The Kansas Jayhawks wrapped up another season with a 5-7 record, making it back-to-back years of falling just short of bowl eligibility. And head coach Lance Leipold isn’t sugarcoating it. After Friday’s loss to Utah, he spoke with a level of honesty that reflects both the frustration and the urgency surrounding the program.
“With mixed emotions,” Leipold said, when asked to sum up the season. And that’s putting it mildly. The Jayhawks have made undeniable progress in recent years, but the bar has been raised-and this team didn’t clear it.
“Where we've come as a program in a very short period of time has now become the expectation,” Leipold continued. “We’ve underachieved, by most people’s standards.”
That’s the reality for Kansas football right now. Just two years ago, this team felt like it had turned a corner.
There was momentum, belief, and a real sense that bowl games were no longer a dream-they were the standard. But two straight 5-7 finishes have brought things back down to earth.
And Leipold knows it.
He didn’t dodge the hard truth: the Jayhawks didn’t meet expectations this season. And in today’s college football landscape-where roster turnover is constant and the margin for error is razor-thin-that kind of result puts pressure on everyone, from the coaching staff to the players to the administration.
“I want our players to be confident enough that we should be able to be a team now playing bowl games,” Leipold said. “That’s what we want them to aspire to be. But if we’re going to continue to move our program, it has to be 24/7, 365 in what we do.”
That’s the challenge Leipold laid out: consistency, accountability, and a year-round commitment to growth. Because in a sport where parity is more present than ever, especially for mid-tier Power Five programs, the difference between a postseason berth and a disappointing finish can come down to a handful of plays.
Leipold pointed directly to that razor-thin margin. “What would our topics be today if one of the three closest games that we played would have gone the other direction?”
he asked. “Some of the things that we’re all frustrated about… are being asked, because it’s this close.”
He’s not wrong. Kansas was in the mix in several tight games this season, and flipping just one of those could have changed the tone of this conversation entirely.
But that’s football. You don’t get credit for almost.
And Leipold knows he’s not being judged on effort-he’s being judged on results.
Now five years into his tenure, Leipold has just one winning season under his belt. And while he’s clearly elevated the program from where it was when he arrived, the next step-sustained success-is proving elusive.
The expectations have shifted. The foundation is there.
But the pressure to deliver is real.
“For us to continue to try to put ourselves in that above-.500 line,” Leipold said, “we’ve got to continue to work and get better. That starts at the top.”
It’s a clear message from a coach who understands where his program stands. The Jayhawks aren’t rebuilding anymore-they’re supposed to be competing. And after two years of coming up short, it’s time to turn that potential into production.