Kansas Football: AD Travis Goff Backs Lance Leipold Ahead of 2026 Season

With the 2026 Kansas football season right around the corner, Kansas Athletics Director Travis Goff is showing his support for head coach Lance Leipold ahead of a pivotal year for Leipold and the program.

Leipold has been under some scrutiny this offseason by a portion of the KU fanbase after guiding the Jayhawks to back-to-back 5-7 seasons. Hopes for a postseason appearance were high in 2025 and even higher in 2024, but the disappointing finishes have led some to question Leipold’s ability to lead the team when expectations are on the line.

He’s now facing a critical season in his sixth year as head coach with a schedule that includes three preseason top 25 teams and does the Jayhawks very little favors overall.

Despite the uncertainty, Goff is reaffirming his confidence in the head coach and the team this upcoming season.

“We are entering Year 6 of the @CoachLeipold Era & this is undoubtedly the best staff we’ve had,” said Goff on X. “Lance has restored pride to our program & given our deserving fans a competitive product week-in and week-out. There have been tough losses and frustrations along the way, but we continue to be on a positive trajectory toward the goal we established when Lance arrived: SUSTAINED SUCCESS. There are no straight line trajectories but rest assured that’s the path we are on.”

Goff goes on to emphasize that while the program has yet to reach its peak, he believes it’s important to recognize what KU football has accomplished since Leipold’s arrival.

“I fully recognize - and enthusiastically embrace - that we still have work to do as a program and a department, but I also feel it’s important to pause and reflect on how far this program has come since Lance arrived at the most challenging Power 4 football environment in the country in April 2021,” Goff proclaimed.

Reading between the lines

For Goff to issue this statement unprompted shows that he’s seen and heard the noise surrounding Leipold and the program ahead of this upcoming season.

And I think he would agree that it’s an important year for the program with fan confidence, financial support, and long-term viability all on the line in this unsteady era of college athletics should the Jayhawks fail to reach a bowl game for the third straight year.

Goff also appears to be using the post as a call to action for KU fans to stay invested in the program, because he knows that success in football – which impacts the overall athletics department’s success – is largely dependent on a fanbase that is accustomed to being cautiously optimistic after so many years of hope and heartbreak.

READ MORE – Kansas Football 2026 Season: Best-Case vs. Worst-Case Scenario

The statement could also be interpreted as a way of Goff proactively saying “Leipold isn’t going anywhere no matter how the season goes” to calm the waters and shut down any discussion about Leipold leaving should the season go south.

But regardless of what Goff says, the truth is, the only way those waters get calmed is by the Jayhawks reaching a bowl game this season. That’s the bar that’s been set (and it’s a low bar for most Power 4 programs) after seeing the early success Leipold had and the commitment that’s been made to the program in the form of the new stadium, facilities, and the monumental David Booth donation last year.

The era of moral victories for Kansas football is over. There are true expectations for this program that once had none — and that’s a good thing. Now it’s up to Leipold to deliver upon the new foundation he helped lay.

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