Followed Les Miles. Lance Leipold raised Kansas from Regional Program V to Regional Program I.
The one thing about the parity in this conference that kind of goes through with the balance is we’ve seen the years – the 2021 season, where was Baylor before they won the league in the preseason?
I think it’s unity for both programs, for this conference
From the first guy that steps on the field to the next guy, the gap there’s the least its ever been in our time
His real stature score, season by season, across every program he’s coached — so a stretch that stays in one tier the whole way can still climb or sink on the line, not just flatten out. Node color marks the tier reached. Which program a stretch belongs to is carried by the shaded lane behind it.
Reached Regional Program in his 1st career season — faster than 20% of the 925 FBS coaches who have ever reached Regional Program (rank #1 of 925 by seasons-to-arrival).
Where each stint’s offense sat between run-first and pass-first, and how far it moved from one season to the next. The band is that stint’s real season-to-season range, not a fixed-width box.
Season-to-season pass-rate range for all 258 FBS coaching stints with at least three covered seasons, 2014–2025.
How he does in the games that matter most — rivalry record, performance broken out by real opponent tier, one-score games, and his toughest historical matchup.
4–9 against his rivals. Winless in 5 tries against Chris Klieman.
A statistical estimate of this coach’s contribution to team performance, separated from that season’s roster talent, returning production, and his coordinators — pooled across his whole head-coaching career.
Model fit as of 2026-09-04.
Fan claims · every quote verified verbatim
To start every single referee that worked this game needs to be investigated. With that being said, this loss still falls heavily on the coaching staff and specifically on leipold.
Based on 1 comment from 1 poster across 1 thread · Nov 9, 2025 · via CFB
11th-best Kansas tenure of 21 by the numbers.
Outperforms his recruiting talent on offense and underperforms his recruiting talent on defense.
Followed Les Miles (2019–2020).
| Season | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | 2026 | Trend |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Record & result | |||||||
| Record | 2–10 | 6–7 | 9–4 | 5–7 | 5–7 | 0–0 | |
| Postseason | — | L bowl | W bowl | — | — | — | |
| Recruiting rank | #52 | #114 | #73 | #43 | #72 | #61 | |
| Style — pass rate | |||||||
| Pass rate | 42.2 | 45.4 | 38.4 | 40.3 | 44.7 | 39.2 | |
| Coordinators | |||||||
| OC | Andy Kotelnicki | Andy Kotelnicki | Andy Kotelnicki / Jim Zebrowski | Jeff Grimes / Jim Zebrowski | Jim Zebrowski / Matt Lubick | Jim Zebrowski / Matt Lubick | |
| DC | Brian Borland | Brian Borland | Brian Borland | Brian Borland / D. K. McDonald | D. K. McDonald | D. K. McDonald | |
| Outcome — opponent-adjusted efficiency percentile | |||||||
| Offense | 21 | 91 | 97 | 94 | 68 | 84 | |
| Defense | 1 | 3 | 45 | 29 | 11 | 84 | |
| Tendencies — play-by-play, neutral script (2021+ only) | |||||||
| 1st-down pass% | 35.3 | 44.9 | 33.7 | 40.6 | 38.0 | 37.0 | |
| Red-zone pass% | 35.8 | 40.3 | 33.0 | 27.3 | 33.0 | 35.7 | |
| 4th-down go%opp. territory | 41.2 | 44.7 | 38.2 | 32.1 | 44.8 | — | |
A typical amount of portal roster-building.
Brings in bigger-than-position-typical players than most.
A typical class-year mix of incoming transfers.
7 NFL Draft picks: Kyron Johnson (2022), Dominick Puni (2024), Austin Booker (2024), Devin Neal (2025), Bryce Cabeldue (2025), Enrique Cruz Jr. (2026), Emmanuel Henderson Jr. (2026)
AI Narratives — “Kansas's 2025 season ends on a three-game skid” and 2 more on the team page.
4th-best Buffalo tenure of 11 by the numbers.
Outperforms his recruiting talent, on both sides of the ball.
Followed Jeff Quinn (2010–2014) · succeeded by Maurice Linguist (2021–2024).
| Season | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | Trend |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Record & result | |||||||
| Record | 5–7 | 2–10 | 6–6 | 10–4 | 8–5 | 6–1 | |
| Postseason | — | — | — | L bowl | W bowl | W bowl | |
| Recruiting rank | #118 | #118 | #113 | #130 | #106 | #128 | |
| Style — pass rate | |||||||
| Pass rate | 51.7 | 48.2 | 48.3 | 41.7 | 29.7 | 34.1 | |
| Coordinators | |||||||
| OC | Andy Kotelnicki | Andy Kotelnicki | Andy Kotelnicki | Andy Kotelnicki | Andy Kotelnicki | Andy Kotelnicki / Jim Zebrowski | |
| DC | Brian Borland | Brian Borland | Brian Borland | Brian Borland | Brian Borland | Brian Borland / Chris Simpson | |
| Outcome — opponent-adjusted efficiency percentile | |||||||
| Offense | 34 | 13 | 67 | 80 | 75 | 96 | |
| Defense | 55 | 45 | 37 | 37 | 86 | 72 | |
| Tendencies — play-by-play, neutral script (2021+ only) | |||||||
| 1st-down pass% | 51.0 | 43.7 | 42.3 | 41.0 | 31.7 | 36.7 | |
| Red-zone pass% | 54.3 | 38.5 | 36.5 | 32.2 | 21.9 | 18.3 | |
| 4th-down go%opp. territory | 33.3 | 29.5 | 10.8 | 61.0 | 39.1 | 68.8 | |
3 NFL Draft picks: Kristjan Sokoli (2015), Mason Schreck (2017), Malcolm Koonce (2021)
Coach of the Year: MAC Coach of the Year (2020)
1 player-season honored (All-America / national award): Jaret Patterson (2020)