Kansas’ quarterback situation may look uneasy from the outside, but inside the program, it’s being treated like something much healthier: a battle that is pushing both players forward.
The Jayhawks still have not named a starter heading into week one, which begins in well under two weeks. Head coach Lance Leipold has said it is most likely Kansas will lean on two quarterbacks, redshirt junior Cole Ballard and redshirt sophomore Isaiah Marshall.
From the outside, that can read like uncertainty. Inside the building, associate head coach Andy Kotelnicki sees something different.
“It is going really good. I'm proud of both of those guys.
They're awesome. They're competing really, really well, and they're continuing to get better,” opened Kotelnicki at media day.
Ballard brings the edge in experience. He has 64 pass attempts for Kansas, with 445 passing yards, 3 touchdowns and 4 interceptions while completing 54.7% of his throws over three seasons in the program. He has also added 209 rushing yards, including 92 last season.
Marshall’s sample size is much smaller, with just three passes for 28 yards. His biggest impact so far has come on the ground, where he has run for 160 yards in 2025.
Kotelnicki said the competition has stayed constructive, not corrosive.
“… A lot of times people will, you know, they'll have diverse reactions to it, and they'll allow animosity to grow between individuals and kind of root for the other guy to fail, and that's not happening at all with them.”
Earlier this month, passing game coordinator Jim Zebrowski also addressed the bond the two have built.
“And I've said before in that room, when you have competition in that room, which is a really, really important room, of course, and our football team can see those two individuals, handling it really, really well, and it's making both of them better, and no one can debate that. That's really healthy for a football team,” finished Kotelnicki.
If Kansas is going to live with a two-quarterback setup, it at least has some stability around it. Kotelnicki and Leipold have worked together since 2013, aside from Kotelnicki’s two-year split to Penn State.
Zebrowski worked with Leipold for two seasons at Wisconsin-Whitewater from 2007-09 before joining the pair again at Buffalo in 2017. The Jayhawks also brought in John DeFilippo, an offensive analyst with 25 years of experience, over the offseason.
It is not the cleanest setup, but Kansas does have a more settled offense than it has had in past years. The running back group brings explosiveness, and the wide receiver room is expected to help offset whatever issues might show up at quarterback. How it all plays out remains to be seen.
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Cole Ballard Just Gave Kansas Fans A Reason To Watch This Battle
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Now Ballard is back in preseason workouts at Kansas, where the real test is getting those lessons to show up in a live competition for the starting job. For the Jayhawks, that makes his summer trip more than a feel-good development story - it is part of a bigger battle that will help shape the offense before the season begins. [Read more 🡒]