charles.

“I have really enjoyed it here, every day,” said Leak. “The competition has been deeper, but I have liked playing against the best.”

After the bye this week, Leak and the Cowboys will finish off the season with a pair of conference games against rivals Northwestern State and Lamar on successive Saturdays. 

The Lamar game will be at home on Senior Night when Leak and his fellow seniors will be honored.

It should be warmer than in Minnesota.