Kansas football: Leipold’s new contract is good news for stadium upgrades

Details of Kansas football head coach Lance Leipold’s new contract were released by the university on Tuesday that should have Kansas fans even more excited about the future of the program.

The new contract, which can be seen in its entirety here, keeps Leipold under contract at KU through the 2029 season.

"“We are thrilled that Coach Leipold will be leading our football program for years to come,” said Chancellor Douglas Girod. “Since joining us in Lawrence, Coach Leipold has confirmed that he is among the nation’s best coaches, program builders and leaders, and he is clearly equipped to succeed in the new world of college athletics."

The new deal makes Leipold the fourth-highest paid head coach in the Big 12 with a salary of $5 million per year.

Leipold can earn an additional $50,000 for finishing the season with seven or more regular season wins, $50,000 for finishing in the Top 25, and $100,000 for making a bowl game, among other incentives.

It also includes large buyouts should Leipold decide to depart for another coaching job. Leipold would owe $12.5 million if he were to leave before April 30, 2023, $6 million if he were to leave before April 30, 2024, and one million less each year through May 1, 2028.

But perhaps the most interesting and exciting aspect of the contract has to do with renovations to various football facilities.

In Section 17 of the contract, it states that Leipold has the ability to terminate his contract “if KU has not made meaningful and substantial progress toward renovating the Anderson Family Football Complex by July 1, 2023.” It also states that he can terminate his contract “if KU has not made meaningful and substantial progress toward either adding additional square footage to Anderson Family Football Complex or stadium renovations by December 15, 2023.”

According to the contract, “meaningful and substantial” signifies that renovations and/or physical construction of the structure and/or grounds shall have been started by those dates.

Building for the future

Including agreements about stadium renovations in Leipold’s contract is a brilliant way to ensure that these crucial upgrades actually come to fruition.

For years, various KU Athletics administrators have floated new stadium ideas and lofty promises for making them happen – but they never did. Now that making those upgrades are explicitly tied toward keeping their long-coveted, current head coach, you can bet they will.

This puts the pressure on Kansas Athletics Director Travis Goff and donors to step up to the plate and make sure these upgrades happen in a timely manner.

But while the construction start dates are approaching this upcoming year, this contract stipulation is without a doubt a move for the future.

Leipold has talked repeatedly about wanting “sustained success” for this program, and these upgrades to the Anderson complex and the stadium are an important part of the equation.

The locker room, training facilities, and stadium are all selling points to recruits and the transfer prospects that the staff will attempt to lure to Lawrence. The stadium is also important for fan support and perhaps, conference realignment.

The fact that Leipold had the mindset to include this shows that he is thinking of more than just himself, he’s thinking about what’s best for the program – which is yet another sign that this new contract was warranted, and that KU has the right man leading this team into the future.

"“When we hired Lance Leipold 19 months ago, we were confident we had found the ideal fit for KU and that has been reinforced every single day since his arrival,” said Goff. “This new contract, along with the upcoming investment in our facilities, are a direct reflection of our profound commitment to building a first-class football program – one that will be a point of pride for all Jayhawks for years to come.”"