What’s Lance Leipold's goal in year two with Kansas football? Continue to close the gap

ARLINGTON, Texas — As Lance Leipold opened his press conference Wednesday, during the Big 12 Conference’s media days for football at AT&T Stadium, he pointed to the fact that this was his first chance to be there in person as Kansas’ head coach.

Leipold wasn’t able to make it last year. He noted how he was joking earlier in the day that, after this event, he’s probably had his official year of seeing how everything works. And then he brought up his excitement for year two, while mentioning he feels the foundation has been set in many ways.

The first question posed to Leipold focused on how he’s evaluating success and progress after year one, as he continues to build the Jayhawks program. In doing so, it directly highlighted what expectations should be like for a team coming off a 2-10 campaign. And Leipold understood why.

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There are many ways Leipold looks to measure progress, whether it be in the weight room or player leadership or elsewhere, that go beyond the wins and losses over the course of a season. But Leipold knows they’re looking as well to continue to close the gap on their fellow Big 12 programs, after struggling mightily at times last season, as was indicated in those final three games of 2021 when they upset Texas on the road and nearly topped both TCU on the road and West Virginia at home. They aren’t in the business of living on moral victories.

So, the question then becomes just how much further Leipold and company can go in 2022. Leipold later discussed how they thought success is coming for them, as it’s just a matter of putting in the work so that can come as soon and as often as they’d like. Although he didn’t throw out any slogans, he did talk about having pride.

“I think the biggest one, we talk about believing,” Leipold said. “I hate to say it as it might be too much Ted Lasso or something, but you’ve got to believe.”

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Kansas athletic director Travis Goff, who made the trip as well, said that day: “What I’m most excited about that we’ve seen is the literal transformation that’s occurred with each of the young men in the program over the last 12, 13 months since Lance and his staff arrived. And just interactions like last night, being with this group of five guys that are here. And having had a chance to get to know them a year ago and those circumstances, to now get more opportunities to spend time with them, hearing their confidence, hearing their trust, hearing their belief and faith in what they’re doing as a program, those are all the indications … I could ever want as an athletic director, to understand.”

Kansas is benefitting from a full offseason in Leipold’s system

The way the timeline worked out, with the end of the Les Miles era at Kansas and the beginning of Leipold’s, the new staff wasn't able to have a full spring with its team. After six seasons heading up Buffalo in the Mid-American Conference, Leipold basically had the summer and fall to prepare for his first season at Kansas in the Big 12. But as the Jayhawks look to climb out of the struggles of the past decade or so, there are tangible things they can point to that showcase the difference of having a full offseason program within Leipold’s system.

And that’s not just improvements made physically, working with the team’s director of sports performance in Matt Gildersleeve. That’s confidence that comes from familiarity, with Leipold noting the volume of the communication on defense during the first spring practice was night and day compared to the fall. That’s added complexity in what they’re able to run because they’re no longer trying to just do their initial installations.

“I think part of the things we’ve done in recruiting is tried to recruit a little bit more to that and what we were going to be,” Leipold said. “… Where do we hang our hat? What are we going to try to be good at offensively? I think we’ve been able to answer some of those questions and find ways to be more multiple on each side. But with that, it’s still going to come down to fundamental execution.”

For junior quarterback Jalon Daniels, this is the first time in his college career he’ll have the same offense in back-to-back seasons. Daniels, who’s poised to start for the Jayhawks in 2022, said a lot of what they ran last year was their basic install because of how much preparation time they had. He added there are more plays in now.

For senior safety Kenny Logan Jr., the benefit of the added time they’ve been able to have showcases itself in the chances they can take. Logan, who led Kansas in tackles last season by a wide margin, doesn’t envision being relied upon as much in that way in 2022. He’s looking to try to lead the Big 12 and NCAA in interceptions.

“I think the sky’s the limit for year two, just coming off of last year, the excitement and the momentum booster, just being around and just seeing everything that we possibly could have did,” Logan said. “It’s going to be exciting for next year, just building off of it and just trying to continue to grow.”

Kansas’ influx of transfers could help speed up its timeline

Leipold said he didn’t think about how many transfers the Jayhawks might bring in, between the day he first got the job and 2021 season opener. But as the season progressed, and they’d gotten through the first eight weeks or so, it became clear to him they’d have to go that route. There was both a need to become an older team, and a desire to correct the scholarship imbalances they were facing.

Not all the transfers Kansas earned commitments from were established veterans at their previous stops, but the collegiate experience the more than a dozen bring is still valuable. That’s not even including the handful of junior college prospects that’ll be available in Lawrence for 2022. And Leipold was clear that he doesn’t think they’ve hurt their locker room, as they’ve attempted to address areas of need over the course of recent months.

“You have to worry about the psyche and maintaining what’s there already,” Leipold said. “But, one of the things we talked about the first day our players came back in camp, was embracing internal competition within the program. And, in fact, Kenny Logan said it to me (the day before media days started) at the airport, ‘Coach, you said you were going to create … competition.’ He goes, ‘You’ve done that.’ … If you’re not going to embrace the competition in the room ... that person or our team will never get where it wants to be on Saturday afternoon.”

Logan said his teammates are embracing that competition, and that no one can be scared of someone who comes into their position room. The safety room is a prime example of what Leipold and Logan are talking about, and that means sophomore safeties Edwin White-Schultz and O.J. Burroughs would have a tougher route to the field. But Logan said the two of them feel the same way he does, and Leipold noted there have been conversations with both of them to make it clear it’s not an indication they don’t have bright futures.

Logan could sense that there was going to be a lot of change in the makeup of Kansas’ secondary. He’s intrigued by additions like Marvin Grant, from Purdue, and Jarrett Paul, from Eastern Michigan. Leipold highlighted redshirt junior cornerback Kalon Gervin as a valuable resource, too, because of Gervin’s experience with transfers at Michigan State.

“Definitely exciting to be around those guys,” said Logan, whose defense was ranked last in the Big 12 in scoring and total defense last season. “Those guys are already trying to get better. Those guys are trying to grow every day. So, it’s definitely great to have those guys in the room now, because they’re going to push you every day to try to get better and be better for the team.”

On the offensive side of the ball, the transfer additions may not be more noticed than at running back. Sophomore running back Devin Neal, who led the Jayhawks in rushing yards and touchdowns this past season, could be part of a featured trio. Redshirt sophomore Ky Thomas joined from Minnesota, as redshirt sophomore Sevion Morrison did from Nebraska.

Logan likened Morrison to Le’Veon Bell, who has close to a decade of professional experience in the NFL. Daniels said Thomas is explosive, and capable of hurdling defenders. Neal mentioned how unselfish they all are, and that through spring ball they’ve been testing just how dynamic they all could be for an offense that's looking to improve after being ranked last in scoring and total offense in the Big 12 last season.

“(Offensive coordinator) Andy (Kotelnicki)’s been with me, I think, going on 10 years now,” said Leipold, who noted how additions like these matter when it comes to the team’s depth and health over the course of a season. “… We’re going to utilize our players the best we can, and that’s being multiple and what we want to do offensively that gets us to play to our strengths.”

Kansas continues to look to be more player-led

Daniels said that when Leipold first took over the program last year, the new coaching staff asked the players what qualities they wanted the coaching staff to have. After working through that, the coaches held the players to that standard. One of the top 10 things written down and pushed the most, Daniels remembers, was trust.

What Leipold is looking for, as the program progresses in its rebuild, is for the team to continue to become more player-led. The best teams, he said, have that quality. And when Kansas is able to reach that point, Leipold believes the Jayhawks will take another step forward as a program.

Earl Bostick Jr., a super-senior offensive lineman in his sixth year with the team, has already seen his teammates exhibit more of the player-led behavior this summer than he ever has before. Logan pointed to one example, a conditioning run earlier this summer, when he backed up redshirt junior linebacker Craig Young while Young held a young freshman accountable for something. And Logan explained that while coaches have a standard, what’s more important is what the players hold each other to.

“The bond between players is stronger,” said Logan, comparing the team’s culture now to what it was like during 2020. “With coach Miles, it was pretty — it was OK. But with coach Leipold, everything is stronger now. Like, it’s been more pushed upon. We’re trying to do this more. So, the culture is definitely being built. The structure is definitely being built.”

Bostick outlined what Leipold’s staff is doing, that’s working, is implementing a level of stability that hasn’t been there in the past. Bostick said Leipold’s building for the future. Bostick said the responsibility is with the players.

Only time will tell, how far Leipold’s planned turnaround of Kansas’ program goes while Bostick and Logan remain on the roster. But they returned to the Jayhawks for another season because they wanted to be a part of it. As Bostick said, it’s about leaving a legacy.

“I stuck around for the turnaround, because that’s what I signed up for,” Logan said. “I didn’t sign up for the short term. I signed up for the long term goal, and that was to turn this program around and lead the Jayhawks to where we need to be.”

Jordan Guskey covers University of Kansas Athletics at The Topeka Capital-Journal. Contact him at jmguskey@gannett.com or on Twitter at @JordanGuskey.

This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Here's coach Lance Leipold's goal in year 2 with Kansas football