Kansas extends head football coach Lance Leipold 1 year through 2027 season

LAWRENCE — Kansas football was a little more than 24 hours away from its 2022 season opener when it received another boost of momentum.

Kansas announced head coach Lance Leipold has signed a one-year contract extension. It will take him through the 2027 season with the Jayhawks.

"This is a statement about our exceptional confidence in Lance, his outstanding staff and the unlimited potential of Kansas Football,” athletic director Travis Goff said in a release. “When you consider he and his staff did not arrive until May (2021), and therefore did not have a chance to coach our guys until August last year, the 2021 season could be considered ‘year zero’. Given the progress that’s been made both on and off the field in such short order, I could not feel more strongly about the trajectory of this program under Lance’s leadership, as well as our shared commitment to elevate Kansas Football to unprecedented heights."

Leipold had accepted a six-year deal when he signed on with the Jayhawks last April, one that would have been scheduled to end on April 28, 2027. Following the completion of the third contract year, the parties agreed to meet and evaluate the program’s overall status. It appears that discussion, which could have resulted in an increase in annual compensation or contract length, might've been moved up.

It joins the run of recent signs since the 2021 season ended that Leipold, who coached the team to a 2-10 mark in his first year after the Jayhawks went winless in 2020 under Les Miles, is viewed as a successful hire. Off the field, there’s been increased momentum about an upgrade to the football stadium and overall infrastructure. On the field, although at the time of this report the opener Friday against Tennessee Tech had yet to be played, there was a belief the influx of transfers would assist the team in taking an upward trajectory in Leipold's second season.

Leipold came to Kansas and the Big 12 Conference after a six-year stint as the head coach at Buffalo, a Mid-American Conference program he took to three bowl games and helped win two. Prior to Buffalo and a jump to the Division I ranks, Leipold was the head coach at Division III-level Wisconsin-Whitewater and won six national titles in eight years. If he took Kansas to a bowl game, it would be its first appearance in one since 2008.

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: KU football, Lance Leipold agree to contract extension through 2027