For years KU had the w0rst NCAA Division One football program…
Coach after coach failed to remedy matters, until three years ago when the Jayhawks snagged a dude named Lance Leipold from the University of Buffalo. Leipold was only 37-33 in six seasons at Buffalo, but had two division championships and three consecutive bowl appearances – which while not an amazing record – beat the heck outta the nine games KU won over the same period.
And it worked, albeit not right away…
Leipold went 2-10 his first year (2021), 6-7 in 2022 and 9-4 last year.
The latest: many pollsters picked KU to win the Big 12 this year, now that Texas and Oklahoma have departed. Unfortunately, they’ve won just one of their first six games, against the lowly Lindenwood Lions of St. Charles, Missouri.
The latest: Leipold lost the offensive coordinator that made him look so good.
“Leipold spoke to the team and compared the season to a book or movie that starts slow but gets better and has a strong ending.”
A theory yet to unfold…
And with games against rated teams such as Kansas State, Brigham Young, Iowa State and Colorado remaining, it’s not looking good.
As in, maybe a 2-10 season.
“About the only team left they might beat is Houston this week,” one KU booster says.
On top of that, there’s no such thing this year as an actual home game with KU’s stadium under construction and having to convince KU students and fans to drag to a mostly empty Arrowhead Stadium in KC.
While it may not affect the team’s play, Lawrence’s charming downtown, that lives and dies this time of year on post game shopping and partying, is dying on the vine.
“The merchants downtown are hating it,” says the source. “They’re all screeching about it.”
Back to the pigskin…
What most agree is the somewhat obvious reason for KU’s poor play is the absence of Leipold’s offensive coordinator left for a big bucks and more prestigious job with highly rated Penn State. Which incidentally is rated No. 3 nationally and just knocked off USC in a huge game this past weekend that was decided by a trick offensive play.
The $64 billion question: Was Leipold’s brief success an illusion? And while to date, he took most of the glory and was signed to a larger contract earlier this year prior to his dramatic fall from grace.
As for Leipold leading KU to back-to-back bowl games, nobody with half a clue is holding their breath on that happening.
Truth be known, the only thing halfway attractive about KU football these days is getting its home games back in that fancy new stadium and in Lawrence next year.
Yet even that’s not a given, sources say.
“I’m very doubtful it will get finished in time to start the season next year,” says one business insider. “They might be done halfway through the season, but having people walking through the stadium safely trying to buy concessions and the like while the construction is still underway would be a tall task.”
Talent on the field is what makes coaches “great”. It ain’t the other way around. What talent KU brought back this year has been a huge disappointment based on last year’s performance. The bar in college football is pretty low in reagrds to what is considered a successful season. Rip off 6 or 7 wins and get to a bowl game. That’s it. Those numbers have sustained college football programs forever. Unfortunately, it’s either feast or famine for the ‘Hawks.
Well said