Kansas head coach Lance Leipold got told early in his career, in particular, that he didn’t enjoy wins enough.
“I always felt that that was already over and something new was on the horizon,” he said at the start of KU’s 2024 fall camp. “I think you’ve got to find that balance but stay focused. I’m not always great on all these sayings, so I apologize — it’s why the windshield’s bigger than the rear-view mirror, or something like that.”
After a landmark 2023 season, Leipold and the leaders of this year’s veteran football team — a group with more than 30 seniors in total, many of whom lifted KU to where it is now, a vastly more successful program than when Leipold arrived in 2021 — have tried to keep their eyes firmly focused on the windshield.
“We don’t have time to be complacent,” said senior running back and Lawrence native Devin Neal. “We don’t have time to mope around or act like we’ve been here before, because we haven’t. We’ve never been a Big 12 championship team, we’ve never been a playoff team.”
The subtext, of course, is that those goals may be within reach of the 2024 squad.
It’s not unreasonable to think so, given the combination of a few factors: that high level of returning experience, the overall upward trajectory (2-10 to 6-7 with a bowl appearance to 9-4 with a bowl win last December) and a favorable schedule in the new-look Big 12. Oklahoma and Texas are gone, replaced by Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado and Utah. And KU, which was picked to finish fourth in the league, only has to play one other member of the top five. It has to go to Manhattan to face Kansas State but does not play Utah, Oklahoma State or Arizona.
And with the new 12-team playoff format, a Big 12 winner is a national-title contender.
To even put itself in that conversation, KU needs to stay healthy, adapt well to new offensive coordinator Jeff Grimes’ system, find a pass rush from somewhere and get more consistent play from its linebackers. But each position group has reason for optimism ahead of the 2024 campaign.
Quarterbacks: The common refrain from KU coaches throughout the offseason has been that they have been given no indication that Jalon Daniels will be limited in any way during the 2024 season.
Head coach Lance Leipold said at Big 12 media days, “Our goal and our expectation is that Jalon will play every snap he’s able to play, dictated by score more than health.”
And after seeing Daniels make a welcome return to 11-on-11 work for the first couple days of fall camp, Grimes said, “I’d love to see him, like everybody, have the opportunity to be healthy and play every down, and lead our team to a championship. And I have no reason to think that that wouldn’t be the case based on what I’ve seen so far.”
As redemptive and as entertaining as Jason Bean’s late-season run was for KU last year, the return for Daniels is a welcome sight for the Jayhawks and their fans. The junior quarterback went into 2023 with sky-high expectations and the title of Big 12 preseason offensive player of the year. He ended up playing just three games after suffering a back injury during training camp that flared up at unpredictable times, at one point thrusting Bean into action as the starter at Texas on less than an hour’s notice.
The result of Daniels’ at times enigmatic absence was the circulation of constant rumors about his future and whether he would ever play again, which he has said took a toll on his mental health. He’s doing much better now: “I feel like right now, I’ve already ramped up to where I would be if I was playing a game tomorrow,” he said at Big 12 media days.
Bean is gone to the NFL, so Daniels’ presumptive backup is now Cole Ballard, who in 2023 got thrown into the fire as a true freshman and former walk-on and acquitted himself fairly well despite some costly mistakes. Ballard has frequently received praise from coaches and teammates for his maturity and leadership, which was on full display as he started the Sunflower Showdown last year.
Freshman quarterback Isaiah Marshall, renowned for his composure, is often compared to Daniels (which he embraces) and could figure very prominently into the Jayhawks’ future.
Running back: Neal had already carved out enough of a legacy to be remembered fondly by the KU faithful after just three seasons. The Lawrence native bet on his hometown program, stuck with it through a coaching change before he even made it to campus, and contributed from the opening days of his freshman year through the end of his junior season, helping mold KU into a winning program.
By November of last year, Neal thought he was headed for the NFL Draft. Instead, he realized he wasn’t content leaving just yet, and returned to KU with a good chance to set the Jayhawks’ all-time records for rushing yards and rushing touchdowns. In the offseason, he worked on pass protection and better understanding defenses.
“The intent is the same as it was when he showed up, which has been awesome,” position coach Jonathan Wallace said in the spring. “He is still trying to find little tidbits of what he can do to get better, and that’s one thing that you just love about the kid, is he wants to grow in every aspect of his game.”
Neal’s longtime partner in the backfield, Daniel Hishaw Jr., is also back for another year (and in fact could come back in 2025, too). He’ll provide the same old powerful running with a new digit on his back (No. 9), and he’ll look to string together a full season of production after running for just 213 yards on 61 carries in the final seven games of 2023.
Sevion Morrison will supply a pass-catching threat out of the backfield if he can stay healthy, and keep an eye on Harry Stewart III, one of the standouts of spring practice who Leipold suggested could get a chance to play as a true freshman.
Wide receivers: The level of continuity KU has experienced at this position is almost unthinkable in modern college football, as its top two tiers of receivers — Lawrence Arnold, Luke Grimm and Quentin Skinner as the primary three targets, followed by Trevor Wilson and Doug Emilien as additional options — have remained almost completely intact since the 2022 season. (Several contributed in 2021 as well.)
None of these Jayhawks grab headlines, at least on a national level — though that’s not to say any one of the top three couldn’t put together a breakout season in 2024 — but they provide a foundation for the passing attack (ameliorating some of the uncertainty at tight end) and a familiar group for Daniels as he makes his return to action. In preparation for that return, position coach Terrence Samuel worked extensively with his charges on “scramble rules” — i.e., knowing where to go when a quarterback leaves the pocket. He also gave them the chance to sit in on quarterback meetings for a more complete understanding of the offense.
The future of this group is a bit uncertain. Keaton Kubecka, a redshirt freshman, earned some playing time during his first campaign and could figure in further in 2024. Surahz Buncom and Tanaka Scott transferred in the offseason and Bryce Cohoon, a Maize native, joined from Syracuse.
Tight ends: Mason Fairchild was a threat for the Jayhawks and former offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki always seemed to find a way to scheme him open. With Fairchild gone, veteran Iowa State transfer and Topeka native DeShawn Hanika seemed poised to fill a similar role for Daniels and Grimes, until a leg injury in the spring cast his chances of playing in 2024 into doubt.
KU recruited another project pass-catching tight end, Goodland native Leyton Cure, in the spring. Cure, a promising athlete and former high school quarterback who flashed potential in three years and one real season of action at Division II Fort Hays State, is just one piece of the puzzle. The favorite to assume something resembling Fairchild’s role is now the 6-foot-5, 255-pound Trevor Kardell, a fifth-year senior who has just 16 career catches. Jared Casey, who has a longtime connection with Daniels and a knack for coming through in big moments (Texas in 2021 is the headliner, but consider his third-down reception at Iowa State last year), lacks a prototypical tight-end frame but will find ways to get involved.
Overall, though, Grimes, who oversees the tight ends, has assured them that no playing time is guaranteed. In his first tight end meeting, he said that everybody, “including you, Jared, including you, Trevor,” has to earn it.
Kansas offensive lineman Logan Brown stretches during warmups at fall camp on Monday, August 5, 2024, in Lawrence.
Offensive line: This is one of the most intriguing position groups on the roster, particularly on the interior, and one that abruptly switched from shallow to deep when Texas A&M transfer center Bryce Foster, after weeks of speculation, committed to KU for both football and track and field in mid-June.
Suddenly, the position-battle storyline that dominated the spring — the question of whether returning guard Michael Ford Jr. or Tiffin transfer Shane Bumgardner would slide into the middle to play center, with Ford possessing an apparent edge — took an abrupt left turn. Foster’s arrival meant that, if Foster could win the starting job, Ford could move back to guard, allowing longtime reserve Nolan Gorczyca and former Iowa State starter Darrell Simmons Jr. to settle back into rotational roles instead of battling for a starting spot opposite Kobe Baynes. (Michigan transfer Amir Herring also made his way to KU in the spring.)
Granted, Grimes has emphasized that (much like with the tight ends) nothing is assured, noted that Bumgardner had an excellent summer and mentioned that Foster could potentially also play guard. But with Foster’s SEC pedigree, history of quick adaptation and physical size, the most probable long-term group for the interior O-line is Ford, Foster and Baynes.
Bryce Cabeldue is back and will continue to lock down one tackle position (having returned from a late-season injury), but opposite him, KU has to replace Dominick Puni, who went to the San Francisco 49ers in the third round and became its highest-drafted player since 2008. Lawrence native Calvin Clements started the Guaranteed Rate Bowl and looked like he might have a chance to claim the spot, but onetime Wisconsin transfer Logan Brown is back from an injury of his own that kept him out in 2023 and is the favorite to start at the other tackle spot. Clements, Gorczyca (who can play guard and tackle, but recently primarily tackle), James Livingston and Simmons figure to serve as key reserves.
All are under a new position coach (though not new to Leipold), Daryl Agpalsa, who replaced Scott Fuchs in the offseason.
Defensive line: KU has an ongoing battle at weak-side defensive end that consists almost entirely of newcomers and has dominated discourse about the Jayhawks’ defense ever since Austin Booker declared for the NFL Draft following his lone season in Lawrence. He ended up a fifth-round selection by the Chicago Bears, making good on a one-year whirlwind that saw him arrive at KU with little fanfare and leave as the Big 12 defensive newcomer of the year.
Perhaps the top contender to replace Booker at the pass-rush spot is Dean Miller, an athletic former JUCO transfer who has functioned primarily as a special teamer but worked his way into the defensive picture by inching his weight closer to the desired 240 pounds. (He was at 227 in early April and is now listed at 235.)
“The light went on that ‘In order to be able to play, I got to be bigger,'” Leipold said. “I said we didn’t bring him just to only run down on kickoffs. He’s embraced it, and it’s good to see, and he’s got a chance to really help us.”
Michigan State transfer Bai Jobe, who was the top player in Oklahoma coming out of high school in 2023, entered the picture in May, and similarly highly touted recruits Dakyus Brinkley and DJ Warner have a chance to become some of the first true freshmen to see extended playing time for Leipold and his longtime defensive coordinator Brian Borland. Of note, Jobe was hampered a bit by a hand injury in the early days of fall camp.
The strong-side spot has a chance to be one of the best on the entire defense, meanwhile, with returning starter Jereme Robinson growing into a team leader and joined by sixth-year senior Youngstown State transfer Dylan Wudke. However, Leipold said it was “hard to get a read on” Wudke in the spring as he dealt with a hamstring injury.
Another particularly deep position is defensive tackle, even after KU lost the steady Devin Phillips to graduation and Gage Keys to the transfer portal. That’s largely because of the breakout offseason of Caleb Taylor, another player who has had newfound success keeping on weight, starting around the midpoint of 2023. Robinson called him “unhuman” at Big 12 media days, Borland recently said that “the lightbulb went on” and Leipold called him “a very respected leader in a very quiet way.”
Taylor is joined by several other longtime returnees, including D.J. Withers, Tommy Dunn Jr. and Kenean Caldwell, all under the watchful eye of position coach Jim Panagos. North Dakota State transfer Javier Derritt is a new addition with pass-rush potential on the interior.
Kansas linebacker Taiwan Berryhill Jr. warms up during fall camp on Monday, August 5, 2024, in Lawrence.
Linebackers: It’s a changing of the guard in the middle of the Jayhawk defense, as Rich Miller has exhausted his eligibility and been replaced by Cornell Wheeler.
Wheeler was actually one of KU’s best linebackers in a fairly small sample size last season, forcing some key turnovers, and he’ll now move into a leadership role as the Jayhawks’ top middle linebacker, as well as one of the first players on the team to take advantage of the newly legalized in-helmet communication. Position coach Chris Simpson has praised his natural feel for the game.
“Cornell will have some ability to be able to fix some things that ain’t exactly right,” Simpson said in the spring.
JB Brown and Taiwan Berryhill Jr. return as options at weak-side linebacker. While Berryhill missed some early action and struggled at times in 2023, Brown’s penchant for hard hitting was on full display throughout the year. His forced fumble against Oklahoma played a key role in the Jayhawks’ landmark upset. Leipold said he’s playing “fast and confident.”
“You can tell he’s really comfortable with what he’s supposed to be doing within our defense, and he keeps showing up,” he said.
The Hawk linebacker spot, a sort of linebacker-safety hybrid that until this year was filled quite adeptly by Craig Young (now with the Indianapolis Colts), has perhaps the most complex outlook of any position on the team. Borland recently laid it out as follows: When KU is in its 4-2-5 nickel package, the responsibility will fall to safeties Marvin Grant, Devin Dye or Jalen Dye; in base defense, linebackers like the previously rarely used Alex Raich or Young’s backup last year Jayson Gilliom will play. Simpson and Leipold had also mentioned redshirt freshman Logan Brantley as a prototypical Hawk option in the spring.
Cornerbacks: In Cobee Bryant and Mello Dotson, both preseason all-conference selections, KU has one of the league’s best secondaries and possibly one of the best top-two cornerback duos in the country, both entering their final season of college football. Enter D.K. McDonald, a new position coach and co-defensive coordinator who joins the Jayhawks from the NFL ranks, having worked with players like Darius Slay on the Philadelphia Eagles. Both players, as well as other members of the defense, have credited him for his coaching style and his instructions on what they need to do to make it to the next level.
Bryant is outspoken and aggressive, while Dotson is more reserved; however, the latter made a name for himself with key defensive touchdowns late in 2023.
“I feel like they (are) going to be scared to try both of us now,” Bryant said. “I feel like since they didn’t target me last year, they tried Mello and Mello made them pay. So I feel like they don’t got no option but to run the ball.”
The depth beyond those two has dwindled in the offseason with the graduations of Kalon Gervin and Kwinton Lassiter, meaning onetime LSU transfer Damarius McGhee, the man nicknamed “KSoo” who lost most of 2023 to injury, will have to step up. Behind him are players like Jameel Croft Jr., Brian Dilworth and a trio of highly touted new recruits in Jalen Todd, Aundre Gibson and Austin Alexander, with the early-enrolling Todd a particular standout.
Safeties: Prolific tackler and defensive leader Kenny Logan Jr. exhausted his eligibility after years of extensive contributions to KU, but this remains one of the team’s deepest position groups. Grant and O.J. Burroughs have seen extensive time over the last two seasons with some success. Borland remarked at the start of fall camp that Burroughs had the best nose for the ball of anyone in the group, but also challenged him: “He can be one of our best fundamental tacklers that we have, but he was also some of the worst. He led our team in missed tackles last year and played 60% of the snaps.”
Borland, who oversees the safeties (but acknowledged he’s ceded a lot of that responsibility to McDonald), has typically only deployed three safeties in a given season. That could squeeze out one of the Dye brothers; Jalen impressed in the spring of 2023 and had a defensive touchdown in KU’s Spring Showcase this past offseason, while Devin has made his own case for playing time since arriving from Utah State as a winter transfer.
“This secondary can definitely be special,” Devin Dye said. “Everyone just holding each other accountable is a big thing that I feel like if we focus on and we do that, this group could be special.”
Mason Ellis is a key special teamer and one of the fastest players on the team.
Special teams: KU was less visibly deficient on special teams last season, but the expected improvement with the addition of Sean Snyder to the coaching staff and Texas State transfer Seth Keller to the kicker group did not really materialize. KU finished a modest 60th in ESPN’s SP+ metric for special teams, and Keller was a respectable 11-for-14 on field goals, but his extremely limited range and his struggles clearing the line on extra-point attempts hamstrung the Jayhawks and helped cost them games against Oklahoma State and Kansas State.
KU tried to give big-legged backup Owen Piepergerdes some opportunities over the course of last season, which were largely unsuccessful. Snyder is gone to Oklahoma State (after initially appearing to leave coaching entirely), Keller has exhausted his eligibility, and Piepergerdes is now competing with Charlie Weinrich for this year’s placekicker spot, with Tabor Allen firmly ensconced as the kickoff specialist, though a competent field-goal kicker himself.
Damon Greaves is back for a second season as KU’s first-choice punter after averaging just 39.0 yards per kick as a freshman, albeit limiting opponents in the process; in fact, KU had what was statistically the nation’s best punt-return defense as it allowed just two returns for minus-6 yards.
The return game will look somewhat different after the graduation of Logan, and reserve wide receiver Trevor Wilson, who returned a punt for a touchdown against UCF in 2023, could be the favorite to assume both kick- and punt-return duties; however, he has struggled with fumbles that were, much like Keller’s poor point-afters, costly in two games last season. McDonald has said cornerbacks Cobee Bryant and Jacoby Davis could do some return work.
Mike Gunnoe/Special to the Journal-World
Mike Gunnoe/Special to the Journal-World
Mike Gunnoe/Special to the Journal-World