Head coach Lance Leipold and his staff have always tried to implement what they call a “culture of competition.” If the Kansas football team succeeds in 2025, it will be as a direct result of that culture. Gone is nearly everyone who had a firm grip on a starting spot in 2024. Many of those players had held those places for years at a time as they helped rebuild the Jayhawks. In are dozens of new ...
A sophomore year can go one of two ways, to hear Kansas soccer coach Nate Lie tell it. In one case, a sophomore can keep moving forward, can “kick on,” as Lie says: “You go from (a) freshman, getting your feet wet, steady player, ups and downs, and then sophomore year they look like they have ownership, they look like they have leadership and they take that huge step. I’ve seen that.” And then on the ...
Kansas offensive line coach Daryl Agpalsa recruited Enrique Cruz Jr. when Agpalsa was at Northern Illinois and Cruz was one of the top prospects in the state, coming out of Willowbrook High School in the Chicago suburbs. But, as Agpalsa admits somewhat sheepishly now, he didn’t offer Cruz a scholarship: “I was at a smaller school, and he ended up going to Syracuse.” After playing four years for the ...
Back on the field for the unofficial start of his second professional season, former Kansas defensive end Austin Booker turned in a dominant performance in Chicago on Sunday. In his preseason opener with the Chicago Bears, Booker recorded three sacks and matched a team-high total with six tackles overall. Among his other contributions, he assisted on one tackle to halt Miami Dolphins running back Jaylen Wright ...
Jahlil Hurley’s dream was to stay in the SEC. The Alabama transfer had entered the portal after two years with the Crimson Tide, and after having grown up in Florence, Ala. When he came out of high school as a four-star prospect, Auburn, Florida and Georgia were also among the schools he had considered. But after a couple years in the conference, he didn’t get the interest he wanted from those sorts of ...
Competition is still raging at a pair of positions along the offensive line as the Kansas football team proceeds through its final practices of training camp. That’s no surprise to those in the program. “I thought at the end of the day, knowing the type of men we brought into our room, they’re highly competitive people,” offensive line coach Daryl Agpalsa said, “I would have been shocked if it would ...