Kansas players get stretched out for practice on Saturday, Aug. 14, 2021 at Memorial Stadium.
Because there’s a new coach, a new philosophy and a new focus for the Kansas football program under first-year coach Lance Leipold, finding out what the team is all about, from the players who have built it, seemed like a worthwhile activity during Tuesday’s media day.
With that in mind, I checked in with 15 of the 25 players KU made available at this year’s media day to get their thoughts on the identity of this team as the Sept. 3 season opener draws near.
There were several different answers that covered everything from offense, defense, culture and mentality.
The overall theme of the answers was not so much that things are going to be different this year (a refrain that KU fans have heard over and over during the past 10 or so seasons), but that this group understands that it’s the little details and team chemistry and camaraderie that will take this group where it wants to go.
We won’t know how fast they’ll get there or even if they’ll get there under the new regime. But this group, from the coaches down to the players, is not shy on confidence, conviction and the desire and willingness to put in all the work they can to try to make it happen.
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.
