KU stadium overhaul reflects synergy between coach Lance Leipold and AD Travis Goff

Mere weeks after the University of Kansas hired Travis Goff as athletic director in April 2021, Goff met with then-Buffalo football coach Lance Leipold seeking a solution for KU’s coaching carousel.

From the outset of what Leipold joked Tuesday would become 17 interviews, Goff had to sell not just his beloved alma mater but something more precarious:

The hope in the unseen, that he could create an environment where Leipold would have a chance to succeed:

KU, after all, had gone 9-60 over the previous six seasons and was reeling from the chaos of the Les Miles regime and at an enormous competitive disadvantage in an antiquated stadium.

So abruptly had Goff become engulfed in the hiring process that he had no literal blueprint for the most fundamental centerpiece of change: a modern stadium and other facilities upgrades worthy of the never-ending college football arms race.

Leipold might be called a creature of habit, and he wasn’t eager to leave his last job. Like many others, he’s heard plenty of stories of such promises made without ever being fulfilled.

So he needed a sense of assurance. And he got it through his belief in Goff’s sincerity and appreciation of his approach.

“You’ve got to have some faith and trust,” said Leipold, who came to understand that this wasn’t just a job for Goff but “a passionate responsibility that he wants to deliver on.”

Leipold was speaking shortly after the latest affirmation:

In announcing its plans for the Gateway District development, KU on Wednesday shared renderings for a $300 million-plus extreme makeover of David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium projected to be ready for the 2025 season.

“Momentous day for the University of Kansas: generational, transformational, historic,” Goff said as he addressed a throng of supporters at the Jayhawk Welcome Center. “And a day that I really believe we’ll look back on some years down the road and only then will we grasp the significance of this launch point.”

Echoing Goff’s sentiments in his own way afterward, Leipold called the development “a game-changer” that shows the school is committed to being successful in Power Five football.

“We’re not (just) existing any more,” he added.

That’s a tribute to many forces, including chancellor Doug Girod and boosters and the state of Kansas.

But at its most essential level, it also reflects the crucial synergy between Goff and Leipold — who last season hoisted KU out of the abyss to its best record (6-7) since 2008.

And it all goes back to the baseline established in those first meetings as they felt each other out for monumental decisions in each of their lives. And, as it happened, for KU.

“We talked a lot about alignment …” Leipold said.

Noting the remarkably similar pattern of the blue sports coats they apparently wore by coincidence on Tuesday, he added, “We’re so aligned, Travis and I kind of went for the same jacket.”

More seriously, whatever sync they had from the get-go tellingly was galvanized instead of splintered by Leipold’s first season.

Kansas won its opener, 17-14 over South Dakota, but proceeded to lose its next eight games — often in lopsided fashion. As he reflected on his journey of discovery that season, Leipold recalled arriving for the Big 12 opener at Iowa State and just seeing Jack Trice Stadium.

“I hadn’t been to Ames, Iowa, in 20 years. We rolled up for our first conference game, and I went, ‘We’ve got a lot of work to do,’” he said. “And that was before the ball got kicked off.”

The 59-7 loss that day only amplified the point.

While that season ended with a resounding uptick when KU won at Texas 57-56 in overtime and challenged TCU and West Virginia, the AD and coach were being tested … and getting stronger for it.

“Living it together,” Goff said, demonstrated to them both in real time how much had to be done.

And that they’d have to count on each other to get there.

“I think that experience was really good for us, to have had the challenges and adversity of Year One,” Goff said.

In the process, Goff added, they learned that each could and should challenge the other. But they also understood they needed to be locked arm-in-arm to execute — a stance that took form because they spoke in the same dialect.

“Lance is a straight shooter; he only knows one way,” Goff said. “I’ve always loved that. I think that’s been good for us. And I’ve always been transparent and honest with him.”

Even from the outside looking in before the turn of last season, it was easy to see how the smart and amiable Goff would connect with Leipold and how Leipold was building toward something substantial by changing the culture.

That came to life in KU’s 5-0 start and Liberty Bowl berth … and in the hopes of something more this season after Goff and KU alertly and wisely further stabilized the program with a generous contract extension through 2029.

Doubling down on the contract, as Goff put it, was another step of momentum in the process toward what took form Wednesday.

From there, well, it all kind of has fed off itself. To the extent that Goff acknowledges the rapid success was the catalyst for being able to raise funds for this project sooner than he’d even expected.

This was going to happen at some point, he clarified.

But it wouldn’t have been now or to this extent without what Leipold had established so far.

That was only “a sliver” of what might be, Leipold said, and it bears mention that it was despite going against the grain on numerous resources that gave their rivals advantages in recruiting and training.

Now?

“You’ve got to have some things invested upon if you’re going to have a chance to be successful,” Leipold said. “It doesn’t guarantee it, but it gives us a lot better fighting chance.”

So does having administrative support and stability, as you can see all over the sports world and in about any endeavor, and true alignment.

When Leipold was asked how players felt about the overhaul, he referred to their reactions during the recent refurbishment of the locker room and weight room.

“‘It’s exactly like you told us. It’s exactly what you said,’” he recalled them expressing. “That’s one of the things that you want to be, is delivering on what you say you’re going to do.”

Something Leipold understands from seeing it in action, too.

“In our program, we talk about culture being action,” he said. “And what you see by the people here (is) we’re seeing action taking place. Something this monumental that everyone thought, ‘How many times have you heard this story?’

“Well, now we see it.”

Because he had some faith and trust, to be sure, but also because it’s been honored.