Jalon Daniels confirms he will be back at Kansas next season

By Henry Greenstein     Nov 16, 2023

article image Nick Krug
Kansas quarterback Jalon Daniels (6) smiles as he prepares for kickoff against Illinois on Friday, Sept. 8, 2023 at Memorial Stadium.

Kansas quarterback Jalon Daniels, who has been out for most of the season due to a back injury, quieted speculation about his future Thursday afternoon when he posted a social media video affirming that he intends to stay at KU following this year.

“So you want something to talk about? Talk about this: I’m not done yet and I’m not going anywhere,” Daniels said in the video. “Rock Chalk.”

In an accompanying statement distributed by KU Athletics, Daniels said in part: “Kansas is a very special place to me, and I will be back next season to continue to move the program forward under Coach (Lance) Leipold.”

Daniels, who entered the fall as the preseason offensive player of the year for the Big 12 Conference, began suffering from an injury characterized as back tightness early in fall camp. It came to light after he did not participate in the portion of practice open to media on Aug. 7. Backup quarterback Jason Bean started the season opener against Missouri State in his place after receiving the bulk of reps, but Daniels returned and performed well in victories over Illinois, Nevada and BYU.

However, Daniels aggravated his back again early on Sept. 30, the day of KU’s road game at Texas, forcing Bean into a starting role with less than an hour’s advance notice. Bean has started every game since, though a head injury of his own might prevent him from doing so Saturday against Kansas State. That could force Cole Ballard — a true freshman who walked on at KU, though Leipold said Wednesday night on “Hawk Talk” that he got on scholarship earlier this season — to make his first career start.

At one point during Daniels’ absence, he dressed to play; at another, he did not travel to a road game because the team wanted to spare him a bus trip. For one game he did not emerge from his team’s locker room. Leipold has characterized the back injury throughout as one that has good and bad days.

“This season didn’t go as planned,” Daniels said in the video. “But life comes at you fast and sometimes your story’s out of your control. But I guess that just means I have unfinished business. My dreams haven’t changed. My goals are still there, and my vision for my future is clear.”

In three games of action this year, Daniels went 56-of-75 for 705 yards with five touchdowns and one interception. Last year, he also missed time with a shoulder injury but threw for 2,014 yards with 18 touchdowns and four interceptions while adding seven more scores on the ground.

While the video and statement do not explicitly rule Daniels out for the remainder of this season, he could preserve another year of eligibility via a redshirt if he plays in one or fewer additional games. If he redshirts, he will have two years of eligibility remaining; if he does not, he will have one year to play.

“Personally, it has been an incredibly difficult time being away from the game I love and not being able to play with my brothers in front of our incredible fans on Saturdays,” Daniels said in the statement. “The adversity that I have faced this season will help me come back even stronger when the time is right.”

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Written By Henry Greenstein

Henry is the sports editor at the Lawrence Journal-World and KUsports.com, and serves as the KU beat writer while managing day-to-day sports coverage. He previously worked as a sports reporter at The Bakersfield Californian and is a graduate of Washington University in St. Louis (B.A., Linguistics) and Arizona State University (M.A., Sports Journalism). Though a native of Los Angeles, he has frequently been told he does not give off "California vibes," whatever that means.