Kansas Football: Lance Leipold Says QB Jalon Daniels 'Determined to Have his Best Year Yet’

KU head coach Lance Leipold recently sat down for his first “Hawk Talk with Lance Leipold” show of the 2025 season to talk all things Kansas football with “Voice of the Jayhawks” Brian Hanni.

Leipold shared his thoughts on many topics, including what he thinks about the new football stadium and the recent historic donation made by its namesake David Booth.

He was also asked about KU’s new-look roster that features 50 newcomers on this year’s team after graduating 37 seniors from a season ago. Leipold said he likes the cohesiveness they’ve shown and the way they’ve bought into the program early on.

“I’m excited about the guys that we’ve added – equally with the returners and the leadership they’ve provided,” said Leipold. “To this point, the guys that have come from other places have really bought into our culture. They’ve meshed in well.”

KU recently announced the names of the three captains of this year’s team which includes sixth-year senior quarterback Jalon Daniels.

Leipold discussed the process that went into selecting this year’s captains and spoke at length about the leadership role he’s taken on heading into his final season.

“One of the things that we talked with Jalon about is that he needed to be more direct as a leader,” said Leipold. “He’s such a good young man and I think sometimes he becomes too people pleasing at times. Sometimes in that role as a quarterback or as a leader you have to speak your mind, you have to be vocal. You have to get things straightened out and sometimes it’s not into the friend business as it is getting the team right and I think Jalon’s done a great job of that.”

Daniels is coming off of a disappointing 2024 season during which he struggled early on to take command of the offense under then-offensive coordinator Jeff Grimes.

He threw eight of his 12 interceptions for the season in the first five weeks which played a big role in the Jayhawks starting off the year 1-5. He would finish the season throwing for 2,454 yards and 14 touchdowns while rushing for 447 yards and scoring six touchdowns on the ground.

Daniels appears poised to improve upon those marks and get back to the quarterback he was early on in his KU career. Leipold commended Daniels’ work ethic this offseason, stating that he’s consistently been one of the first guys to arrive in the gym (shortly after 5 a.m.) during fall camp.

“He’s ready to go and I think he’s determined to have his best year yet.”