When Les Miles and the University of Kansas agreed to part ways in March of 2021 after the former LSU football coach was being investigated for inappropriate behavior for his time in Baton Rouge, it left a void for the Jayhawks' football team.
On April 30 of the same year, Lance Leipold was hired as the new Kansas football coach. A virtual unknown to many, he came from the Mid-American Conference (MAC), coaching the Buffalo Bulls, and before that, Division III Wisconsin-Whitewater. So, most didn't know of his six AFCA Division III Coach of the Year awards, or his four from the WIAC, or his two in the MAC.
To someone who only flippantly pays attention to the top teams in college football, you could look at his record since taking over in Lawrence and maybe give a quick “ugh.” In his three seasons at Kansas, Leipold is 14-19. In his first season replacing Miles, which was just four months before the season started, the Jayhawks went 2-10. They went 6-7 the next season, where they lost the Liberty Bowl to Arkansas by two points.
Kansas football was at an all-time low before Lance Leipold
To really understand how important Leipold and the Jayhawks' win over Oklahoma was, you first have to understand the depths of the Kansas football program's inferiority.
This is a team that hasn't won more than three games since 2009 (5-7) and hadn't been to a bowl game since 2008. That was also the same year the Jayhawks had a winning record (8-5). They went 25-115 from 2009-2020. They won one game or less four times during that stretch. To say the program was in disarray is a massive understatement. That's why Kansas' victory over No. 6 Oklahoma on Saturday was monumental.
Kansas football's win over Oklahoma is monumental for program
Beating a team the caliber of an Oklahoma team ranked in the top-10 could prove to be a bit of a paradigm shift for this program. With the win, the Jayhawks become bowl-eligible for the second consecutive season for only the second time in school history. They went 13 straight seasons without making a bowl before that. Saturday's victory was also the first time the Jayhawks' football team has beaten a top-10 team at home since 1984 (also Oklahoma), and their first win against the Sooners' football team at home since 1997, according to ESPN.
Kansas football has been waiting for a coach like Leipold—a head coaching savant that no one knew about. He wasn't the flavor of the month like Turner Gill was, the NFL guy like Charlie Weiss was, or the former national champ coach that was past his prime like Les Miles was. Leipold was getting awards and victories that virtually no one knew existed. But on Saturday, he beat one of the best teams in the country, and historically one of the most prestigious in all of the sport.
Leipold deserves all the credit in the world for completely turning around a program that has produced a history of not even mediocre football but straight up ugly, disgusting football. The fact that this Kansas football team just three seasons ago won zero games—granted, that was the Covid season—to now making a bowl game two straight seasons is nothing short of impressive.
Leipold now has wins over two top-25 opponents in the last two seasons, including the win over Oklahoma Saturday. Before Leipold and Kansas beat No. 18 Oklahoma State last season, Kansas football hadn't beaten a ranked opponent since 2010 against No. 15 Georgia Tech.
Leipold is proving he's one of the best coaches in the entire country. He probably has been for a long time, and we weren't looking. He's deserved his flowers long before now.
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