Lance Leipold’s name is getting floated in hot-seat conversations after Kansas has stacked up back-to-back five-win seasons, but the early read for 2026 says the pressure still isn’t close to boiling over.
That’s the picture from multiple publications, which do not see Leipold entering the season in serious danger. College Football News sorted Big 12 coaches into job-security buckets and put Leipold in the “Cold Seat” group, alongside 13 others, including Kalani Sitake of BYU and Kyle Whittingham at Utah. In other words, that’s the safe zone.
ESPN’s own system lands somewhere different, but still not alarming. Based on its metrics, Leipold sits right in the middle of the national coaching pack when it comes to hot-seat status.
The broader context matters here. Leipold inherited a Kansas program that was near the bottom of the sport after Les Miles finished a two-year run at 3-18. Leipold’s first stretch was rocky, but he eventually pushed the Jayhawks to a 9-4 season in 2023, his third year in charge.
That rise put Kansas back on the map. The program climbed as high as No. 19 in the AP Poll, and by 2024 the Jayhawks were opening the year at No. 22 in the preseason polls.
Still, the expectations going into this fall are not what they were during that surge. Leipold may be clear for now, but another five-win season would make the conversation a lot more interesting when 2026 rolls around.
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Kansas State still stands out as the one trip that can define the whole thing. Lance Leipold has yet to solve that rivalry, and Kansas has not won it since 2009, which gives the matchup its own weight before anyone even starts talking about personnel. With Collin Klein now in the picture on the other sideline, the game already carries the feel of the biggest one on the calendar, even if the final shape of both teams is still months from being clear. [Read more 🡒]