Big 12 Coaches on KU football 2023

From 247Sports.com: Big 12 coaches speak anonymously about every team ahead of 2023 season, via Athlon Sports

What opposing Big 12 coaches told Athlon Sports about the Jayhawks … “What Lance [Leipold] showed last year is that they’re going to raise the floor to being a really hard team to shut down and to scheme for, and then if they can keep recruiting and developing, the ceiling is a lot higher than we thought for Kansas. … They’re a wildcard this season. They’re still not particularly talented, but they’re so creative on offense that it compensates in a lot of places. It’s a lot of work pre-snap and with formations, and they’re very disciplined in how they do it.”

Was Kansas a fluke last year? The Jayhawks started 5-0 before losing six of their last seven games. A key reason for that late-season collapse was the status of star quarterback Jalon Daniels, who missed four games due to injury in October and November. Daniels is a preseason favorite for Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year after earning All-Big 12 Second Team honors in 2022. A strong transfer class could lead to improvements on the defensive end for the Jayhawks.

This will be an interesting year for us. We were a surprise last year. But this year we won't sneak up on anyone. Can they at least match last year's record? If so, then I would say that we are well on our way to respectability. If not, it means that we are still a long way from rebuilding a consistently competitive program.

Life changes when people are prepared for you rather than looking ahead when you come to town.

I have said it for many years. KU needs a competitive football program or we will always be an afterthought in this ever changing world of re-alignment. Football is the driving impetus for re-alignment.