Kansas football program adds new equipment manager with Big 12 ties

By Matt Tait     Jun 24, 2020

Nick Krug
The Kansas Jayhawks, coaches and staff position themselves around the field and in the end zone for stretches during practice on Friday, Aug. 19, 2016 at Memorial Stadium.

After 32 years with the same equipment manager, the Kansas football program is preparing for Year 1 of a new regime.

KU on Wednesday announced that Blake Kuenzi (pronounced Ken-zee) had been hired as the program’s head football equipment manager, taking over for Jeff Himes, who retired at the end of April after more than three decades with the Jayhawks.

Kuenzi, a 2005 graduate of Oklahoma University, comes to Kansas after stints with former OU coach Bob Stoops both at Oklahoma and, most recently, in the XFL.

“We are very excited to welcome Blake into the Kansas football family,” KU coach Les Miles said in a news release announcing the hire. “Blake brings years of valuable experience in the Big 12 and I think he will transition nicely to our program.”

After 18 years at OU, Kuenzi spent the 2019-20 season with the XFL’s Dallas Renegades, coached by Stoops.

He managed the daily facility operations with Globe Life Park personnel and helped coordinate the renovation of Globe Life Park football operations to ensure functionality for XFL personnel. He also maintained and supervised the inspection and care of all of the Renegades’ athletic apparel, uniforms and equipment.

At OU, Kuenzi worked his way up to the title of associate director of athletics equipment while working with football and men’s and women’s golf. Part of his role in Norman, Okla., was to help transition OU’s football program from Nike to one of four Jordan brand college football programs.

He also supervised the OU student equipment manager program and graduate assistants for the football program and comes to Kansas with some relationships already in place.

“It is a pleasure to welcome a trusted colleague of Blake’s experience to KU,” said Larry Hare, KU’s assistant athletics director for equipment services. “His responsibilities at Oklahoma, as well as the projects with which he was involved at both OU and the XFL, will benefit our football program and equipment operations as a whole. Blake’s background in the conference and familiarity with its personnel and procedures are certainly an immediate advantage.”

Kuenzi began his new job with Kansas earlier this month. He and his wife, Emily, have two children, a son, Cooper, and daughter, Kendall.

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Written By Matt Tait

A native of Colorado, Matt moved to Lawrence in 1988 and has been in town ever since. He graduated from Lawrence High in 1996 and the University of Kansas in 2000 with a degree in Journalism. After covering KU sports for the University Daily Kansan and Rivals.com, Matt joined the World Company (and later Ogden Publications) in 2001 and has held several positions with the paper and KUsports.com in the past 20+ years. He became the Journal-World Sports Editor in 2018. Throughout his career, Matt has won several local and national awards from both the Associated Press Sports Editors and the Kansas Press Association. In 2021, he was named the Kansas Sportswriter of the Year by the National Sports Media Association. Matt lives in Lawrence with his wife, Allison, and two daughters, Kate and Molly. When he's not covering KU sports, he likes to spend his time playing basketball and golf, listening to and writing music and traveling the world with friends and family.