Kansas Football: Why the 2026 Season Could be Make or Break for Lance Leipold

In just one month’s time, Lance Leipold will begin his sixth season as head coach at the University of Kansas when the Jayhawks take on Long Island University on Sept. 4 inside David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium.

Leipold has guided Kansas football through a much needed revitalization during his time in Lawrence – culminating in the program’s first bowl win in 15 years when the Jayhawks won the Guaranteed Rate Bowl over UNLV (49-36) on Dec. 26, 2023. He’s also played an integral role in KU getting a much-needed new football stadium and surrounding facilities that should make the program even more competitive for years to come.

But while the Leipold era has brought many highs to Kansas football, it’s the lows that have begun to dominate these last few years.

KU is coming off of disappointing, back-to-back 5-7 seasons in 2024 and 2025. The 2025 season was especially painful as many picked the Jayhawks as a dark horse to win the Big 12 with talented players such as Devin Neal, Cobee Bryant, Mello Dotson, and others leading the way.

Expectations for this year’s KU team are even lower than the previous two as the Jayhawks have just a 58% chance of reaching six wins, according to ESPN’s 2026 Football Power Index, and their odds of reaching a bowl game currently sit at just -156 on DraftKings and -140 on FanDuel.

The bottom line

Leipold’s early success at Kansas – combined with the historic donation from benefactor David Booth last year – raised the bar of expectations for this program. He’s been given everything he’s asked for to be successful at KU with multiple contract extensions, increased assistant salary pool, new facilities, etc.

There’s really no longer any excuse for KU to go consecutive years without a bowl game appearance. Reaching six wins is a low benchmark for most Power 4 teams, and Kansas is not an exception after the commitment that’s been made to the program from the administration and donors these last few years.

Leipold would be owed approximately $18 million if he were to be let go after Dec. 1 this year, which may not be realistic for the athletics department given how much they have invested into the football stadium and how thinly stretched some donors might be because of Name, Image, and Likeness.

While it's no guarantee that Leipold would lose his job if the Jayhawks fail to reach the six-win mark and miss out on a bowl game appearance for the third straight year, he will start to lose confidence from the fanbase and should start to feel his seat as head coach get a lot warmer.

Add us as a preferred source on Google