KU Jayhawks eager to spread word about season two under football coach Lance Leipold
Kansas coach Lance Leipold and players Jalon Daniels, Kenny Logan, Devin Neal, Caleb Sampson and Earl Bostick were so eager to spread the word about Jayhawks football they headed to Texas for Big 12 Media Days on Tuesday afternoon, well in advance of Wednesday morning’s session with reporters at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
“I was thinking about it on the way down yesterday that we continue to make improvements — one of them of course is making it here as well,” Leipold joked during an ESPNU interview held right before he took the stage to tackle questions from assembled media members for 15 minutes.
The Jayhawks missed last year’s Media Days prior to Leipold’s first season at KU and had to speak via Zoom from Lawrence. Thunderstorms at that time grounded KU’s plane at the Lawrence airport.
“I think after today we’ve been through everything one time,” said a smiling Leipold, whose first KU team went 2-10 overall and 1-8 in the league.
The Jayhawks, who were picked to finish last in the league’s preseason media poll for a 12th straight season last week, like to believe they were perhaps better than the record indicated in 2021. KU led Oklahoma by 10 points at halftime of a 12-point loss in Lawrence. The Jayhawks beat Texas in Austin and closed the season with narrow defeats to TCU and West Virginia.
“I’m excited to let everybody see the amount of progression we made over the offseason,” said Daniels, a 6-foot junior quarterback from Lawndale, California.
Leipold didn’t officially tab Daniels as starter over senior Jason Bean on Wednesday but Daniel’s presence at Media Days following a strong finish to last season speaks volumes of his almost assuredly being No. 1.
“We’re ready to get back on the field … the amount of excitement in the room, we’re definitely going to play as a team,” Daniels stated. “The amount of brotherhood we’ve built over this offseason has been shown on the field. Anybody in that locker room can talk to each other. It doesn’t matter if you are special teams, defense, offense, you are going to be able to communicate with any of your brothers in that locker room,” Daniels added.
Leipold praised Daniels extensively on Wednesday.
“I jokingly say I haven’t named Devin Neal the starting running back either,” Leipold said, it also being obvious Lawrence sophomore Neal will be in the starting backfield.
“He (Daniels) has an infectious personality, is highly confident. When he burned his redshirt late in the year he told me his goal and mission was to come and turn the University of Kansas football program around. I think that could be very advantageous for us here as we go into the 2022 season,” Leipold said.
Leipold, whose program returns nine starters on offense and eight on defense, noted that the running back position “on paper could be the deepest position we have with experience and college production.”
Leipold mentioned incoming running back transfers Ky Thomas (Minnesota) and Sevion Morrison (Nebraska) as well as Neal and returnee Daniel Hishaw.
“I think we have a lot of ways to mix and match, maybe find some ways to get them on the field at the same time,” Leipold said.
Leipold mentioned some incoming transfers on defense, including former Purdue defensive back Marvin Grant, former Ohio State linebacker Craig Young and former Miami of Ohio defensive end Lonnie Phelps.
The defense is led by senior Kenny Logan, a preseason all-league pick.
“Kenny could have hit the eject button like a lot of other people decided to do,” Leipold said of some players choosing to enter the transfer portal after the coaching change and again this past offseason. The coach noted that KU did not lose anybody on the two deep to transfer.
“Kenny found a good home in Lawrence. It’s important to him. I think he is a great example, his leadership in the locker room, his passion on game day and the way he flies around the football field is something we’ll always build on,” Leipold added.
KU will open the season against Tennessee Tech on Sept. 2 at Memorial Stadium. Kickoff is 7 p.m.
This story was originally published July 13, 2022 at 12:49 PM.
