CBS Sports and 247Sports college football experts recently released their list of the top 25 head coaches in Power 4 conferences heading into the upcoming 2025-26 season and Kansas football head coach Lance Leipold has made the cut.
The analysts ranked Leipold as the 15th best head coach in the country, dropping three spots from last year’s rankings. He is rated as the fourth best coach in the Big 12 behind Iowa State’s Matt Campbell (No. 10), Utah’s Kyle Wittingham (No. 11), and Kansas State’s Chris Klieman (No. 14).
Despite the slight dip in ranking after last year’s disappointing finish, the experts appear to hold Leipold in high regard for the work he’s done reviving the Kansas football program.
“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,” said CBS Sports’ Tom Fornelli. “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.”
Leipold will need to live up to his high-praised ranking heading into his fifth year as head coach at Kansas if the Jayhawks have any hope of making noise in the Big 12 title race.
KU lost more than 30 seniors from last year’s team, including the school’s all-time leading rusher Devin Neal, a pair of Third Team All-American (Associated Press) cornerbacks in Cobee Bryant and Mello Dotson, as well as a talented group of receivers and several other impact players.
The Jayhawks also have a trio of new coordinators in place for this upcoming season.
Following a tumultuous one-year stint from previous offensive coordinator Jeff Grimes who left for Wisconsin this offseason, Leipold promoted Jim Zebrowski to the position after serving primarily as quarterbacks coach for the Jayhawks since 2021 – which he’ll continue in his new role.
Leipold also brought in former Nevada offensive coordinator Matt Lubick this offseason to serve alongside Zebrowski as co-offensive coordinator and tight ends coach.
On defense, Leipold elevated D.K. McDonald to defensive coordinator following the retirement of Leipold’s long-time assistant Brian Borland. McDonald previously served as KU’s co-defensive coordinator and defensive backs coach, leading a stellar group which included Dotson, Bryant, and others who helped hold opponents to just 26 points per game last year – the fewest since KU’s Orange Bowl team in 2007-08.
These coaching changes by Leipold will be watched closely this year as the Jayhawks look to rebound from their poor performance a season ago. Luckily, if there’s anyone who’s proven they can turn things around in a hurry, it’s the man leading the charge on KU’s sideline.
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