Kansas football needs Lance Leipold as its next head coach

Now almost one month into the job, Kansas Athletic Director Travis Goff appears to be closing in on who will try to lead Kansas football out of Power Five purgatory.

Many candidates are being discussed as having interviewed or showing interest, but in my mind, at this stage in the process, there is only one man it should be: Lance Leipold.

Leipold comes from Buffalo, where he has served as head coach for six seasons, leading the Bulls to a 39-33 record during his time there.

At first glance, that is not an impressive record. However, if you take a deeper look at the numbers – both during his time at Buffalo and before – you’ll see why fans should be excited at the opportunity of Leipold leading the way here at KU.

Sustained Success

Before joining Buffalo, Leipold was the head coach at his alma mater, Wisconsin-Whitewater. There, he compiled an incredible record of 109-6 and led them to six NCAA DIII national championships.

In his first season on the job and his first as a head coach at any level, he led The Warhawks to a 14-1 record and a national championship.

At Wisconsin-Whitewater, Leipold was named American Football Coaches Association Division III Coach of the Year six times – winning the award more than any active coach at any level and passing the late Joe Paterno who won the award five times.

Leipold also reached 100 victories quicker than any coach in NCAA history at any level.

I don’t know about you, but I wouldn’t mind seeing some quick success like that here at KU. That same level of accomplishment is unrealistic here at KU in year one, but if Leipold can carry over this type of early progress to KU and wins 2-3 games his first season at the helm, that could do wonders for the team and a fanbase looking for hope.

Having someone who has not only reached that level of success but sustained it I think is a majorly important quality in a head coach. It’s that type of consistency and commitment to winning that KU needs in their head coach.

Building Buffalo

That winning pedigree is not something Leipold abandoned as he took the job at Buffalo in 2014.

Though he did get off to a slower start going 7-17 in his first two years, those losing seasons didn’t last long. In his third season (2017), he guided the Bulls to a 6-6 record – making the Bulls bowl eligible and giving the program just its third .500 finish or better since they joined the MAC and FBS in 1999.

From that point on, Leipold’s Buffalo teams never saw a losing season again. Buffalo finished 10-4 (2018), 8-5 (2019), and 6-1 (2020) the last three seasons.

Their record would likely have been even higher in 2020 had the schedule not been shortened due to COVID. The Bulls were ranked No. 23 in the country at one point by the Associated Press and finished the 2020 season ranked No. 25 – their first national ranking in school history.

The Bulls also went to three straight bowl games from 2018-2020 and won two of them. They had only been to two bowl games prior in school history.

Throughout the last three seasons, more than 30 Buffalo players were named to All-MAC teams.

In 2018 and 2020, Buffalo quarterback Tyree Jackson and running back Jaret Patterson won the league’s Offensive Player of the Year award.

Those same years, Leipold was named MAC Coach of the Year, becoming the first Buffalo coach to win the award multiple times.

This speaks volumes to both Leipold’s ability to identify talent and develop the talent on his roster. This is a huge advantage for KU because we aren’t getting four-star recruits year in and year out.

The state of Kansas isn’t a hotbed for football talent like it is in other parts of the country. To compete, we have to do more with less and Leipold has shown the ability to do that at Buffalo time and time again.

Not to mention his track record with offensive talent shows that he can adjust his offenses as needed to fit his teams and they can put up big numbers. The Bulls were fifth in the country in 2020 in points per game (43.4) and they were 18th nationally in yards per game (478.4).

Bulls running back Jaret Patterson has also ran for more than 1,000 yards in each of his three seasons at Buffalo. A strong running game may help KU keep the potent Big 12 offenses off the field.

But if you think his teams are all offense and no defense, you’d be wrong.

In 2020, the Bulls defense ranked No. 30 in the country in points allowed per game (21.9). In 2019, the Bulls total defense ranked No. 7 in the country, allowing 291.9 yards per game, and the rush defense was fourth, allowing just 94.2 yards per game.

Make the hire

Leipold checks off all the boxes you could want if you’re a Kansas fan.

He’s won everywhere he’s been a head coach. He’s proven that he can develop and recruit players. He’s shown success on both offense and defense. He has experience turning around a program.

This would be a home run hire for new AD Travis Goff and I think the future of the Kansas football program would shine bright under Lance Leipold.