Kansas Crimson

It is no longer the offseason. Football practice starts today for Kansas.

Some things to watch - QB. Obviously. If the staff has same offensive plan they used at Buffalo, quick, intermediate throws with QB movement will be key. Bean checks all those. Daniels has the deep arm, Kendrick is just there. Hawley and Easter aren't ready yet. Think Bean ends up as QB 1.

Position of improvement - OL. They are about 9 deep with really good players. 2 Buffalo transfers should start. Last year's starter Cabledue will be the swing tackle. Should be L-R Bostick, Clark, Novitsky (Buf transfer), Hughes, Ford (Buf transfer)

Position of strength - RB. Pisek-Hickson, Hishaw, Gardner and Neal are going to be studs. Whoever has the hot hand will play. But they each bring something different. Pisek-Hickson and Hishaw are the between the tackles kind of guys while Gardner and Neal have a bit more top-end speed.

Position of weakness - CB. Although they added a piece from FCS in Webb, who is 6'4. They lack depth. Mayberry and Webb will start. Unknown after that. Jacobee Bryant and Ra'Mello Dotson might be the 2nd string. Losing Prunty was killer.

29 practices until they kickoff on September 3rd. Uphill climb, but Leipold bringing his guys as coordinators will help. Expect a simple offense early on with it getting more complex as the season goes along. Defense should be pretty set. Major adjustment is the 3-4 to 4-3 base defense. Borland still has 3 down linemen quite a bit, but for the most part, it's 4 DL and 2/3 LB with a safety in the box if there are 2 LB.

Thanks for writing up this preview. It will be interesting to see how these points all shake out over the next month of practice. For the sake of all us, I hope that Jason Bean emerges at QB. We don't need to see anymore of Miles Kendrick. Plus Daniels, Easter, and Hawley could all really benefit from a true red-shirt season.

Looks like practice #1 is underway nice and early with some media allowed.

Excited to see some improvement (hopefully)!

Thanks for the preview Newton!

Nice to have a coach that doesn’t look like a total dweeb. I HATED Beaty’s KU Football hat. Looked high school-ish. Another note, Leipold moves around a ton at practice. Rarely does he stay in one spot.

Neal is a big dude.

An example of Leipold at practice. Dude moves nonstop and knows what each drill is doing and coaches at every stop he makes. Got ourselves a ball coach.

I can't remember the last time we had a staff that wasn't put together with guys from all over the country looking for jobs. This is a real FBS staff that has been coaching together a long time.

I expect we will have a better on-the-field product, especially as the season goes along. In fact, it better be, because the real question mark with the new staff is supposed to be recruiting.

CrimsonNBlue wrote: ↑Thu Aug 05, 2021 9:35 am I can't remember the last time we had a staff that wasn't put together with guys from all over the country looking for jobs. This is a real FBS staff that has been coaching together a long time.

I expect we will have a better on-the-field product, especially as the season goes along. In fact, it better be, because the real question mark with the new staff is supposed to be recruiting.

Good thing is, they got about 4 guys to commit in the last month without any on field product or any coaching. Just based off of visits and relationships. Recruiting to a P5 is a lot different than Buffalo freaking New York.

First sign of whether we're in for another long season is if we can't beat South Dakota by double digits -- and score more than 21 on em.

NewtonHawk11 wrote: ↑Thu Aug 05, 2021 9:39 am

CrimsonNBlue wrote: ↑Thu Aug 05, 2021 9:35 am I can't remember the last time we had a staff that wasn't put together with guys from all over the country looking for jobs. This is a real FBS staff that has been coaching together a long time.

I expect we will have a better on-the-field product, especially as the season goes along. In fact, it better be, because the real question mark with the new staff is supposed to be recruiting.

Good thing is, they got about 4 guys to commit in the last month without any on field product or any coaching. Just based off of visits and relationships. Recruiting to a P5 is a lot different than Buffalo freaking New York.

It felt like those commits were from the recruiting guys we kept on from Les's staff, but I could be wrong on that.

But, the point being that this staff should be pretty dialed in on game days.

NewtonHawk11 wrote: ↑Thu Aug 05, 2021 9:39 am

CrimsonNBlue wrote: ↑Thu Aug 05, 2021 9:35 am I can't remember the last time we had a staff that wasn't put together with guys from all over the country looking for jobs. This is a real FBS staff that has been coaching together a long time.

I expect we will have a better on-the-field product, especially as the season goes along. In fact, it better be, because the real question mark with the new staff is supposed to be recruiting.

Good thing is, they got about 4 guys to commit in the last month without any on field product or any coaching. Just based off of visits and relationships. Recruiting to a P5 is a lot different than Buffalo freaking New York.

Niagara falls and them wings shoulda done half the 'crootin for them.

NewtonHawk11 wrote: ↑Thu Aug 05, 2021 9:16 am Neal is a big dude.

I know we are deep with talented running backs but I get the feeling Neal is going to play some important snaps this season. He looks like a complete back. He's big, he's fast, and he's a great pass catcher out of the backfield. Sounds like he's a do-it-all type so he's going to get plenty of playing time, especially since he looks so college-ready already.

Here's Coach Leipold after the first practice. Obviously doesn't have a lot specific to say, but it's good to hear his energy and excitement. Also has a lot of praise for Gildersleeve's work over the summer.

Love the pace and energy. Wait and see what that translate to. Love the fact that we have a coach who is living and breathing and doesn’t stare off into space with a glazed look across his eyes.

My first thought watching that video was this is a far cry from David Beaty who never seemed like he had two brain cells to rub together.

"We aren't going to coach effort here. We won't do that here. If you are not here willing to work and do your best effort, you won't find the field."

That's something that is welcoming.

NewtonHawk11 wrote: ↑Thu Aug 05, 2021 2:03 pm "We aren't going to coach effort here. We won't do that here. If you are not here willing to work and do your best effort, you won't find the field."

That's something that is welcoming.

And it is a pretty easy policy to stand by. With our current talent level, our best guys will be the ones that give the most effort. Can't think of a single guy that could just sleepwalk to 12 starts.

Some guys missed today. Unknown reasons. One of them was Gardner at RB. Who knows if it's a Covid thing or what. But he's tight with Jones, so would imagine he's still on campus, just didn't participate today.

Gardner missed the spring games as well? If there was one era we could afford someone leaving it would be the RB room.

You can tune in live to a portion of this morning's practice if you're interested.