Kansas coach Lance Leipold has had a front-row view of what Deion Sanders has brought to the Big 12, even if the two have only matched up once since Sanders took over at Colorado ahead of the 2023 season.
That meeting came in 2024 in Kansas City, Missouri, and Kansas handled it 37-21. The Jayhawks and Buffaloes did not play in 2025, and they are not set to meet in the regular season in 2026, either.
Still, Sanders came up during Leipold’s time at Big 12 Conference media days in July in Frisco, Texas. Leipold was asked about Sanders’ impact on college football and on the league itself, a topic he said tends to follow him around through conversations with friends who want his take.
Leipold’s answer centered on the same thing he says stands out most: Sanders’ discipline.
“When you really look at what coach has is, I don’t want to say old-school, but he has a very disciplined way of approach,” Leipold said. “When he speaks up in our meetings, it’s very fundamentally disciplined and sound for somebody that you wouldn’t always believe because of his charisma and things like that.
He has brought attention to this league and excitement, but again I think for what he’s done he’s, again, he doesn’t seek attention. He’s not doing that.
He’s very humble in his meetings, in our coaches meetings. He’s not a grandstander.
I have a lot of respect for him and what he’s done and really enjoy being around him.”
Sanders’ Colorado tenure has already produced a sharp swing in results. The Buffaloes went 4-8 in 2023, his first season in charge before the program’s move to the Big 12 for 2024, then improved to 9-4 in 2024 before slipping to 3-9 in 2025.
Even with the uneven record, Sanders has kept Colorado in the spotlight, and there will be plenty of eyes on the Buffaloes again in 2026. The USA TODAY Network preseason media poll projected Colorado to finish 15th in the 16-team league.
Kansas is trying to reset its own trajectory. The Jayhawks were bowl teams in back-to-back seasons in 2022 and 2023, but they followed that with 5-7 finishes in both 2024 and 2025. Leipold has said he believes his team can get back on track this season, with Kansas picked 12th in the same preseason poll.
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