Lawrence, Kansas — Lance Leipold knows what can happen. Every time the Kansas coach wins, it adds to his appeal and expands his horizons. But first things first.
A third of the season has passed, and the bright red coaches of the bright red programs don’t want to lose their offensive coordinators. It’s his little-known Andy Kotelnicki, 42, plotting the plot behind one of the nation’s most innovative crimes.
“Don’t write anything about him,” Leipold pleaded after Saturday’s 35-27 win over the undefeated Duke. “He needs to stay here. Don’t give him $2 million. [coordinator’s] work. “
Too late? Kansas is his 4-0 for the first time in 13 years, and for many reasons beyond his fourth-highest scoring offense in the nation (tied with Tennessee, just above Alabama).
Leipold, what they call a grinder, is a developmental type who blends in with woodwork, having triumphed everywhere he traveled. His second season alone at the University of Kansas makes him a desirable candidate elsewhere, as three Power Five coaches have already been fired in his September.
Leipold is one of several coaches who have restarted the program one-third of the season.No need to be told Kansas hovered bottom 25 list Many years. The program cycled through the coaches like a change of clothes. There was no continuity, not even talent.
The most valued coaching ability these days is turnaround ability. Scott Frost didn’t have it in Nebraska, neither did Jeff Collins at Georgia Tech. Arizona treaded water under Herm Edwards. All three were fired this month.
Leipold is that turnaround coach. Wisconsin He won six Division III championships in Whitewater, which helped him land a job for Buffalo in 2015.. Over the past six seasons, the Bulls have won two MAC titles and won 10 for the first time in 2018.
“I want you to focus on our soccer team for a month,” Leipold said late Saturday. [shape].”
Leipold’s name is already on the Nebraska opening. In the coming weeks, more people are likely to request the coach’s phone number.
“We’re not going to sit around doing nothing,” said Travis Goff, athletic director at the University of Kansas. And we don’t let other circumstances dictate what’s best for the University of Kansas.”
Goff wasn’t clear, but he knows what’s ahead. An undefeated start makes his coach a commodity and a candidate for the Rays and an extension even if Nebraska doesn’t call. We showed you the support and how to get started again.
It will take that long to revive Kansas football.Leipold has sped up the timeline. Kansas shocked Texas last season by winning. It was a 2-10 campaign, but I felt progress. The Jayhawks have added 31 transfers since Leipold arrived in April 2021.
$3.5 million for Leipold in the final year of the deal (2027) doesn’t seem like a high hurdle for interested suitors.
Even getting representation was not seen as an urgent need. For many years at Whitewater, he worked on an annual contract. Leipold hired his current agent invisibly. That was a few years ago when Leipold decided his career was so successful that he needed a surrogate.
“Some things were starting to happen. We talked on the phone,” Leipold said. “There was enough common ties. There was trust there.”
Things got even more complicated. Not between Leipold and his agent Brian Harlan, but between Leipold and Fawn’s college football world, the 58-year-old coach has accomplished a lot, including becoming the fastest player in NCAA history to reach his 100th win. I was. But little is prepped for becoming the next top model of coaching’s coincidence.
Goff was a deputy AD at Northwestern University when Harlan negotiated Pat Fitzgerald’s 10-year contract in January 2021. No one has yet said Leipold is on his 10-year deal, but there is some reassurance among all parties at KU. to keep him long term.
The chatter certainly never goes away. Former Kansas players gathered in town on Saturday to witness the turnaround. Record-setting former running back Tony Sands was the first to shake hands with a coach at a personal post-game donation event. The Suns held his NCAA one-game rushing record in KU in 1991 with his eight years (391 yards). (Buffalo’s Jarrett Patterson, who played for Leipold in 2020, broke the record with 409 yards against Kent State, and has surpassed it since.)
Leipold and Kotelnicki are not married to aggressive philosophy. There’s also the pistol concept, but the ball seems to go anywhere. 14 players caught the pass and the same number scored.
Kansas is tied with Ohio State for the most touchdowns scored this season (27). occupied more than Equally valuable was backup RB Daniel Hisaw Jr., who contributed 61 yards to relieve injured starter Devin Neal.
Kansas Memorial Stadium sold out for the first time since 2009. That year was also an instructive story in which he might have traveled in time to the present. These Jayhawks won his first five games and lost his last seven, sacking coach Mark Mangino.
“Give us this stuff in conference play for the next eight weeks and we’re not going to win anything,” Leipold said. I would say, or have no idea what the hell I was doing.”
Iowa State is coming to town this week to pique the interest of coaching searches. Cyclones’ Matt Campbell is said to be interested in opening in Nebraska.
Leipold himself has deep Nebraska roots. He cherishes his time there as an analyst in Frank his Sorich and Nebraska, and as an assistant in Division II Nebraska his Omaha. What worries him is the outside distraction that Whitewater lacked.
Nebraska has more resources than Kansas and hosts bigger and better conferences. And… well… what else do you need to know?When asked about the two openings last week, his Leipold said he wanted to see how the amazing turnaround was going. Despite being just 18 months on campus, Leipold’s Jayhawks are about to rank in the national rankings for the first time in his 13 years. (Kansas already has him on CBS Sports 131 and he’s 23rd.)
Nebraska’s certainty requires Leipold’s steady hand and development capabilities. Duke’s assistant Trooper Taylor, a legend in SEC recruiting, went out of his way to congratulate Leipold on his victory after the match.
“This place has been suffering from hunger for a long time,” Leipold said. ‘I was like, ‘We can’t [mess this up].'”
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