Updated 2:48 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 10:
The Kansas football team is headed for a reunion with one of the architects of its offensive renaissance under Lance Leipold.
Matt Lubick, the current offensive coordinator at Nevada, will return to the Jayhawks as co-offensive coordinator and tight ends coach, Leipold announced on Tuesday afternoon.
A 30-year coaching veteran, Lubick previously served as a senior analyst for the Jayhawks during the 2022 and 2023 seasons, primarily working remotely, a role in which The Athletic’s Bruce Feldman (who first reported the hire) and others have credited him for aiding the implementation of KU’s option game under former OC Andy Kotelnicki.
“We’re very excited to welcome Matt back to Kansas,” Leipold said in a press release. “In his time here, he made valuable contributions to our program and our offensive evolution. Matt is an extremely accomplished coach and will be a great addition to our staff … I think he and (new offensive coordinator Jim) Zebrowski will work very well together in their roles.”
In October 2023, Lubick was diagnosed with leukemia but continued to help Leipold and the staff with their game plans. By the spring he was in remission and healthy enough to take the offensive coordinator role at Nevada under new head coach Jeff Choate.
“I’m so happy for Matt,” Leipold said at the time. “Really, I’m torn because I’m sad that he’s not part of our program, because not only is he an excellent football mind and coach, he’s even a better person.”
Lubick was a nominee for the 2024 Broyles Award for the top assistant coach in college football, as he molded the Wolf Pack into a solid team in the red zone (tied for 25th) and on third down (26th). Nevada also went from the Mountain West’s worst offensive team to its seventh of 12 through the air and on the ground.
At earlier stops in his career, Lubick was a renowned recruiter. Feldman once wrote, “At Ole Miss, he found an undersized three-star recruit in Florida named Dexter McCluster, who blossomed into a Rebels great. One year at Arizona State, he almost signed all 25 recruits by himself.” Lubick, the son of legendary Colorado State coach Sonny Lubick, has also coached for CSU as well as schools like Oregon State, Duke, Oregon, Washington and Nebraska.
“I could not be more excited for the opportunity to return to Kansas. Coach Leipold and his staff embraced me as family when I became an analyst in 2022,” Lubick said in the release. “I am beyond grateful for their continued support and love they have given me throughout my recovery of leukemia. The turnaround of Kansas football has been awesome to follow and the best is yet to come. Rock Chalk.”
One thing that has generally not been an explicit part of his responsibilities is coaching tight ends. Lubick has generally worked with receivers or occasionally defensive backs (as at ASU or OSU). But given the departure of Jeff Grimes, who coached tight ends as KU’s offensive coordinator, and the promotion to OC for Zebrowski, who works with quarterbacks, Lubick will need to oversee the tight ends.
Lubick will likely coach from the box, given that Zebrowski has spent most of his KU tenure on the sideline, including last year beginning with the West Virginia game as Grimes moved up to the box.
Analyst Tyler Bolfing helped coach tight ends last season and is still listed on KU’s staff; however, it’s not clear whether he will remain in Lawrence, and he had previously followed Grimes to KU from Baylor prior to the 2024 season.
It will be a fresh start for KU at tight end this year with the graduation of Jared Casey and Trevor Kardell. Iowa State transfer DeShawn Hanika has indicated on social media that he plans to return. He and Leyton Cure should be the main returning contributors at the position, and the Jayhawks have also pursued tight ends in the transfer portal.
AP Photo/Ted S. Warren
