Kansas Jayhawks football is trending up. So why do KU players bristle at expectations?
Lance Leipold didn’t experience this firsthand, but he picked up stories along the way. Like the one set in the days of the old Big Eight, when Nebraska and Oklahoma ruled with iron fists and the rest of the conference just filled out the standings.
Each year, with the Cornhuskers and Sooners approaching another season-ending showdown to determine the league championship, lead-up games could be, well, scrimmages in full uniform.
“You’d hear about it. Nebraska would work on Oklahoma while playing other schools,” Leipold said. “It was a matter of having some base things ready to go and play the game. I’m not saying Kansas was one of those teams, but it might have been.”
Count on it. KU’s football history is filled with pockets of misery — in the old Big Eight days and now for the past decade-plus in the Big 12. And it wouldn’t surprise Leipold to learn that some league powers didn’t take the Jayhawks seriously in recent seasons.
With just eight league victories in 13 years — from 2009, in Mark Mangino’s final season in Lawrence, through 2021, Leipold’s first at KU — the Jayhawks’ ineptitude was unmatched at the power-conference level..
Then 2022 happened. A five-game winning streak to open the season, first bowl trip since 2008 ... and now there’s no sleepwalking through games against KU anymore.
The Jayhawks return a quarterback (Jalon Daniels) who’s been dubbed the league’s preseason offensive player of the year. That’s never happened before.
Last-place predictions? Those were a constant. But not this time. Kansas is the ninth choice of 14 teams, largely on the strength of Daniels and a high-powered offense that should pick up where it left off a year ago.
All of this leaves the Jayhawks a bit conflicted. They fed off disrespect a year ago, and although Leipold wants his players to embrace the program’s current upward trajectory, they don’t mind the idea of being easily dismissed once again.
“Last year, I don’t think many people respected us, and I don’t think many people still respect us now,” said safety Kenny Logan Jr.
Daniels, who was bold enough to wear an Apple Watch pendant showing his 2022 highlights during Wednesday’s Big 12 Media Days interview sessions, doesn’t want your respect.
“I walk in with a chip on my shoulder,” Daniels said. “I know what I’ve done to get to where I’m at today, and no matter if you respect me or not, I’m going to feel like you don’t respect me.
“I got that from Michael Jordan and The Last Dance. He made stuff up to make himself mad at the other team. I’m not going to say I make things up, but a couple of years ago nobody respected the quarterback I’ve become.”
A bit of a balancing act is happening. The good vibes from last season bring rewards and expectations. The Jayhawks would be disappointed not to repeat as bowl participants. But as much as they seemed to enjoy garnering more attention at the conference’s midweek media event, it’s to be handled carefully.
“You want expectations,” Leipold said. “This program hasn’t had many of them. But you have to focus on the moment and make sure you don’t get too far ahead of yourself.”
Encouraging for Kansas is Leipold’s history. In previous head-coaching stops, once his teams started playing in the postseason, they didn’t stop. At Division III Wisconsin-Whitewater that meant seven trips to the NCAA championship game in eight seasons, a run that produced six titles.
At Buffalo, Leipold’s teams reached a bowl in his fourth season, igniting a streak of three straight bowl trips. Slippage hasn’t been an issue.
These Jayhawks have the proper makeup and approach, Leopold says. They crave more than a taste of success, and if opponents want to disrespect them, that’s OK, too.
