Barring something extraordinary, Kansas football is headed toward an offseason that will force a hard conversation about Lance Leipold’s future. The argument here is blunt: Leipold should be done after this season. But even that kind of move, the case goes, would not automatically fix what is wrong with the program.
Kansas is 0-4 against power conference opponents, and its only one-score loss came against a poor Arizona State team on a neutral field. Isaiah Marshall is still working through the growing pains of a first-year starter, and situational football has already burned the Jayhawks twice this year. Saturday’s loss to Kansas State only sharpened the frustration.
Leipold’s defenders have plenty to point to. He pulled Kansas out of the depths in a way few coaches could have.
The 2023 team was the best Kansas has had since the 2007 Orange Bowl season, and injuries kept it from reaching double-digit wins. His tenure also helped pave the way for a new stadium, a new practice facility and several NFL alumni.
There is also the simple reality that major rebuilds take time. Mark Mangino needed six seasons in Lawrence before producing a 12-win team after only one winning season in his first five years.
None of that changes the conclusion.
With Saturday’s defeat, Leipold is now 0-8 against Kansas State and Missouri during his time as head coach. Kansas State has won the Sunflower Showdown 18 straight years. That kind of record does not exactly give fans much hope.
The recurring issue is not just who is on the field, but how Kansas manages the margins. End-of-half and end-of-game decisions keep resurfacing, no matter the opponent or the personnel.
Saturday’s strange chain of events - Matt Gill’s punt-fumbled-snap-turned-safety that produced five Kansas State points before halftime - was only the latest example. And it is not some isolated breakdown.
It was the 10th time in the last three seasons that Kansas allowed points to a power conference opponent in the final two minutes of the first half. Over that stretch, the Jayhawks have been outscored by 33 points in those closing moments.
There is also the recruiting and development piece, and this is where the criticism turns even sharper. Since Leipold was hired, Kansas has had 24 All-Big 12 selections, but none of them were recruited by him as part of high school classes. A lot of the core from the two bowl-eligible teams - Jalon Daniels, Devin Neal, Cobee Bryant, Mello Dotson and Kenny Logan Jr. - came in under Les Miles.
Sure, Leipold has hit on some transfers. But portal-heavy roster building brings misses with the hits, and it shrinks the time coaches have to develop players. You could even argue that the 2022-2023 turnaround would have happened no matter who was coaching, though that idea is probably too far even for this discussion.
So the portrait that emerges is pretty clear: Leipold has struggled in high-leverage moments, has not consistently won the talent battle, and does not appear to be getting better in either area. Still, the bigger question is what happens next if Kansas makes a change.
The answer may not be much.
The stadium, practice facility and other upgrades came with a cost, and Kansas Athletics is feeling it. After an 18 million dollar buyout for Leipold, the department would be operating from a financial spot that is already 13.2 million dollars in the red.
That does not leave much room to chase the kind of splash hire Kentucky or UCLA made this year, whether that means a hot coordinator or a successful Group of 6 head coach. And even if Kansas landed that kind of hire, there would still be the issue of roster spending; the Jayhawks were already 63rd in the Power Four in that area this year.
In the end, a new coach would inherit some short-term fixes, including the boost that comes with a fresh start and at least some improvement in end-of-half management. But there are deeper structural problems at play inside Kansas and across the sport, and no amount of charisma or energy solves those on its own.
That is why this feels fixable only in the short term. A firing and a buyout can change the headline. Unless David Booth or another wealthy alumnus is ready to write another huge check, the same conversation may be back in a few years anyway.
In Other News...
Kansas Gets A Different Kind Of Baylor Test Next Week
Baylors four-game winning streak came to a halt with a 17-6 home loss to TCU, a result that knocked the Bears down in several national rankings and left them still searching for national respect. Even with that setback, the schedule does not get any easier, because Kansas is next and the Jayhawks are about to see a Baylor team that will be looking to clean up its offense in a hurry.
For Kansas, it is a different kind of test than the one the standings might suggest. Baylor is still outside the AP Top 25 and other major polls, but rankings can only tell part of the story at this point in the season, and the Jayhawks will have to deal with a team that has been good enough to stack wins before running into TCU. The real question next week is whether Kansas catches Baylor at its most frustrated, or at the point where a bounce-back performance starts to take shape. [Read more 🡒]
Joel Embiid Opens With Championship Pressure Back On Him
Joel Embiid is about to open the 2026-27 NBA season with the kind of stage that tends to sharpen every storyline around him. The 76ers face the defending champion New York Knicks in the opener, and Philadelphia is doing so with a revamped roster that now includes LeBron James, Jaylen Brown and Tyrese Maxey, all of it aimed at pushing the team past last seasons playoff loss to New York.
Embiid looked promising in the preseason, which only adds to the anticipation around how Philadelphias new-look group will function when the games count. His matchup with Karl-Anthony Towns looms as one of the key swing points of the night, and it should offer an early read on whether the Sixers have enough firepower and balance to turn a fresh start into something more lasting. [Read more 🡒]
Bill Self Retirement Talk Just Put Kansas Fans On Edge
Bill Self had Kansas fans listening a little more closely than usual at Big 12 Media Days, where the longtime Jayhawks coach addressed the retirement chatter that has followed him through recent health concerns. Self said he is not currently thinking about ending his coaching career, easing some of the immediate worry around a program that has been shaped by his presence for so long. Around the league, the conversation quickly turned to what Self has meant not just to Kansas, but to college basketball as a whole, with coaches and players offering praise for his passion and his ability to keep winning at the highest level.
For Kansas, the bigger story is the stability Self still provides, even as the questions keep coming whenever health and age enter the picture. Athletic director Travis Goff voiced appreciation for everything Self has done and expressed optimism about what comes next, which only reinforces how central the coach remains to the Jayhawks future. The uncertainty is not whether Self has already built a Hall of Fame legacy, but how long Kansas can keep counting on him to keep steering the program. [Read more 🡒]