Kansas head coach Bill Self, even this late in his career, has never been one to just sit on the bench and coach from there. No, Self is up and moving, and getting in the face of the refs and his players, always showing fire and emotion, even when his team is up by 20. Now, it looks like the longtime Kansas coach has found a team that can match that fire.
The Jayhawks are loaded with young talent this season, both incoming freshmen and those coming in from the transfer portal. Young players tend to have a little extra fire in them before they can be jaded by the world of college basketball, but Self is okay with that because too much fire is better than not enough, which is something he believes Kansas has struggled with in recent years.
"Well, you would much rather coach a team that you want to try and calm down than you have to do this [fire up]," Self said after the win over Kentucky. "I think the last couple years we've been doing more of this [needing to fire up]. I like being around them, and they're young and don't know better, and sometimes that's the most fun guys to coach."
I asked Bill Self postgame about the fun and challenge of coaching an emotional and fiery group. Loved his answer.
— Christian Odjakjian (@OdjHoops) November 11, 2026
Perfect college coach for Tyran Stokes pic.twitter.com/kdMxRbPAlB
Self certainly has a team with a lot of fire and passion for playing the sport; it was evident against Kentucky with Tyran Stokes and Trey Kaufman-Renn, and that has been something missing from the Jayhawks in years past.
Could that be a reason for the lack of consistent success for Kansas? Maybe. Could that fire and passion lead Kansas to another title run? I definitely think so.
Bill Self seems to match the fire and passion his team brings to the court for Kansas
Self is going to continue to coach until he probably physically can't anymore, and Kansas fans can probably tell that time is coming soon, given the health issues he has had in recent years. However, until Self is told he can't do this, he is going to be that coach who is up on the sideline firing his team up.
Even against Kentucky, when Kansas was up big, Self didn't let the little mistake go. He was up and yelling at his team to pull it together, and it feels like, with the fire and passion these young guys have, it is bringing even more out of Self this season.
Self makes a great point that you would rather have to calm guys down than have to try to fire them up. There were glimpses last season of the fire Self was talking about needing, but it is evident this season, even against the cupcake non-conference opponents. It was definitely evident against Kentucky, a game that was personal for a few guys like Stokes and Taylen Kinney.
The last time Kansas fans really saw this fire and passion from a Jayhawks team was back in 2022, when they won their last National Championship. It didn't take much to get those guys going, and that seems to be the same for this 2026-2027 team.
Could this be the team to finally lead Self and Kansas back to the title game? Who knows, but even this early on in the season, something is special about this team.
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