The 3 biggest questions surrounding Kansas football entering the 2026 season
The Kansas football team is just weeks away from playing Long Island under the bright lights of David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium.
There’s perhaps no greater reminder of that than the upcoming Big 12 media days. They begin Tuesday, with KU’s player representatives and coach Lance Leipold speaking to the media Wednesday.
The Jayhawks will have five players joining Leipold: wide receiver Cam Pickett, offensive tackle Calvin Clements, defensive tackle Blake Herold, defensive end Leroy Harris III and linebacker Trey Lathan.
After a season in which the Jayhawks went 5-7 and missed a bowl game for the second straight season, plenty of questions surround the team.
Here’s a look at three of the biggest ones entering the season...
1. Who will win the quarterback competition?
With longtime quarterback Jalon Daniels exhausting his eligibility, there’s now a question about the starting quarterback for next season.
The three players battling for the job are returnees Cole Ballard and Isaiah Marshall and Rice transfer Chase Jenkins.
One program source views Ballard as the leader in the clubhouse, but noted he hasn’t fully separated himself from Marshall. Ballard reportedly has the strongest arm of the trio and is completely familiar with the playbook
Meanwhile, Marshall has improved from last season. His scrambling ability is seen as a real weapon by the Jayhawks’ staff. He could be a good fit for the offense under returning offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki.
As for Jenkins, he spent much of spring ball recovering from injury. Still, he made an impression in the latter half of the spring and took some first-team reps.
The expectation is that this competition will continue until the end of fall camp.
“The quarterback that will win this job is going to have great command of the offense and understand what we’re trying to do,” Leipold said in January. “Make great decisions, be able to make the throws that are needed within this offense, which is really all throws.
“We’ve got to be able to get the ball down the field. We’ve got to be great in the play-action game. We’ve got to have great decision-making in the RPO game.
2. Will Andy Kotelnicki’s return be a game-changer for KU’s offense?
Make no mistake about it, former Penn State offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki was a coveted coach when he and the Nittany Lions decided to part ways.
Kotelnicki coached at KU from 2021-23 and helped the offense improve over time. That was no more evident than when Kansas jumped from 104th in yards per play to 5th, and from 91st to 5th in passing efficiency.
Since his departure, KU’s offense has been inconsistent. Now he returns, but will be tested by KU’s roster turnover and limitations. Daniels is gone. Star running back Devin Neal, who Kotelnicki coached at KU years ago, is in the NFL. And the Jayhawks have rebuilt their lineup at several positions.
Kotelnicki will need to find a way to feature transfer running back Dylan Edwards and navigate a quarterback battle if the Jayhawks hope to contend for a bowl game again.
3. Will KU make a bowl game?
Make no mistake, the last two seasons for KU football haven’t gone to plan.
In 2024, the Jayhawks lost a number of winnable games in late moments before nearly saving their season late. They rattled off three straight wins against ranked opponents but were blown out by Baylor to finish 5-7.
In 2025, the Jayhawks began 4-2 but went 1-5 down the stretch to again finish 5-7.
There will certainly be pressure for the Jayhawks to show improvement and return to a bowl game, especially after all the money the program has put toward renovating David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium and developing other aspects of the football program. That includes the money being spent on coach salaries.
Leipold is set to make $6.3 million, plus other incentives including a $500,000 retention bonus, this season.
The Jayhawks, Leipold has said, must find a way to improve moving forward.
“First of all, obviously, people feel that things have plateaued a little bit,” Leipold told On3. “We’re disappointed with the last two seasons’ record. I gotta be honest, there. We’ve got to find ways to close out games better.”
