Is Lance Leipold Out at Kansas Following the Loss to Utah?

Before Kansas lost to Iowa State last week, I wrote how the Lance Leipold era could be coming to an end if the Jayhawks lost their final two games of the season. Last week, KU lost by three scores to the Cyclones, and on Friday, Kansas lost by ten to Utah in a game where they had multiple chances to win.

So, here we are. Discussing Leipold's future as head coach at Kansas. Not only did the Jayhawks finish the year with three straight losses, but they've also now finished below .500 in back-to-back seasons, and most importantly, missed out on a bowl game for the second straight year.

But I'm going to go out on a limb and say Leipold gets one more year to get the Jayhawks to a bowl game. Why? Well, a couple of reasons.

1) Lance Leipold has a pretty big buyout

This is the main reason why, and I don't think Kansas wants to pay Leipold the $22.93 million he's owed if he's fired after Dec. 1.

Don't get me wrong, the KU athletic department can afford it, but still, $22.93 million is a lot of money.

However, if Leipold misses out on a bowl game next year or gets off to a brutal start -- like 0-3 or 1-5 -- there's a pretty good chance Kansas gives Leipold the boot.

2) I'm not sure a new coach could do much better, especially in 2026

Don't forget, multiple coaches before Leipold underachieved miserably at Kansas. Especially Les Miles, who won a national championship at LSU before coaching at KU.

So, let's give Leipold some credit and recognize him for making Kansas somewhat relevant. Miles didn't do that, and neither did David Beaty, Charlie Weiss or Turner Gill.

Kansas is a basketball school and always will be. That being said, this might not be the most coveted job out there.

Does that mean there isn't a better candidate than Leipold out there? Absolutely not. But expecting a new coach to get Kansas to a bowl game in their first year is a long shot.

So, KU should probably take the conservative approach and keep Leipold. However, Kansas should pressure him into taking a pay cut, similar to what Nebraska did with Scott Frost ahead of his final season in 2022.

3) Leipold has a winning track record

Leipold hasn't been a Division I coach for all that long -- 10 years -- but before he took the head coaching job at Buffalo in 2015, Leipold went an astonishing 109-6 at Wisconsin-Whitewater and won six national titles with the Warhawks.

That's amazing, regardless of the level. And it's not like Leipold was a one-year wonder at Buffalo, either.

Leipold led Buffalo to three straight bowl games from 2018 to 2020, a 10-win season and a MAC East Title in 2018, and back-to-back bowl game victories in 2019 and 2020.

So, it's not like Leipold isn't capable of turning things around next season.

There's no denying Kansas has a tough decision on its hands, but the most logical thing to do is give Leipold one more to get the Jayhawks back on track.