LAWRENCE — Kansas football coach Lance Leipold had no shortage of topics to talk about Thursday, answering questions about his new contract and more.
That meant Leipold took time to give his thoughts on some new transfer additions the Jayhawks signed ahead of the 2024 season. That meant he was reacting to how well Kansas' recent players have performed as they continue into their professional careers. And that meant he could look ahead to the team's spring showcase event in April.
As the Jayhawks continue to prepare for the upcoming campaign, here are some takeaways from what he had to say about all this.
Getting through the spring showcase in a healthy manner is a top priority
The Jayhawks will hold their spring showcase event this year at Rock Chalk Park as Kansas moves forward with renovations to David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium. It's April 12th at 7pm. It will be another chance for fans to watch a team build on its back-to-back bowl appearances and bowl wins.
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Leipold hopes it's a great opportunity for those fans, but what Kansas does probably won't be a huge departure from what the team did in 2023. During Leipold's tenure, the spring showcase included several scrimmations and an overall game. It had a practice-like atmosphere. And Leipold pointed out that they may be able to do even less.
This reasoning focuses on the reality that the Jayhawks have a lot of players who have played a lot of football, and in Leipold's opinion, holding a full scrimmage at the end of spring ball is probably not the best idea. Probably not. He highlighted the cornerback duo of Melo Dotson and Kobe Bryant as an example. People who need a job can get it in other ways.
“We keep adding and sometimes we add, but we don’t cut in any other way,” Leipold said. “So I think coaches have decided to reduce the importance of the spring game because football has changed. And we're working with our staff at other times to develop skills in other ways. And we might work on it, but I don't know if that's the other thing we need.”
Lance Leipold isn't surprised that Austin Booker has momentum heading into the NFL Draft.
Austin Booker and Dominic Puni, two key players on the 2023 Kansas football team, are examples that Leipold and his staff will look to when recruiting players in the transfer portal. Before they came to college, Booker hadn't played much at Minnesota and Puni was a Division II talent from Central Missouri looking to make the jump to Division I. After growing up with the Jayhawks, both are now likely to be selected here. This year's NFL Draft.
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Leipold, referring specifically to Booker, said he doesn't pay much attention to people saying he might be leaving. But Booker has gotten a lot of momentum heading into the draft, and that didn't come as a surprise to Leipold, even though Booker doesn't have much college experience outside of the 2023 season. Leipold compared Booker to the player he coached in Buffalo, 2021 third-round draft pick Malcolm Koonce.
Lance Leipold likes the veteran presence that Javier Derritt and Dylan Utke can provide.
Booker isn't the only key member of Kansas' defensive line who won't return in 2024, making him even more important for the Jayhawks to target in the transfer portal. Two additions were defensive lineman Javier Delritt from North Dakota State and Dylan Udoke from Youngstown State. And Leipold said the two bring stability as veterans.
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Of course, Derritt and Udoke are making their own leaps up the level of college football. They will be moving from Division I FCS competition to FBS competition. But Coach Leipold emphasized how competitive their football is and doesn't need the redshirt seniors to play some of the young defensive linemen before the Jayhawks are ready. I hope to guarantee that.
Leipold also expects the 6-foot-2, 280-pound Dellitt and the 6-foot-4, 265-pound Ukke to make big strides because of the resources available to them at their heights. level. This includes nutrition, strength training, and schoolwork. And Leipold noted that both players have a maturity level that makes him feel like a good fit for the team's culture.
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Jordan Guskey covers University of Kansas Athletics for the Topeka Capital Journal. He has been named the National Sports Media Association's 2022 Kansas Sportswriter of the Year. Contact him at jmguskey@gannett.com or @JordanGuskey on Twitter.
