March 14, 2025 • 43 mins
This is the second part of Doug's conversation with Kansas head football coach Lance Leipold as he is in his fifth year with the Jayhawks. Doug and Coach Leipold discuss the rebuild at Kansas, what went into the plans for the brand new football stadium there, and the leadership qualities it takes in the modern world of college athletics.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:08):
Hey, what welcome in. I'm Doug Gottlieb. This is All
Ball part two of Lansleie pulled up coming if you
heard part one. If you didn't, it's amazing. But this
is you know, how he transitioned to Kansas football and
how you build something from nothing and now they've got
a stadium and how you sustain it. I think you'll
you'll love it. Uh, And that's our challenge, right, that's
(00:29):
our challenge at Green Bay. Obviously, our season finished record wise,
not the way we wanted. But I think everybody who
watches like, wow, you guys really got them playing hard
and you were onto something late in the year. And
there's lots of things we learned, and I think I'll
share them and I'll start to share them in the
next spot. But I will give you one, which is
players respond when there are players around them that all
(00:52):
want to be there, you know that all want to
be there. And it's one of the things we're going
through here in terms of, you know, the portal. Not
every kid that enters the portal wants to enter the portal,
and you know, you know, sometimes it is their choice
and you don't want them to. But I think that
the one commonality for teams that are still playing and
(01:14):
playing well in the NCA tournament, playing well in their
conference tournament is they have a high high percentage if
not all of the guys all in on the present, day,
the current and on. They want to be there, you know,
And it's a hard thing to determine, like do you
want to be here?
Speaker 2 (01:29):
Do you not?
Speaker 1 (01:30):
But you set standards, you hold them to them, and
the once you get a group and it could be
five guys, it could be seven guys, eight, it could
be hopefully twelve guys or whatever that all want to
be part of it, want to do it and do
it the right way, you end up getting more production
even with less talent than you ever thought possible. That
(01:51):
makes sense. Yes, do the most talented teams work, sure,
but they have to be teams and it's the most
talent did actual teams that work, not just the most
talented guys that work. I'm sure Lance Leopold knows that.
So let's get to part two, our interview with the
Kansas head coach LANs.
Speaker 3 (02:10):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Doug Gottlieb
Show weekdays at three pm Eastern noon Pacific on Fox
Sports Radio and the iHeartRadio appen.
Speaker 1 (02:21):
When you're too intent. The great thing about you being
too intent was you had one big at Whitewater. So
it's not like you don't know what you're doing. You
don't know the template, you don't have the resume for it.
But you also have to evaluate, Okay, we got to
change some things. How do you How do you personally
(02:42):
do it? Do you do you take notes? Do you
do individual meetings? Do you like again, and I'm not
talking just coaching, I'm not talking just players, staff as well,
and yourself self evaluation? How did you how did you
kind of self scout in order to get the program
back in the right direction?
Speaker 2 (02:59):
Well, a couple of different ways there. I think you know.
One of the things you know when things aren't going well.
You know, as head coaches, it's kind of like playing quarterback.
You get way too much credit when things are going well,
and you probably get to take too much criticism when
things aren't because the buck stops with you. But a
lot of times I'll try to I'll put it in
a staff meeting. What can I do better for you guys?
(03:21):
What am I not doing enough? I'll put it out there.
Let the assistant coaches give you feedback of where we
can need. The one thing that I think we've done
a good job wherever we've been is I think our
structure and discipline has been solid wherever we've been. So
expectations and the standard is the standard for us, so
that we're not going to compromise. We're not going to
compromise on effort levels and timeliness and all the little
(03:44):
things that we know that can be a difference down
the road. And as long as we're consistent in those ways,
the young men in the program are going to make
a decision if they're going to buy in or not,
and if not, they're you know, they then usually they
move on. But again there's you know, you get people
second guessing, whether it be yourself or the staff or
(04:05):
the scheme and everything that you're doing. But again, when
we looked at we're a pretty young football team, we
liked what we had coming back. We were playing hard
in a lot of ways. We knew where we were deficient,
and we found ways to try to improve upon it,
you know, through ourselves, scouting and a lot of different things.
Andy cold Nicky was our offensive coordinator, was now at
(04:26):
Penn State. I remember one of the things he went
through and did a study, and one of the things
was sometimes when you're a younger football team, you're trying
not to get beat and you're trying to keep games
close and get him in the fourth quarter, and you're
doing things. But one of the things that we found
out we didn't do was we didn't take enough shots
down field and to throw the ball down the field
and a lot of times instead of trying to drive
(04:48):
the ball for fifty yards, you need to try to
throw one and either get an interference call or come
down with a fifty to fifty ball and the next thing,
you know, and we made that a high point of
emphasis the next season and it started play dividends for us.
And again we've gone through I say this in our
I had three athletic directors in six years at Buffalo,
(05:10):
and I had five strength coaches in six years, and
we still ended up our last four years winning the
most games over a four year period than any other school. So,
as you know, it's got to be the continuity of
everybody who are some of the people that help you
you're athletic director in what you're doing anytime there's a
change in athletic director, there's always that pause because a
new person is going to survey the situation before they
(05:32):
jump in and do anything. Your strength coach, you're trying
to build consistency in your weight program. And again, but
the fortunate part is a lot of the guys that
were with me in Whitewater and other places, we're able
to keep a good nucleus of coaches and we didn't
have a lot of guys jump ship that way, and
I think that helped us.
Speaker 1 (05:50):
Your last year there was the COVID year.
Speaker 2 (05:52):
Yes, well what was that like? It was crazy? Again,
you know, some of it gets to be a blur,
but you know, you know, if you remember in COVID
and you remember the state of New York and what
it was like in that where there was daily press
conferences and from the governor and all these things of
everything being really shut down, and what you could do.
(06:13):
I thought our strength coach and our and our medical
people came up with a good way that we could.
We moved some weight room stuff to the open concourse
of the stadium, so we had open airlifting. We've tried
to find a way to keep going. We didn't get started.
We played a six game regular season and a five
game regular season and a conference championship game that we
(06:35):
came up short against Ball State, and then we won
a bowl game. But we found a game. We found
a way to win games. We played well. Probably the
benefit was we didn't we didn't play non conference games
were supposed to be Kansas State and Ohio State that year,
so that probably helped us a little bit. But I
remember that, you know, you're going through all the testing.
(06:55):
We're testing three times a week with our guys and waves,
and then you wait for the results and you're holding
your breath. You got enough guys, and we're going down
to play Coach Solizer's Ohio team, and we just got
done with with our meetings and walk through stuff and
we're gonna get on the bus. And they came up
to me and said, hey, you may want to have
(07:18):
to wait. Ohio's got some positive guys in the games
in Jeopardy, and I'm like, I can't tell the guys
that we may not play the game because mentally, then
guys are either gonna be disappointed or they're going to
check out. And then we've got to try to get
them back mentally ready to play. I said, we're going,
and so we got on the bus and we started going,
(07:39):
and we're gonna stop at a rest stop and grab
sandwiches that we had ordered from someplace. And I got
a call about an hour before we even got to
the rest stop that the game was canceled. So we
had to start and go through it all, go give
them their sandwiches, and then call them up and call
them all up and say, hey, bring it in here.
A game got canceled. We're heading back home, and stuff
(08:00):
that you never even think about these days. And in
all all the all the ways that you would try
to find a way to play a game, they would
you know, contact tracing and stuff like that. They would
try to, uh, they would have a stop watch about
how many seconds each guy was lined up against a
guy that was that was possibly uh you know positive. Yeah,
(08:22):
just just the thing that you're trying to do just
to get the game played is it was crazy. Uh.
Speaker 1 (08:28):
Is there any part of you that misses the bussing
to games because now you only bust the K State.
Speaker 2 (08:36):
We bust the Kick State and Iowa State. But you know, honestly,
Doug and the fact that my body's getting old, and
I don't My back's a little more sore after riding
those buses. I do believe that there's something about bus
trips that I will miss. I I look at it
as you know, we would at Whitewater. We had ones
(08:57):
all the way out to New Jersey. We we we
played Buffalo State in Buffalo, we played Dickinson, North Dakota.
I think they're good team building. I think they they
it's a I don't know if it's a badge of
honor or what it is, but I do think there's
something about it that, as we said earlier, when people
want to get into coaching, I do think everyone needs
(09:18):
an extended bus trip once in their career.
Speaker 1 (09:20):
No question. And to unload the bags. You're a little
man on the tone bowl. Yeah, unload the bags as well,
you know, right.
Speaker 2 (09:28):
And we always say there's that, you know, as a
as a head coach or whatever, hopefully you don't ask
somebody to do something that you haven't done yourself somewhere
along the line and you're still not willing to do.
Speaker 1 (09:38):
It's interesting. They the guys, my guys are always on me,
my assistant coach as so as I coach, you don't
have to get the bags. And I was like, I'll
be honest with you, I haven't necessary. I haven't been
doing this long enough to have somebody else get my back.
So I get the front seat. That's the only thing
I get, you know. And if I want to stop
for coffee, damn it, we stopped for coffee. Outside of that,
(09:59):
I'm just like any other any other smow you know,
only I'm not on my I can't tell them to
not be on their phones and be on my phone myself.
Speaker 2 (10:08):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (10:09):
So Kansas had won nine games in six years, nine
in six years, right, no facilities, And the m O was,
they don't care as long as basketball is winning championships,
and they won a gajillion big toll champions in row,
they don't care. Right, there's not enough in state players
(10:32):
at the time you got ou in Texas in the league. Heck,
even Oklahoma State in terms of funding, like just you
don't have a Boon Pickens to give a couple hundred
million dollars. Why why would you take on that challenge?
Speaker 2 (10:45):
Well, you know, part of it was some of the
same things that you know, try to build something that
hadn't been done. I had. I had some opportunities that
I thought that we're going to play out earlier in
the job cycle. And it was kind of one of
those who were getting close my wife, who's a great
(11:05):
reader of of of me that year before, like when
that COVID year, we ended up ranked twenty fifth in
the country in the final AP poll, and we had
a really good nucleus of players coming back. But I
came home once in February because this job opened really
late in the cycle. And but she said to me,
she goes, I think next year should be your last
(11:26):
year here. We need you need to look And I said, why,
she goes, you seem bored. You know, we had gotten
some facilities done. We got an indoor, we redid the
locker room, we got some things going. We built a
new a feeling station, things like that, and we had
gone from some of the worst facilities in Buffalo to
some of the better ones. And it was like some
(11:47):
of the things that I really take out as challenges
and and and then we had become a player led program,
doug and the things that you really try to strive for.
And and I was like, you know, maybe she's right,
And and I thought, you know, you go to a
place like Kansas is you know, you can do something
that maybe others haven't done, you know. And I had
(12:07):
mentioned Barry Alvarez before, and Barry's one of the reasons
Barry said he never left Wisconsin was much like Hayden
Fry never left Iowa. You have a chance to do
something consistently that has never been done at that school.
And I was like, you know what, I'm at an
age and a point of my career. If I'm ever
going to get a Power five job, this may be
the one, and let's take a swing at it. And
(12:29):
if you don't, if it doesn't work out, you end
up being just like the four or five before you.
And if you have a chance to get it going,
you can do something special for a place.
Speaker 1 (12:39):
Year one, you open up with South Dakota and you
get a win, and then you play Coastal Carolina.
Speaker 2 (12:49):
By the way, Doug, they stormed in the field after
we beat South Dakota.
Speaker 1 (12:54):
That's right, I forgot about that. What was that?
Speaker 2 (12:57):
Like? Well, we had to come back to win, and
I was like, you know, I said, Unfortunately, God blessed
the kids that stuck around and worked hard. Here I said,
we were too and ten that year. I said, but
we might have been. We might have been oh to
twelve on the eyeball test in pregame warm ups. Just
that it was. It was tough, it was, but you know,
(13:18):
we missed springball here. We didn't really know what we
had were We're trying to get kids to build, you know,
buy into our way of doing it, but getting a win.
But he said, but I know you're going to talk
about Coastal Carolina and that was a good Coastal team
and they got after us on the road.
Speaker 1 (13:34):
Well, I was just gonna the balance of that, and
all of a sudden's Coastal and You're like, oh uh
oh uh oh.
Speaker 2 (13:41):
I questioned, why were we going to Coastal even play?
First of all, you know, what are you know, those
are things that you're.
Speaker 1 (13:48):
You did you have the conversation because I had one
of these conversations like after you lose a game which
you knew you shouldn't have been scheduled, but it was
out of your control. You said, Okay, just so we're aware,
I said, I didn't want to play this game. We
didn't play this game. So from this point forward, I
get the yeah, I'm taking the l's I get to
I get the schedule.
Speaker 2 (14:07):
Yeah, and it's like if you're going to play those
those need to just be home games and things. But
you know, it's it's what it is, and you learn that,
you learn from it and go. But yeah, there's there's
a lot more saying scheduling.
Speaker 1 (14:19):
Now during the losing, because you lost I think seven
or eight in a row.
Speaker 2 (14:26):
Mm hm.
Speaker 1 (14:27):
But you had been through it before at Buffalo. But
what was it like at the Kansas level where you're
walking in the stadium's not right. You know, you're trying
to do something that hasn't been done. What are those
feelings like?
Speaker 2 (14:39):
Yeah, I can remember like the Baylor game and you
made something in front of you. I don't remember the score,
but I remember we were down like three scores at
halftime and and you walked into a locker room and
they were they were done. They are the confidence level
of our team and and and and not like blank, it.
Speaker 1 (14:56):
Was only fourteen to seven at half.
Speaker 2 (14:58):
Wasn't okay? But they're but they're but it was maybe
I'm missing another game there where it was like and.
Speaker 1 (15:06):
Half No, I know, listen, I know exactly what you're talking.
Speaker 2 (15:10):
About you know, they've gone through it so many times,
and you're like, Okay, how are we going to break
this cycle? And it's chipping away with confidence and finding
ways to work evic and and if you have unwavering
belief in the process, it's going to pay you back
and you keep working. But there were some times where
you looked at it and you could just see it
the the here we go again type things. One of
(15:32):
the things that we were able to start doing though,
is we we told it. We moved to a morning
practice philosophy from an afternoon. They had had really long
practices with the previous staff. We had shorter practices. We
moved faster, We got in, we did our work, We
did what we said we were going to do, and
we started to build trust with them by by acting
(15:53):
out and the kids started to trust us, and we
slowly got better.
Speaker 4 (15:59):
But to be Texas and it was wild. What do
you remember about the game? Well, I remember we got
up big and it was like, okay, here we go.
Then all of a sudden you could feel in the
fourth quarter, here they're coming. They're getting it together. So
then they tie it up and it goes into overtime.
Speaker 2 (16:14):
And and we won the toss and went on defense,
and I and I told, I told our offensive coordinator,
Andy cole Nikki. I said, Andy, if I said, if
they score, we're gonna if we score, we're going for
two right away. We're not going to keep playing this out.
And he goes, I have a play, so it's sure enough,
(16:37):
you know, it goes in there. And then a walk
on tight end who who the only reason why is
in a game because the third string walk on that
was ahead of them broke his broke his foot and
walked throughs on Thursday. So he jumps in and plays
and catches and catches the game winning two point conversion
and it and it really propelled us into some leaf
(17:00):
and confidence. We didn't win the last two games, but
we played a lot better. And and the way I
looked at that season after after it was done, Doug
was August. August was our spring ball because we didn't
get one. September was our fall camp. October was our
our beginning of the season, and and November ended up
(17:22):
being a kind of our mid year where we started
to improve. And when we left the field after losing
our last two even the TCU and West Virginia in
close games. We were at a we were at a
new confidence level of belief that this program could win games.
Heading into the twenty two sues.
Speaker 1 (17:39):
In twenty three, you kind of started out it was,
I mean, that's obviously your signature year. You won your
first four did you know, I mean nine wins in
the Big twelve is Jake hint? Did you know going
into the year you had some pession.
Speaker 2 (17:54):
Yeah, we had enough coming back that we thought we
could be good. You know, we had lost Jalen Daniels,
our quarterback year before when we started five in all,
its kind of like what you're saying about looking at
looking at the crowd of share with our strength coach.
We played we played Duke there in twenty two and
it was sold out, and you know in football sometimes
in a month maybe like in basketball as well as that,
(18:16):
when you go in after warm ups and then you
come back out and it's full, you kind of get
a different feel. And the strength coach came up to me,
he goes, can you believe we got him here this quick?
And so the twenty two season went well. Twenty three,
we you know, Jalen had gotten hurt. He came back
and played. We we play ours on the bowl game,
(18:37):
but we had enough snaps of returning players going into
twenty three, we thought we could be a very competitive foot.
Speaker 1 (18:43):
Let me pause for a second. How did you get
Jayleen'd begin?
Speaker 2 (18:47):
He was committed here before we got here. He the
previous staff signed him and brought him in, and he
played as a true freshman in the COVID season and
got sacked ten times against Oklahoma. The young man is outstanding.
Is back to that Texas win. We were going to
red shirt him then, and I said, but our two
(19:08):
other quarterbacks had gotten hurt. I said, Jalen. I said, well,
here we are. We're two and eight at the time,
and I said, we said we're going to red shirt you.
What do you want to do? He said, I'll do
anything you want, coach, whatever's best for the team. Most
guys today are going to check out and and say
back their year. And he has been amazing. He's he
(19:30):
believes in us, he's he hasn't wavered about leaving, and
now he's back for a sixth year. We're excited about him.
But you know, in twenty two, kind of jumping between
years here for you. Twenty two we had college game
Day and in twenty three we had big Noon here
and you know those were those were big moments for
this for this program and really for this university.
Speaker 1 (19:54):
Last year was did not go as expected. Now part
of it is I think it was good. It was good,
but it's hard. Sometimes getting those guys back is hard,
you know, like a Jalen when everybody you get huge
expectations as opposed to previously where they were lower expectations.
If you could go back for this last year, what
(20:16):
would you do differently?
Speaker 2 (20:18):
You know, I probably wasn't as hard as I as
I thought I was going to be on the details.
You know, I go, we got a good experience group.
They understand what we're doing, They're going to go through it,
they're doing it. I don't want to say we were complacent,
(20:39):
but I don't think we had the edge. And again
I kind of have references back to other parts of
my career, Doug Is. I remember after leaving Wisconsin after
my graduate assistant days and I came back and I
think they were like five and six the next year,
and I asked the strength coach, who was a friend
of mine, what's the difference. He goes, they don't understand
(21:00):
that they're now the hunted instead of the hunters. And
I think the same thing happened to us a little bit.
I think there were some times in twenty two and
twenty three I think it was it's still Kansas and
we're able to play to a level that sort now.
People you know, I know Illinois put a lot of
emphasis on after we've beaten them here, and they turned
(21:24):
out to be a very good football team. UNLB was
a good football team. We could not play our best
when our best was needed, and I don't think we
totally respected the fact how people were approaching us differently.
Speaker 1 (21:43):
How do you handle the idea that, if you're honest
and you look at it, six wins at Kansas is
the hell of a year for you. It's not your
personal expectations. Your personal standard is much high than that.
But in totality, in comparison to Kansas football the last
(22:04):
fifty years, especially in the Big Twelve, with the financial disparity,
with the regional recruiting, all these different things, how do
you push through the idea that the common fan looks
at or even the common coach just like, Hey, if
you can win six or seven year at KU. You're
doing a hell of a job. How do you handle that?
Speaker 2 (22:25):
Yeah, again, you can't compromise your expectations. I don't think
any of us, if we're competitors, go out there hoping
to play games close. There's no moral victories, you know.
I said that first year we played Oklahoma really close,
and they made an announcement on social media that at
(22:45):
halftime that everybody could come into the game free. And
I remember and Caleb Williams took the ball from the
running back on fourth down, I got the first down
to go in and score and beat us, and and
I went, I went to do the weekly radio show
in the local sports bar, and they gave a sustaining ovation.
My wife and I walked in and I said, I whispered,
(23:07):
he I go, can you believe they're clapping for us
playing close? And I said, we got to change this.
And and again the day we the day we settle
for being average, is the day we probably should step aside.
So again, you know, we and I think, as you mentioned,
for the highly competitiveness of this conference, especially if you
(23:29):
look at the twenty one season, Baylor was picked ninth
and won the league. You look at the twenty two
season where TCU made the College Football Playoff, okay, twenty three.
Whom I forgetting that well last year was Arizona, right yeah,
and they were they were going to be fourteenth or
sixteenth depending on who you looked at it, and they
end up in the College Football Playoff. You can look
(23:50):
at anybody in this new world of you know, between Rev.
Shaer and the portal, you have a chance if if
you if you make additions and I think the thing
and I don't know how it is in basketball, but
you can make it great additions to your program that
aren't flashy, ones that really get you over the hump.
(24:13):
You can add depth that you can add competition and
positions that people don't pay attention to, and you can
get yourself to be a really good football team.
Speaker 1 (24:24):
The new stadium. It's interesting because I think most of
US coaches would say, like, forget the facilities, give us
the money for the players. But KU is a bit
of the exception, right because that facility was just our game.
It just it didn't it said the university doesn't care.
(24:46):
What does it mean to have facility that in all honesty,
if not for you, it does not exist.
Speaker 2 (24:54):
It means a lot as far as stepp enough for commitment,
and really the timing isn't maybe the best as you're saying,
because we're stretching donors. Everybody stretching donors these days, we're
stretching them more than ever because we're trying to We're
four hundred and fifty million in Phase one and we
have a whole other side of the field to do
next season hopefully, and we're still trying to get the
(25:18):
rest of this done. So it but it goes to
what you said. It shows that we're going to be
We're going to be committed. It means we understand and
and no offense to you as a basketball but where
college football is in the TV revenue streams and what
we have to be. And it showed that our chancellor
(25:40):
and our athletic director, you know, as we went through this,
and how quickly this came together, and how quickly they
decided that we were going to make this happen, and
how quickly they put a shovel in the ground has
really been remarkable and it's starting to pay its dividends.
Speaker 1 (26:00):
Is there one thing about it that you specifically ask
for that you're getting.
Speaker 2 (26:05):
Well, yeah, there's a couple of bells and whistles, probably
a virtual walk through room. We've gotten some other things
kind of kind of done that. On virtual walk through room. Yeah,
you'll see. It's kind of a new thing where it's
their software where you can get mental reps and stuff.
Speaker 1 (26:22):
But so so gone to the days and in basketball
you have the manager tape out the court in the room.
Speaker 2 (26:28):
Well, yeah, yeah, we have a little more different than that.
I probably probably the one probably I don't know if
I've shared you there was by the office that I
will occupy, will have a fireplace in it, which will
be and I said, and my thing is I jokingly say,
like a fireside chat, but it is. But you know,
in today's world, of making people feel comfortable in a
(26:50):
setting that makes it one that you want, that was
one thing that we kind of try to strive for.
The one thing I did that after the twenty two
season we announced the when we announced this project was
I had to put in into the contract that we
were going to renovate by August one and we're gonna
(27:11):
and we're gonna get some things done by December because
I wanted to make sure that the players who had
invested it had really helped us turn this around, would
experience something in the renovation of this program before that,
because I knew with building a whole stadium they wouldn't
get a chance to play in it. So we renovated
(27:31):
the locker room in the weight room, and it was
really the two areas where they spend most of their
time were able to do some really nice upgrades that
the players that really were contributing to that had a
chance of experience.
Speaker 3 (27:43):
So that was one of To be sure to catch
live editions of The Doug Gottlieb Show weekdays at three
pm Eastern noon Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and the
iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 1 (27:55):
I want to bring in a guy who helped set
us up here today. Cowboy him keen Is is a
donor of ours and now he claims you guys are
like childhood friends. That is that accurate?
Speaker 2 (28:09):
Yes, it is. It's he's, uh, you know, I don't
know who's the benefactor of that or not, but it's
he's Actually, we're probably each other's first friend in life,
and we lived a block block away from each other,
and you know, we're probably in pre school of some
sort and my mother made me walk up the street
(28:31):
and and uh and and kind of I don't know
what they call in today's world, playdate type at the end.
Speaker 1 (28:37):
So go make a friend.
Speaker 2 (28:39):
Yeah, go make a friend and and run right, Yeah,
that's right, And the street light comes on. You're you
need to be home? But but what street did you
grow up on? Krantz Avenue?
Speaker 1 (28:52):
Okay, Tim, what what what street did you grow up on?
Speaker 2 (28:56):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (28:56):
I turn your mic on? But I mean, not tech
savvy at all, not tech savvy at all, makes more
money than all of us, not tex.
Speaker 2 (29:05):
Sav You got a mute button? There?
Speaker 1 (29:07):
Come on, do you have a microphone in your computer?
This is this is a this is a very minor detail,
but one in which apparently you've skipped over. Now we
can just talk bad about him and he can't do
anything about it.
Speaker 2 (29:19):
That's the beauty to it. I grew up here.
Speaker 1 (29:22):
Here's here's my so. I had a uh, A buddy
named Kurt Jensen, who I got Now I still can't hear.
You're on mute. You're on mute, cowboy, You figure that
thing out. And I just remember I moved to California
when I was six years old. My dad was an
assistant in Lombeach State, and uh I said, Hey, my
name is Doug. Do you want to be friends. I'm
(29:43):
just I'm picturing you and you and Cowboy way back
to the day. Tim. Listen, you have a mute button on.
You got to figure that thing out otherwise, I mean,
coach has got recruiting calls to make for crying out loud.
Here there you go. No, well there we go. You
got a make it up. We can hear you. But
(30:04):
it's very very very very faint, coach.
Speaker 2 (30:06):
Can you hear faint? It's muffled.
Speaker 1 (30:09):
Man, that's not gonna work. It's not gonna work working
to wrap it.
Speaker 2 (30:15):
You know. But I'll say this and Ana, but you, Doug.
The thing about about about Tim is he's been a
loyal friend. He's came out to all our games this year.
You know, in life, you know sometimes is especially in
this coaching world. You move you all over the country.
But when you can go back and keep your childhood friends,
you're really fortunate.
Speaker 1 (30:34):
No, that's amazing, that's really amazing. What Okay, So the
new world order you have rev share and that looks
like it should theoretically balance everything out for at least
in the big twelve. Right, your REV shares the same
as Case State, same as iow State, same as those state,
same as Houston, Texas Tech. All that reality is does
(30:56):
the REV share and then you also have your collectives?
So people are going to go above and beyond that?
Speaker 2 (31:01):
Correct, That's that's some means the multimillion dollar question. How
is that? How's that fully going to be regulated? They
feel like they have a good thing in a clearinghouse
type of set thing and for what is going to
be commercial nil things. But it's to me it's a
wait and see to see how that goes through. But
(31:22):
I do think that all in, all that you know
is completely balanced. I do think we're in the same
ball with people.
Speaker 1 (31:29):
Okay, here's the question. How do you balance out continuity
with talent? In other words, you take on a kid
and everybody, everybody in the portal is better than the
guys that you have, right right, But if you keep
this kid, you've had them in your program for a
year or two years, as opposed to somebody else, it's
like somebody else's VCR you're trying to reprogram. How do
(31:52):
you balance that out when you're putting together rust.
Speaker 2 (31:55):
One of the things that we talked about, Doug is
is a culture of competition is what we're trying to established.
And we still feel like Kansas we have to be
a developmental program now. Where there's gaps or there's unexpected
attrition or other things, that's where we want to hit
the portal. We want to hit some things if the
development isn't happening fast enough. But again, you're right, you've
(32:17):
got to try to find it because guys will hit
the e jet button really quick and that continuity is
so important for your team. In the twenty two year,
in the January twenty two we brought some guys in
and the portal and the interesting thing was what I
found out was the current younger players at that time
really stepped their game up and they hung on to
(32:39):
their starting jobs and really it created better competition. And
you're talking about what Kansas was for many years. I
think we walked into a situation here where players thought
that they would inherit playing time if they just hung
around long enough. If I go through it long enough,
I stay, I'll get the plan and I'll get my film. Yeah,
(33:00):
And and what happened was when with the with the portal.
Now you can go bring in somebody that's a little older,
might have might have played, made played somewhere else. And
and I'll never forget. We brought in a transfer and
I had a current starter who had a good friend
I was a younger player, and he said, what's the matter, coach?
He texted me one night, you don't believe in so
(33:21):
and so. I said, yeah, I believe in so and so.
I just want more depth at the position and competition.
And the thing is with that that current player hung
on to his starting job. It made the team better though,
And I think that's one positive that the portal can give.
Speaker 1 (33:38):
When you're in the portal, how do you handle the
like how do you try and find out what the kids'
priorities are?
Speaker 2 (33:48):
You know, obviously you got to make your background calls.
You got to find those things. And again then through
the question you try to dig in what are you
hoping for? Is it again? Why why are you leaving? Okay,
that's the other thing. If if you if you see
a lot of finger pointing and blaming, then you don't
know if that's a good fit. Again, a lot of them,
(34:09):
you know a lot of them as well. I want
to get to the league or I want to do this,
but how are you going to get there? What are
you willing to do? Are you are? You know what's
like you said, the priority of you want to try
to help the help the team get better. Hey, I'm
just looking at try to get to play. I understand
I got to earn it. You know, when they start talking,
if it starts, if the conversation start financially first, and
(34:32):
the amount of snaps, we're probably not in the right
ballpark with that individual. If it gets more about program,
an opportunity and and and helping a program, then we
found out that we got a good mix.
Speaker 1 (34:45):
Yeah, it's a it's a very interesting Obviously everybody knows
the lead with money. You're like, yeah, we're good. But
but my big one is when they don't talk about winning.
You know, if you'd have mentioned, you know, winning, then.
Speaker 2 (35:00):
Uh.
Speaker 1 (35:00):
And then I asked him. I usually asked him a
basketball like you question, just to see what I'm dealing
with and to see how how how deep it is.
My problem is now I have too many smart ones
and I need I need a little bit more, a
little bit of hits in there. Gidea if you will Yeah, yep,
what's the ceiling. What's the what's the realistic ceiling for
KA football?
Speaker 2 (35:21):
Well, again, like I said earlier, I think in today's
world of college football, there's no reason why we can
actual be for Big twelve championships and with with multiple
opportunitunities to be a team that can be a playoff team.
I think that's I think that's legitimate for for ninety
percent of the power forward programs in the country. I
(35:41):
really do, and I think our conference as much as
any What was there ever a moment though, because it
is your name, when you guys pop up with nine
games and you flip it that quick, you know you're
the Taco College football and yet you stayed you stayed.
Speaker 1 (35:58):
Was there a moment last year when you're going through
all the injuries and you're going through a season that
wasn't as good as your thought that you're like, why
did do this?
Speaker 2 (36:07):
When I leave, I think there's more point of disappointment
that I was letting people down, that this team wasn't
reaching what its potential was. But I have not sit
there gone I should have done this or done this
and looked and taken this other opportunity you know, I'm
sure through your Oklahoma State days, you know, Lawrence, Kansas
(36:29):
is a nice college town. It's really a good place people.
My wife and I and our son, we really enjoy
it here. And the thing is, Doug, I could say this,
there's not a time that we're probably not out somewhere
or doing something where somebody doesn't come up and say
thank you or something. I truly feel that our work
(36:49):
and things here are appreciated and I want to continue that.
And with that is I do feel that I haven't
when you looked a little bit about you talk a
little bit about my career through this talk is I'd
like to think that I'm on the lower end of
career moves. When you when you look at things, and
many times I repeated back where I was at before.
(37:12):
I'm not a job hopper. I'm not one to take
a lot of risks and do those things. So once
I find the place and we're happy, I'm I'm good.
Your parents still lot, No, they're not. Unfortunately my father
my mother passed you know, over twenty five years ago
and from cancer, and then Dad passed about three months
(37:33):
before I took this job.
Speaker 1 (37:34):
So I wonder what he would say if he knew
you made or five million dollars coaching football, he.
Speaker 2 (37:41):
Would he would He's probably turning over in his grave.
Speaker 1 (37:46):
What would what would what would Lance say to Lance? Like,
twenty three year old making five hundred dollars to coach
football and meanwhile, you're trying to be a cop. You
know at other hours, if you were to tell yourself, Hey,
you're gonna be sixty and you're gonna make five and
that million dollars coach college football, what would you say?
Speaker 2 (38:07):
No? Way, You're the luckiest man on earth. And and
you know there's days where you really embrace it and
you go through it and you're so fortunate, and sometimes
it's crazy, and but I don't pay attention. My wife
does that, and as she all tells me, I still
act like I make the five hundred bucks that I
made before.
Speaker 1 (38:28):
It's always funny though, you start making more money, and
you know, like all you wear is your school clothing anyway,
so you say, have a ton of money.
Speaker 2 (38:35):
All right.
Speaker 1 (38:36):
Last thing, I've lived in Wisconsin now for I don't know,
eight nine months, and one thing I know is people
love their sports. And then in the summer or outside
of the sports season. They either hunt and fish or
they play golf, which are you neither?
Speaker 2 (38:53):
I don't have hobbies. We go to the beach maybe
in Florida or something. But I thought you're gonna bring
up the one thing that would I would do if
in Wisconsin. If I was you, I'd go to Summerfest
in Milwaukee.
Speaker 1 (39:05):
Oh, I mean I went last year, no question.
Speaker 2 (39:07):
That's that was definitely a staple. So Brewers brought worst Summerfest.
Those are those are some of my.
Speaker 1 (39:15):
Hobbies I've done. I've done all three of those. And
I did seven Packer games last year. Yeah, I overloaded
on Packers. It was awesome.
Speaker 2 (39:23):
Now, if I may ask a good questions, did you
at Milwaukee at one time?
Speaker 1 (39:27):
Yes, seventy five to eighty one.
Speaker 2 (39:29):
Did he did he work for like A Did he
do something with the recruiting service at one time later
in his career or something? Yeah, I remember talking to
him on the phone one time. Wave. I think I
was working in Omaha at that time.
Speaker 1 (39:43):
I guarantee you did. That's why you know, it's like
there's not a gym I go into that. People don't
know my dad, especially at the lower levels. You know,
he had a great relationship with coach Bennett back in
the day when you know and you name it versus
Pearl when he was at Southern Indiana U. So what
he did was he went from being a high school
coach to Division one assistant. He was a k State
(40:06):
and at Creighton with coach Sutton was Jack Hartman. At
k State, he was head coach Jacksonville, head coaching Milwaukee,
and he was assistant with text Winner his assistant for
one year of Ralph Miller Oregon State. And then he
kind of tooled around minor leagues and so he started
coaching youth basketball, and then youth basketball became AU basketball
(40:26):
became like a basketball academy, and he used to have
a goal that every kid in his top team gets
a Division one scholarship. So he's calling around, putting together
highlight tapes, and he knew everybody in the sport. And
so at some point somebody grip pulled him aside and said, hey,
you know, you can make money doing this. And it
was about, you know, my senior year that he started
(40:48):
going and evaluating kids. He'd fly over the country, pop
into a random high school game, evaluate a kid, go
meet the parents and say like who's the recruiting your son,
They'd say nobody. He say, all right, listen again him
a Division one scholarship, be this much, two, this much three,
And because the access to college was valuable for these kids,
and so he would he called everybody. He was just
(41:09):
had an amazing work ethic with calling people, and he
was his belief which he instilled in me, which is,
you know, getting a kid to a college campus is
a life changing moment. Do whatever you can, just around
people at a college, chance of them being married, being successful,
being out of jail, breaking the cycle, whatever, always all
gets better if you just get into college. And then
(41:30):
if you get into one where it fits, they can play.
Now you're cooking and and that's what he did. So
you know, he did that literally up until just about
the day he died. He was coaching AU basketball, trying
to play kids in college.
Speaker 2 (41:44):
Wow. Awesome, awesome.
Speaker 1 (41:46):
Yeah, Well, well listen, I'm gonna make it to a
game this year. I don't appreciate, but I do completely
respect the fact that your first year you got smoked
by Oklahoma State, and then the next time they come
to Lawrence it's the complete opposite, Right, I'm really kind
of remarkable, remarkable. But I'm coming to a Jayhawk game
(42:06):
this year and maybe we'll play the Jayhawks and hoops.
We'll see coach elf sif we're going to do it,
but I'll wait till I see that contract.
Speaker 2 (42:12):
That'd be great.
Speaker 1 (42:13):
But listen, it's an honor to talk to you because
you are a builder, you are a somebody who I
think everybody in college football has an immense, immense amount
of respect for how you do and what you do,
not just at KU, but at Buffalo and at Whitewater previously.
So I truly appreciate your time.
Speaker 2 (42:31):
Well I appreciate it too. Thanks for the opportunity. I
really enjoyed it, and let's do it begin, no doubt.
Thanks you much to the way, Thank you, thank you
see a cowboy.
Speaker 1 (42:43):
Wow, my thanks to coach Leopold for joining us, spending
all that time. Pretty awesome stuff. I hope you enjoyed,
Coach in both of those those two editions of All Ball.
Remember the Doug Gottlieb Show or airs daily three to
five e's from twelve two Pacific Fox Sports Tradio. Iheartradiot Plus.
You download that in podcast form anytime you want. Just
(43:03):
type in Doug ot this podcast. In the meantime, I'm
Doug Gottliebin. This is all ball.
Hey, what welcome in. I'm Doug Gottlieb. This is All
Ball part two of Lansleie pulled up coming if you
heard part one. If you didn't, it's amazing. But this
is you know, how he transitioned to Kansas football and
how you build something from nothing and now they've got
a stadium and how you sustain it. I think you'll
you'll love it. Uh, And that's our challenge, right, that's
(00:29):
our challenge at Green Bay. Obviously, our season finished record wise,
not the way we wanted. But I think everybody who
watches like, wow, you guys really got them playing hard
and you were onto something late in the year. And
there's lots of things we learned, and I think I'll
share them and I'll start to share them in the
next spot. But I will give you one, which is
players respond when there are players around them that all
(00:52):
want to be there, you know that all want to
be there. And it's one of the things we're going
through here in terms of, you know, the portal. Not
every kid that enters the portal wants to enter the portal,
and you know, you know, sometimes it is their choice
and you don't want them to. But I think that
the one commonality for teams that are still playing and
(01:14):
playing well in the NCA tournament, playing well in their
conference tournament is they have a high high percentage if
not all of the guys all in on the present, day,
the current and on. They want to be there, you know,
And it's a hard thing to determine, like do you
want to be here?
Speaker 2 (01:29):
Do you not?
Speaker 1 (01:30):
But you set standards, you hold them to them, and
the once you get a group and it could be
five guys, it could be seven guys, eight, it could
be hopefully twelve guys or whatever that all want to
be part of it, want to do it and do
it the right way, you end up getting more production
even with less talent than you ever thought possible. That
(01:51):
makes sense. Yes, do the most talented teams work, sure,
but they have to be teams and it's the most
talent did actual teams that work, not just the most
talented guys that work. I'm sure Lance Leopold knows that.
So let's get to part two, our interview with the
Kansas head coach LANs.
Speaker 3 (02:10):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Doug Gottlieb
Show weekdays at three pm Eastern noon Pacific on Fox
Sports Radio and the iHeartRadio appen.
Speaker 1 (02:21):
When you're too intent. The great thing about you being
too intent was you had one big at Whitewater. So
it's not like you don't know what you're doing. You
don't know the template, you don't have the resume for it.
But you also have to evaluate, Okay, we got to
change some things. How do you How do you personally
(02:42):
do it? Do you do you take notes? Do you
do individual meetings? Do you like again, and I'm not
talking just coaching, I'm not talking just players, staff as well,
and yourself self evaluation? How did you how did you
kind of self scout in order to get the program
back in the right direction?
Speaker 2 (02:59):
Well, a couple of different ways there. I think you know.
One of the things you know when things aren't going well.
You know, as head coaches, it's kind of like playing quarterback.
You get way too much credit when things are going well,
and you probably get to take too much criticism when
things aren't because the buck stops with you. But a
lot of times I'll try to I'll put it in
a staff meeting. What can I do better for you guys?
(03:21):
What am I not doing enough? I'll put it out there.
Let the assistant coaches give you feedback of where we
can need. The one thing that I think we've done
a good job wherever we've been is I think our
structure and discipline has been solid wherever we've been. So
expectations and the standard is the standard for us, so
that we're not going to compromise. We're not going to
compromise on effort levels and timeliness and all the little
(03:44):
things that we know that can be a difference down
the road. And as long as we're consistent in those ways,
the young men in the program are going to make
a decision if they're going to buy in or not,
and if not, they're you know, they then usually they
move on. But again there's you know, you get people
second guessing, whether it be yourself or the staff or
(04:05):
the scheme and everything that you're doing. But again, when
we looked at we're a pretty young football team, we
liked what we had coming back. We were playing hard
in a lot of ways. We knew where we were deficient,
and we found ways to try to improve upon it,
you know, through ourselves, scouting and a lot of different things.
Andy cold Nicky was our offensive coordinator, was now at
(04:26):
Penn State. I remember one of the things he went
through and did a study, and one of the things
was sometimes when you're a younger football team, you're trying
not to get beat and you're trying to keep games
close and get him in the fourth quarter, and you're
doing things. But one of the things that we found
out we didn't do was we didn't take enough shots
down field and to throw the ball down the field
and a lot of times instead of trying to drive
(04:48):
the ball for fifty yards, you need to try to
throw one and either get an interference call or come
down with a fifty to fifty ball and the next thing,
you know, and we made that a high point of
emphasis the next season and it started play dividends for us.
And again we've gone through I say this in our
I had three athletic directors in six years at Buffalo,
(05:10):
and I had five strength coaches in six years, and
we still ended up our last four years winning the
most games over a four year period than any other school. So,
as you know, it's got to be the continuity of
everybody who are some of the people that help you
you're athletic director in what you're doing anytime there's a
change in athletic director, there's always that pause because a
new person is going to survey the situation before they
(05:32):
jump in and do anything. Your strength coach, you're trying
to build consistency in your weight program. And again, but
the fortunate part is a lot of the guys that
were with me in Whitewater and other places, we're able
to keep a good nucleus of coaches and we didn't
have a lot of guys jump ship that way, and
I think that helped us.
Speaker 1 (05:50):
Your last year there was the COVID year.
Speaker 2 (05:52):
Yes, well what was that like? It was crazy? Again,
you know, some of it gets to be a blur,
but you know, you know, if you remember in COVID
and you remember the state of New York and what
it was like in that where there was daily press
conferences and from the governor and all these things of
everything being really shut down, and what you could do.
(06:13):
I thought our strength coach and our and our medical
people came up with a good way that we could.
We moved some weight room stuff to the open concourse
of the stadium, so we had open airlifting. We've tried
to find a way to keep going. We didn't get started.
We played a six game regular season and a five
game regular season and a conference championship game that we
(06:35):
came up short against Ball State, and then we won
a bowl game. But we found a game. We found
a way to win games. We played well. Probably the
benefit was we didn't we didn't play non conference games
were supposed to be Kansas State and Ohio State that year,
so that probably helped us a little bit. But I
remember that, you know, you're going through all the testing.
(06:55):
We're testing three times a week with our guys and waves,
and then you wait for the results and you're holding
your breath. You got enough guys, and we're going down
to play Coach Solizer's Ohio team, and we just got
done with with our meetings and walk through stuff and
we're gonna get on the bus. And they came up
to me and said, hey, you may want to have
(07:18):
to wait. Ohio's got some positive guys in the games
in Jeopardy, and I'm like, I can't tell the guys
that we may not play the game because mentally, then
guys are either gonna be disappointed or they're going to
check out. And then we've got to try to get
them back mentally ready to play. I said, we're going,
and so we got on the bus and we started going,
(07:39):
and we're gonna stop at a rest stop and grab
sandwiches that we had ordered from someplace. And I got
a call about an hour before we even got to
the rest stop that the game was canceled. So we
had to start and go through it all, go give
them their sandwiches, and then call them up and call
them all up and say, hey, bring it in here.
A game got canceled. We're heading back home, and stuff
(08:00):
that you never even think about these days. And in
all all the all the ways that you would try
to find a way to play a game, they would
you know, contact tracing and stuff like that. They would
try to, uh, they would have a stop watch about
how many seconds each guy was lined up against a
guy that was that was possibly uh you know positive. Yeah,
(08:22):
just just the thing that you're trying to do just
to get the game played is it was crazy. Uh.
Speaker 1 (08:28):
Is there any part of you that misses the bussing
to games because now you only bust the K State.
Speaker 2 (08:36):
We bust the Kick State and Iowa State. But you know, honestly,
Doug and the fact that my body's getting old, and
I don't My back's a little more sore after riding
those buses. I do believe that there's something about bus
trips that I will miss. I I look at it
as you know, we would at Whitewater. We had ones
(08:57):
all the way out to New Jersey. We we we
played Buffalo State in Buffalo, we played Dickinson, North Dakota.
I think they're good team building. I think they they
it's a I don't know if it's a badge of
honor or what it is, but I do think there's
something about it that, as we said earlier, when people
want to get into coaching, I do think everyone needs
(09:18):
an extended bus trip once in their career.
Speaker 1 (09:20):
No question. And to unload the bags. You're a little
man on the tone bowl. Yeah, unload the bags as well,
you know, right.
Speaker 2 (09:28):
And we always say there's that, you know, as a
as a head coach or whatever, hopefully you don't ask
somebody to do something that you haven't done yourself somewhere
along the line and you're still not willing to do.
Speaker 1 (09:38):
It's interesting. They the guys, my guys are always on me,
my assistant coach as so as I coach, you don't
have to get the bags. And I was like, I'll
be honest with you, I haven't necessary. I haven't been
doing this long enough to have somebody else get my back.
So I get the front seat. That's the only thing
I get, you know. And if I want to stop
for coffee, damn it, we stopped for coffee. Outside of that,
(09:59):
I'm just like any other any other smow you know,
only I'm not on my I can't tell them to
not be on their phones and be on my phone myself.
Speaker 2 (10:08):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (10:09):
So Kansas had won nine games in six years, nine
in six years, right, no facilities, And the m O was,
they don't care as long as basketball is winning championships,
and they won a gajillion big toll champions in row,
they don't care. Right, there's not enough in state players
(10:32):
at the time you got ou in Texas in the league. Heck,
even Oklahoma State in terms of funding, like just you
don't have a Boon Pickens to give a couple hundred
million dollars. Why why would you take on that challenge?
Speaker 2 (10:45):
Well, you know, part of it was some of the
same things that you know, try to build something that
hadn't been done. I had. I had some opportunities that
I thought that we're going to play out earlier in
the job cycle. And it was kind of one of
those who were getting close my wife, who's a great
(11:05):
reader of of of me that year before, like when
that COVID year, we ended up ranked twenty fifth in
the country in the final AP poll, and we had
a really good nucleus of players coming back. But I
came home once in February because this job opened really
late in the cycle. And but she said to me,
she goes, I think next year should be your last
(11:26):
year here. We need you need to look And I said, why,
she goes, you seem bored. You know, we had gotten
some facilities done. We got an indoor, we redid the
locker room, we got some things going. We built a
new a feeling station, things like that, and we had
gone from some of the worst facilities in Buffalo to
some of the better ones. And it was like some
(11:47):
of the things that I really take out as challenges
and and and then we had become a player led program,
doug and the things that you really try to strive for.
And and I was like, you know, maybe she's right,
And and I thought, you know, you go to a
place like Kansas is you know, you can do something
that maybe others haven't done, you know. And I had
(12:07):
mentioned Barry Alvarez before, and Barry's one of the reasons
Barry said he never left Wisconsin was much like Hayden
Fry never left Iowa. You have a chance to do
something consistently that has never been done at that school.
And I was like, you know what, I'm at an
age and a point of my career. If I'm ever
going to get a Power five job, this may be
the one, and let's take a swing at it. And
(12:29):
if you don't, if it doesn't work out, you end
up being just like the four or five before you.
And if you have a chance to get it going,
you can do something special for a place.
Speaker 1 (12:39):
Year one, you open up with South Dakota and you
get a win, and then you play Coastal Carolina.
Speaker 2 (12:49):
By the way, Doug, they stormed in the field after
we beat South Dakota.
Speaker 1 (12:54):
That's right, I forgot about that. What was that?
Speaker 2 (12:57):
Like? Well, we had to come back to win, and
I was like, you know, I said, Unfortunately, God blessed
the kids that stuck around and worked hard. Here I said,
we were too and ten that year. I said, but
we might have been. We might have been oh to
twelve on the eyeball test in pregame warm ups. Just
that it was. It was tough, it was, but you know,
(13:18):
we missed springball here. We didn't really know what we
had were We're trying to get kids to build, you know,
buy into our way of doing it, but getting a win.
But he said, but I know you're going to talk
about Coastal Carolina and that was a good Coastal team
and they got after us on the road.
Speaker 1 (13:34):
Well, I was just gonna the balance of that, and
all of a sudden's Coastal and You're like, oh uh
oh uh oh.
Speaker 2 (13:41):
I questioned, why were we going to Coastal even play?
First of all, you know, what are you know, those
are things that you're.
Speaker 1 (13:48):
You did you have the conversation because I had one
of these conversations like after you lose a game which
you knew you shouldn't have been scheduled, but it was
out of your control. You said, Okay, just so we're aware,
I said, I didn't want to play this game. We
didn't play this game. So from this point forward, I
get the yeah, I'm taking the l's I get to
I get the schedule.
Speaker 2 (14:07):
Yeah, and it's like if you're going to play those
those need to just be home games and things. But
you know, it's it's what it is, and you learn that,
you learn from it and go. But yeah, there's there's
a lot more saying scheduling.
Speaker 1 (14:19):
Now during the losing, because you lost I think seven
or eight in a row.
Speaker 2 (14:26):
Mm hm.
Speaker 1 (14:27):
But you had been through it before at Buffalo. But
what was it like at the Kansas level where you're
walking in the stadium's not right. You know, you're trying
to do something that hasn't been done. What are those
feelings like?
Speaker 2 (14:39):
Yeah, I can remember like the Baylor game and you
made something in front of you. I don't remember the score,
but I remember we were down like three scores at
halftime and and you walked into a locker room and
they were they were done. They are the confidence level
of our team and and and and not like blank, it.
Speaker 1 (14:56):
Was only fourteen to seven at half.
Speaker 2 (14:58):
Wasn't okay? But they're but they're but it was maybe
I'm missing another game there where it was like and.
Speaker 1 (15:06):
Half No, I know, listen, I know exactly what you're talking.
Speaker 2 (15:10):
About you know, they've gone through it so many times,
and you're like, Okay, how are we going to break
this cycle? And it's chipping away with confidence and finding
ways to work evic and and if you have unwavering
belief in the process, it's going to pay you back
and you keep working. But there were some times where
you looked at it and you could just see it
the the here we go again type things. One of
(15:32):
the things that we were able to start doing though,
is we we told it. We moved to a morning
practice philosophy from an afternoon. They had had really long
practices with the previous staff. We had shorter practices. We
moved faster, We got in, we did our work, We
did what we said we were going to do, and
we started to build trust with them by by acting
(15:53):
out and the kids started to trust us, and we
slowly got better.
Speaker 4 (15:59):
But to be Texas and it was wild. What do
you remember about the game? Well, I remember we got
up big and it was like, okay, here we go.
Then all of a sudden you could feel in the
fourth quarter, here they're coming. They're getting it together. So
then they tie it up and it goes into overtime.
Speaker 2 (16:14):
And and we won the toss and went on defense,
and I and I told, I told our offensive coordinator,
Andy cole Nikki. I said, Andy, if I said, if
they score, we're gonna if we score, we're going for
two right away. We're not going to keep playing this out.
And he goes, I have a play, so it's sure enough,
(16:37):
you know, it goes in there. And then a walk
on tight end who who the only reason why is
in a game because the third string walk on that
was ahead of them broke his broke his foot and
walked throughs on Thursday. So he jumps in and plays
and catches and catches the game winning two point conversion
and it and it really propelled us into some leaf
(17:00):
and confidence. We didn't win the last two games, but
we played a lot better. And and the way I
looked at that season after after it was done, Doug
was August. August was our spring ball because we didn't
get one. September was our fall camp. October was our
our beginning of the season, and and November ended up
(17:22):
being a kind of our mid year where we started
to improve. And when we left the field after losing
our last two even the TCU and West Virginia in
close games. We were at a we were at a
new confidence level of belief that this program could win games.
Heading into the twenty two sues.
Speaker 1 (17:39):
In twenty three, you kind of started out it was,
I mean, that's obviously your signature year. You won your
first four did you know, I mean nine wins in
the Big twelve is Jake hint? Did you know going
into the year you had some pession.
Speaker 2 (17:54):
Yeah, we had enough coming back that we thought we
could be good. You know, we had lost Jalen Daniels,
our quarterback year before when we started five in all,
its kind of like what you're saying about looking at
looking at the crowd of share with our strength coach.
We played we played Duke there in twenty two and
it was sold out, and you know in football sometimes
in a month maybe like in basketball as well as that,
(18:16):
when you go in after warm ups and then you
come back out and it's full, you kind of get
a different feel. And the strength coach came up to me,
he goes, can you believe we got him here this quick?
And so the twenty two season went well. Twenty three,
we you know, Jalen had gotten hurt. He came back
and played. We we play ours on the bowl game,
(18:37):
but we had enough snaps of returning players going into
twenty three, we thought we could be a very competitive foot.
Speaker 1 (18:43):
Let me pause for a second. How did you get
Jayleen'd begin?
Speaker 2 (18:47):
He was committed here before we got here. He the
previous staff signed him and brought him in, and he
played as a true freshman in the COVID season and
got sacked ten times against Oklahoma. The young man is outstanding.
Is back to that Texas win. We were going to
red shirt him then, and I said, but our two
(19:08):
other quarterbacks had gotten hurt. I said, Jalen. I said, well,
here we are. We're two and eight at the time,
and I said, we said we're going to red shirt you.
What do you want to do? He said, I'll do
anything you want, coach, whatever's best for the team. Most
guys today are going to check out and and say
back their year. And he has been amazing. He's he
(19:30):
believes in us, he's he hasn't wavered about leaving, and
now he's back for a sixth year. We're excited about him.
But you know, in twenty two, kind of jumping between
years here for you. Twenty two we had college game
Day and in twenty three we had big Noon here
and you know those were those were big moments for
this for this program and really for this university.
Speaker 1 (19:54):
Last year was did not go as expected. Now part
of it is I think it was good. It was good,
but it's hard. Sometimes getting those guys back is hard,
you know, like a Jalen when everybody you get huge
expectations as opposed to previously where they were lower expectations.
If you could go back for this last year, what
(20:16):
would you do differently?
Speaker 2 (20:18):
You know, I probably wasn't as hard as I as
I thought I was going to be on the details.
You know, I go, we got a good experience group.
They understand what we're doing, They're going to go through it,
they're doing it. I don't want to say we were complacent,
(20:39):
but I don't think we had the edge. And again
I kind of have references back to other parts of
my career, Doug Is. I remember after leaving Wisconsin after
my graduate assistant days and I came back and I
think they were like five and six the next year,
and I asked the strength coach, who was a friend
of mine, what's the difference. He goes, they don't understand
(21:00):
that they're now the hunted instead of the hunters. And
I think the same thing happened to us a little bit.
I think there were some times in twenty two and
twenty three I think it was it's still Kansas and
we're able to play to a level that sort now.
People you know, I know Illinois put a lot of
emphasis on after we've beaten them here, and they turned
(21:24):
out to be a very good football team. UNLB was
a good football team. We could not play our best
when our best was needed, and I don't think we
totally respected the fact how people were approaching us differently.
Speaker 1 (21:43):
How do you handle the idea that, if you're honest
and you look at it, six wins at Kansas is
the hell of a year for you. It's not your
personal expectations. Your personal standard is much high than that.
But in totality, in comparison to Kansas football the last
(22:04):
fifty years, especially in the Big Twelve, with the financial disparity,
with the regional recruiting, all these different things, how do
you push through the idea that the common fan looks
at or even the common coach just like, Hey, if
you can win six or seven year at KU. You're
doing a hell of a job. How do you handle that?
Speaker 2 (22:25):
Yeah, again, you can't compromise your expectations. I don't think
any of us, if we're competitors, go out there hoping
to play games close. There's no moral victories, you know.
I said that first year we played Oklahoma really close,
and they made an announcement on social media that at
(22:45):
halftime that everybody could come into the game free. And
I remember and Caleb Williams took the ball from the
running back on fourth down, I got the first down
to go in and score and beat us, and and
I went, I went to do the weekly radio show
in the local sports bar, and they gave a sustaining ovation.
My wife and I walked in and I said, I whispered,
(23:07):
he I go, can you believe they're clapping for us
playing close? And I said, we got to change this.
And and again the day we the day we settle
for being average, is the day we probably should step aside.
So again, you know, we and I think, as you mentioned,
for the highly competitiveness of this conference, especially if you
(23:29):
look at the twenty one season, Baylor was picked ninth
and won the league. You look at the twenty two
season where TCU made the College Football Playoff, okay, twenty three.
Whom I forgetting that well last year was Arizona, right yeah,
and they were they were going to be fourteenth or
sixteenth depending on who you looked at it, and they
end up in the College Football Playoff. You can look
(23:50):
at anybody in this new world of you know, between Rev.
Shaer and the portal, you have a chance if if
you if you make additions and I think the thing
and I don't know how it is in basketball, but
you can make it great additions to your program that
aren't flashy, ones that really get you over the hump.
(24:13):
You can add depth that you can add competition and
positions that people don't pay attention to, and you can
get yourself to be a really good football team.
Speaker 1 (24:24):
The new stadium. It's interesting because I think most of
US coaches would say, like, forget the facilities, give us
the money for the players. But KU is a bit
of the exception, right because that facility was just our game.
It just it didn't it said the university doesn't care.
(24:46):
What does it mean to have facility that in all honesty,
if not for you, it does not exist.
Speaker 2 (24:54):
It means a lot as far as stepp enough for commitment,
and really the timing isn't maybe the best as you're saying,
because we're stretching donors. Everybody stretching donors these days, we're
stretching them more than ever because we're trying to We're
four hundred and fifty million in Phase one and we
have a whole other side of the field to do
next season hopefully, and we're still trying to get the
(25:18):
rest of this done. So it but it goes to
what you said. It shows that we're going to be
We're going to be committed. It means we understand and
and no offense to you as a basketball but where
college football is in the TV revenue streams and what
we have to be. And it showed that our chancellor
(25:40):
and our athletic director, you know, as we went through this,
and how quickly this came together, and how quickly they
decided that we were going to make this happen, and
how quickly they put a shovel in the ground has
really been remarkable and it's starting to pay its dividends.
Speaker 1 (26:00):
Is there one thing about it that you specifically ask
for that you're getting.
Speaker 2 (26:05):
Well, yeah, there's a couple of bells and whistles, probably
a virtual walk through room. We've gotten some other things
kind of kind of done that. On virtual walk through room. Yeah,
you'll see. It's kind of a new thing where it's
their software where you can get mental reps and stuff.
Speaker 1 (26:22):
But so so gone to the days and in basketball
you have the manager tape out the court in the room.
Speaker 2 (26:28):
Well, yeah, yeah, we have a little more different than that.
I probably probably the one probably I don't know if
I've shared you there was by the office that I
will occupy, will have a fireplace in it, which will
be and I said, and my thing is I jokingly say,
like a fireside chat, but it is. But you know,
in today's world, of making people feel comfortable in a
(26:50):
setting that makes it one that you want, that was
one thing that we kind of try to strive for.
The one thing I did that after the twenty two
season we announced the when we announced this project was
I had to put in into the contract that we
were going to renovate by August one and we're gonna
(27:11):
and we're gonna get some things done by December because
I wanted to make sure that the players who had
invested it had really helped us turn this around, would
experience something in the renovation of this program before that,
because I knew with building a whole stadium they wouldn't
get a chance to play in it. So we renovated
(27:31):
the locker room in the weight room, and it was
really the two areas where they spend most of their
time were able to do some really nice upgrades that
the players that really were contributing to that had a
chance of experience.
Speaker 3 (27:43):
So that was one of To be sure to catch
live editions of The Doug Gottlieb Show weekdays at three
pm Eastern noon Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and the
iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 1 (27:55):
I want to bring in a guy who helped set
us up here today. Cowboy him keen Is is a
donor of ours and now he claims you guys are
like childhood friends. That is that accurate?
Speaker 2 (28:09):
Yes, it is. It's he's, uh, you know, I don't
know who's the benefactor of that or not, but it's
he's Actually, we're probably each other's first friend in life,
and we lived a block block away from each other,
and you know, we're probably in pre school of some
sort and my mother made me walk up the street
(28:31):
and and uh and and kind of I don't know
what they call in today's world, playdate type at the end.
Speaker 1 (28:37):
So go make a friend.
Speaker 2 (28:39):
Yeah, go make a friend and and run right, Yeah,
that's right, And the street light comes on. You're you
need to be home? But but what street did you
grow up on? Krantz Avenue?
Speaker 1 (28:52):
Okay, Tim, what what what street did you grow up on?
Speaker 2 (28:56):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (28:56):
I turn your mic on? But I mean, not tech
savvy at all, not tech savvy at all, makes more
money than all of us, not tex.
Speaker 2 (29:05):
Sav You got a mute button? There?
Speaker 1 (29:07):
Come on, do you have a microphone in your computer?
This is this is a this is a very minor detail,
but one in which apparently you've skipped over. Now we
can just talk bad about him and he can't do
anything about it.
Speaker 2 (29:19):
That's the beauty to it. I grew up here.
Speaker 1 (29:22):
Here's here's my so. I had a uh, A buddy
named Kurt Jensen, who I got Now I still can't hear.
You're on mute. You're on mute, cowboy, You figure that
thing out. And I just remember I moved to California
when I was six years old. My dad was an
assistant in Lombeach State, and uh I said, Hey, my
name is Doug. Do you want to be friends. I'm
(29:43):
just I'm picturing you and you and Cowboy way back
to the day. Tim. Listen, you have a mute button on.
You got to figure that thing out otherwise, I mean,
coach has got recruiting calls to make for crying out loud.
Here there you go. No, well there we go. You
got a make it up. We can hear you. But
(30:04):
it's very very very very faint, coach.
Speaker 2 (30:06):
Can you hear faint? It's muffled.
Speaker 1 (30:09):
Man, that's not gonna work. It's not gonna work working
to wrap it.
Speaker 2 (30:15):
You know. But I'll say this and Ana, but you, Doug.
The thing about about about Tim is he's been a
loyal friend. He's came out to all our games this year.
You know, in life, you know sometimes is especially in
this coaching world. You move you all over the country.
But when you can go back and keep your childhood friends,
you're really fortunate.
Speaker 1 (30:34):
No, that's amazing, that's really amazing. What Okay, So the
new world order you have rev share and that looks
like it should theoretically balance everything out for at least
in the big twelve. Right, your REV shares the same
as Case State, same as iow State, same as those state,
same as Houston, Texas Tech. All that reality is does
(30:56):
the REV share and then you also have your collectives?
So people are going to go above and beyond that?
Speaker 2 (31:01):
Correct, That's that's some means the multimillion dollar question. How
is that? How's that fully going to be regulated? They
feel like they have a good thing in a clearinghouse
type of set thing and for what is going to
be commercial nil things. But it's to me it's a
wait and see to see how that goes through. But
(31:22):
I do think that all in, all that you know
is completely balanced. I do think we're in the same
ball with people.
Speaker 1 (31:29):
Okay, here's the question. How do you balance out continuity
with talent? In other words, you take on a kid
and everybody, everybody in the portal is better than the
guys that you have, right right, But if you keep
this kid, you've had them in your program for a
year or two years, as opposed to somebody else, it's
like somebody else's VCR you're trying to reprogram. How do
(31:52):
you balance that out when you're putting together rust.
Speaker 2 (31:55):
One of the things that we talked about, Doug is
is a culture of competition is what we're trying to established.
And we still feel like Kansas we have to be
a developmental program now. Where there's gaps or there's unexpected
attrition or other things, that's where we want to hit
the portal. We want to hit some things if the
development isn't happening fast enough. But again, you're right, you've
(32:17):
got to try to find it because guys will hit
the e jet button really quick and that continuity is
so important for your team. In the twenty two year,
in the January twenty two we brought some guys in
and the portal and the interesting thing was what I
found out was the current younger players at that time
really stepped their game up and they hung on to
(32:39):
their starting jobs and really it created better competition. And
you're talking about what Kansas was for many years. I
think we walked into a situation here where players thought
that they would inherit playing time if they just hung
around long enough. If I go through it long enough,
I stay, I'll get the plan and I'll get my film. Yeah,
(33:00):
And and what happened was when with the with the portal.
Now you can go bring in somebody that's a little older,
might have might have played, made played somewhere else. And
and I'll never forget. We brought in a transfer and
I had a current starter who had a good friend
I was a younger player, and he said, what's the matter, coach?
He texted me one night, you don't believe in so
(33:21):
and so. I said, yeah, I believe in so and so.
I just want more depth at the position and competition.
And the thing is with that that current player hung
on to his starting job. It made the team better though,
And I think that's one positive that the portal can give.
Speaker 1 (33:38):
When you're in the portal, how do you handle the
like how do you try and find out what the kids'
priorities are?
Speaker 2 (33:48):
You know, obviously you got to make your background calls.
You got to find those things. And again then through
the question you try to dig in what are you
hoping for? Is it again? Why why are you leaving? Okay,
that's the other thing. If if you if you see
a lot of finger pointing and blaming, then you don't
know if that's a good fit. Again, a lot of them,
(34:09):
you know a lot of them as well. I want
to get to the league or I want to do this,
but how are you going to get there? What are
you willing to do? Are you are? You know what's
like you said, the priority of you want to try
to help the help the team get better. Hey, I'm
just looking at try to get to play. I understand
I got to earn it. You know, when they start talking,
if it starts, if the conversation start financially first, and
(34:32):
the amount of snaps, we're probably not in the right
ballpark with that individual. If it gets more about program,
an opportunity and and and helping a program, then we
found out that we got a good mix.
Speaker 1 (34:45):
Yeah, it's a it's a very interesting Obviously everybody knows
the lead with money. You're like, yeah, we're good. But
but my big one is when they don't talk about winning.
You know, if you'd have mentioned, you know, winning, then.
Speaker 2 (35:00):
Uh.
Speaker 1 (35:00):
And then I asked him. I usually asked him a
basketball like you question, just to see what I'm dealing
with and to see how how how deep it is.
My problem is now I have too many smart ones
and I need I need a little bit more, a
little bit of hits in there. Gidea if you will Yeah, yep,
what's the ceiling. What's the what's the realistic ceiling for
KA football?
Speaker 2 (35:21):
Well, again, like I said earlier, I think in today's
world of college football, there's no reason why we can
actual be for Big twelve championships and with with multiple
opportunitunities to be a team that can be a playoff team.
I think that's I think that's legitimate for for ninety
percent of the power forward programs in the country. I
(35:41):
really do, and I think our conference as much as
any What was there ever a moment though, because it
is your name, when you guys pop up with nine
games and you flip it that quick, you know you're
the Taco College football and yet you stayed you stayed.
Speaker 1 (35:58):
Was there a moment last year when you're going through
all the injuries and you're going through a season that
wasn't as good as your thought that you're like, why
did do this?
Speaker 2 (36:07):
When I leave, I think there's more point of disappointment
that I was letting people down, that this team wasn't
reaching what its potential was. But I have not sit
there gone I should have done this or done this
and looked and taken this other opportunity you know, I'm
sure through your Oklahoma State days, you know, Lawrence, Kansas
(36:29):
is a nice college town. It's really a good place people.
My wife and I and our son, we really enjoy
it here. And the thing is, Doug, I could say this,
there's not a time that we're probably not out somewhere
or doing something where somebody doesn't come up and say
thank you or something. I truly feel that our work
(36:49):
and things here are appreciated and I want to continue that.
And with that is I do feel that I haven't
when you looked a little bit about you talk a
little bit about my career through this talk is I'd
like to think that I'm on the lower end of
career moves. When you when you look at things, and
many times I repeated back where I was at before.
(37:12):
I'm not a job hopper. I'm not one to take
a lot of risks and do those things. So once
I find the place and we're happy, I'm I'm good.
Your parents still lot, No, they're not. Unfortunately my father
my mother passed you know, over twenty five years ago
and from cancer, and then Dad passed about three months
(37:33):
before I took this job.
Speaker 1 (37:34):
So I wonder what he would say if he knew
you made or five million dollars coaching football, he.
Speaker 2 (37:41):
Would he would He's probably turning over in his grave.
Speaker 1 (37:46):
What would what would what would Lance say to Lance? Like,
twenty three year old making five hundred dollars to coach
football and meanwhile, you're trying to be a cop. You
know at other hours, if you were to tell yourself, Hey,
you're gonna be sixty and you're gonna make five and
that million dollars coach college football, what would you say?
Speaker 2 (38:07):
No? Way, You're the luckiest man on earth. And and
you know there's days where you really embrace it and
you go through it and you're so fortunate, and sometimes
it's crazy, and but I don't pay attention. My wife
does that, and as she all tells me, I still
act like I make the five hundred bucks that I
made before.
Speaker 1 (38:28):
It's always funny though, you start making more money, and
you know, like all you wear is your school clothing anyway,
so you say, have a ton of money.
Speaker 2 (38:35):
All right.
Speaker 1 (38:36):
Last thing, I've lived in Wisconsin now for I don't know,
eight nine months, and one thing I know is people
love their sports. And then in the summer or outside
of the sports season. They either hunt and fish or
they play golf, which are you neither?
Speaker 2 (38:53):
I don't have hobbies. We go to the beach maybe
in Florida or something. But I thought you're gonna bring
up the one thing that would I would do if
in Wisconsin. If I was you, I'd go to Summerfest
in Milwaukee.
Speaker 1 (39:05):
Oh, I mean I went last year, no question.
Speaker 2 (39:07):
That's that was definitely a staple. So Brewers brought worst Summerfest.
Those are those are some of my.
Speaker 1 (39:15):
Hobbies I've done. I've done all three of those. And
I did seven Packer games last year. Yeah, I overloaded
on Packers. It was awesome.
Speaker 2 (39:23):
Now, if I may ask a good questions, did you
at Milwaukee at one time?
Speaker 1 (39:27):
Yes, seventy five to eighty one.
Speaker 2 (39:29):
Did he did he work for like A Did he
do something with the recruiting service at one time later
in his career or something? Yeah, I remember talking to
him on the phone one time. Wave. I think I
was working in Omaha at that time.
Speaker 1 (39:43):
I guarantee you did. That's why you know, it's like
there's not a gym I go into that. People don't
know my dad, especially at the lower levels. You know,
he had a great relationship with coach Bennett back in
the day when you know and you name it versus
Pearl when he was at Southern Indiana U. So what
he did was he went from being a high school
coach to Division one assistant. He was a k State
(40:06):
and at Creighton with coach Sutton was Jack Hartman. At
k State, he was head coach Jacksonville, head coaching Milwaukee,
and he was assistant with text Winner his assistant for
one year of Ralph Miller Oregon State. And then he
kind of tooled around minor leagues and so he started
coaching youth basketball, and then youth basketball became AU basketball
(40:26):
became like a basketball academy, and he used to have
a goal that every kid in his top team gets
a Division one scholarship. So he's calling around, putting together
highlight tapes, and he knew everybody in the sport. And
so at some point somebody grip pulled him aside and said, hey,
you know, you can make money doing this. And it
was about, you know, my senior year that he started
(40:48):
going and evaluating kids. He'd fly over the country, pop
into a random high school game, evaluate a kid, go
meet the parents and say like who's the recruiting your son,
They'd say nobody. He say, all right, listen again him
a Division one scholarship, be this much, two, this much three,
And because the access to college was valuable for these kids,
and so he would he called everybody. He was just
(41:09):
had an amazing work ethic with calling people, and he
was his belief which he instilled in me, which is,
you know, getting a kid to a college campus is
a life changing moment. Do whatever you can, just around
people at a college, chance of them being married, being successful,
being out of jail, breaking the cycle, whatever, always all
gets better if you just get into college. And then
(41:30):
if you get into one where it fits, they can play.
Now you're cooking and and that's what he did. So
you know, he did that literally up until just about
the day he died. He was coaching AU basketball, trying
to play kids in college.
Speaker 2 (41:44):
Wow. Awesome, awesome.
Speaker 1 (41:46):
Yeah, Well, well listen, I'm gonna make it to a
game this year. I don't appreciate, but I do completely
respect the fact that your first year you got smoked
by Oklahoma State, and then the next time they come
to Lawrence it's the complete opposite, Right, I'm really kind
of remarkable, remarkable. But I'm coming to a Jayhawk game
(42:06):
this year and maybe we'll play the Jayhawks and hoops.
We'll see coach elf sif we're going to do it,
but I'll wait till I see that contract.
Speaker 2 (42:12):
That'd be great.
Speaker 1 (42:13):
But listen, it's an honor to talk to you because
you are a builder, you are a somebody who I
think everybody in college football has an immense, immense amount
of respect for how you do and what you do,
not just at KU, but at Buffalo and at Whitewater previously.
So I truly appreciate your time.
Speaker 2 (42:31):
Well I appreciate it too. Thanks for the opportunity. I
really enjoyed it, and let's do it begin, no doubt.
Thanks you much to the way, Thank you, thank you
see a cowboy.
Speaker 1 (42:43):
Wow, my thanks to coach Leopold for joining us, spending
all that time. Pretty awesome stuff. I hope you enjoyed,
Coach in both of those those two editions of All Ball.
Remember the Doug Gottlieb Show or airs daily three to
five e's from twelve two Pacific Fox Sports Tradio. Iheartradiot Plus.
You download that in podcast form anytime you want. Just
(43:03):
type in Doug ot this podcast. In the meantime, I'm
Doug Gottliebin. This is all ball.
Host
Doug Gottlieb
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