Lance Leipold continues to change Kansas football’s culture. His star QB explains how

Kansas quarterback Jalon Daniels has seen firsthand the growth in his football program over three seasons in Lawrence.

Perhaps the biggest area of growth is the change in mentality — which Daniels credits to coach Lance Leipold.

“When I got here, the bare minimum was being able to compete in a game,” Daniels told The Star. “It’s not about winning; it’s about being able to keep the score close.”

KU has gone from, Daniels continued, “my freshman year, when we were 0-9, to then (being) able to switch to the program that coach Lance Leipold has (us at).”

Last season, the Jayhawks (6-7, 3-6 Big 12) went to their first bowl game in 14 years, a 55-53 triple-overtime loss to Arkansas in the Liberty Bowl.

It was only Leipold’s second season, but it was a far cry from KU’s 0-9 record in 2020 under former coach Les Miles. Daniels was a freshman that season.

Daniels and the Jayhawks, led by Leipold, went 2-10 in 2021.

“(I) was able to see the transition of it’s not about staying close,” Daniels said. “We are a Power Five football team. We shouldn’t be having close games with FCS schools. We shouldn’t be having these close games with FBS schools (that are) not Power Five. So we needed to be able to elevate our standards and that’s what coach Leipold came in with.

“(He said), ‘If you guys want to be able to have a winning program and be able to do everything you guys have thought of doing — we are going to switch up the program and this is going to be the standard of the way we go about it.’”

Leipold and Daniels have helped improve the perception of the program, which has paid dividends in recruiting.

Kansas currently ranks No. 40 overall in the class of 2024 rankings and fourth in the Big 12 conference, according to 247Sports.

Still, Leipold believes KU has ways to go.

“Changing how the program has been looked at is going to take time,” Leipold said. “I think the improvement of our program … continues to build, and I think we’re finding ourselves in conversations with players that are being recruited by other schools that were maybe slightly different than they were our first two years.”

KU’s turnaround directly influenced four-star commit Austin Alexander, KU’s highest-rated recruit in the class of 2024.

“I wanted to join a program that was on the rise and help them accomplish even more of what they were accomplishing,” Alexander told The Star.

It was a direct contrast to the state of KU football after Daniels’ freshman season. Daniels did everything he could to keep players from leaving the program.

“We had a lot of players play that freshman year,” Daniels said. “I believe we had 26 true freshman play on the field that year. There were a lot of guys who were talented, a lot of guys who could play. My main objective was to be able to keep that class together, keep us together, no matter what’s going on.

“We were put through a lot that second semester. When they made the decision that coach Leipold was coming, now it was go time.”