Lance Leipold is entering his fifth season as the head coach of the Kansas football program. Under his leadership, the KU program has improved from a basement dweller in the Big 12 to a program that can compete week in and week out. The work Leipold has done at KU means he continues to be in the conversation among the top head coaches in the sport. That was reflected in CBS Sports’ ranking of the Top 25 head coaches in the power conferences.
Every year, a panel of CBS Sports and 247Sports experts comes together to rank every Power Four head football coach. Although KU had a disappointing 2024 season compared to preseason expectations, Leipold’s stock remained high. He jumped from No. 42 to No. 23 before the 2023 season and he came in as the No. 12 head coach in the sport prior to last year. In this year’s poll, Leipold came in at No. 15. He was ranked as high as No. 9 and as low as No. 31 by members of the panel.
CBS Sports’ Tom Fornelli had this to say about Leipold in the article.
“It’s no surprise to see Leipold drop after a 5-7 season, but the fact he only dropped three spots is a testament to how much respect he has among our panel. After all, this is a coach who has made a career out of winning at places nobody expects success. Nobody will be shocked if Kansas is in the hunt for the Big 12 title this season.”
Within the Big 12, Leipold is the No. 4-ranked head coach, trailing Iowa State’s Matt Campbell (No. 10), Utah’s Kyle Whittingham (No. 11) and K-State’s Chris Klieman (No. 14).
When Leipold took over the KU program in the spring of 2021, the Jayhawks were coming off a 0-9 campaign during the COVID season. KU went 2-10 in Leipold’s first year, but once the KU staff had a full offseason cycle with the players, things started to change. KU went 6-7 in 2022 and the program made its first bowl game in over a decade. The following season, KU won nine games for the first time since the 2007 season.
KU had plenty of momentum heading into the 2024 campaign. KU returned most of its production and was projected to be among the top teams in the Big 12. But, it didn’t turn out that way. KU got off to a slow start and began the season with five-straight losses against FBS opponents. KU turned things around late in the season with three-straight ranked wins. The Jayhawks entered the final game of the season needing a win against Baylor to clinch three-consecutive bowl games for the first time in program history. KU fell to Baylor 45-17, with an uncompetitive second half dooming the Jayhawks.
Now, KU enters the 2025 season with two new coordinators and a slew of new faces in all three phases of the game.
