photo by: Associated Press

FILE - Buffalo head coach Lance Leipold reacts to a call in the second quarter of an NCAA college football game against Penn State in State College, Pa., in this Saturday, Sept. 7, 2019, file photo. The undefeated Buffalo Bulls are awaiting word from the Mid-American Conference as to whether they have, in fact, clinched the East Division title after their game at Ohio was canceled and declared a no contest. (AP Photo/Barry Reeger, File)

It is impossible to know exactly what’s going on behind closed doors during interviews, as the University of Kansas continues to search for its next head football coach.

But one thing that certainly will be brought up is how a candidate plans to turn the program around. The Jayhawks haven’t won more than three games in a season since 2009 and are coming off a winless campaign in 2020.

The ability to alter a program’s trajectory is actually a selling point for Buffalo head coach Lance Leipold, as Benton Smith wrote on Monday. And, fortunately for us, we have an idea of how Leipold might answer that question in an interview with KU.

On Episode 3 of D-Shot, which was released on Feb. 26, 2021, Leipold was asked about some of the things that helped turn the BU program around. Leipold’s full response can be found at the 18:30 mark of the video.

“In the last four years we’ve won the most games in the Mid-American Conference,” Leipold said. “That was the goal from the time we got here. We didn’t feel we took shortcuts, we were going to build the program to a very similar type of blueprint that we had at Whitewater.”

Leipold got his coaching career started at Wisconsin-Whitewater, a program in the Division III level.

Leipold went 109-6 record and won six Division III National Championships during his eight seasons at the helm. Leipold, who was a six-time national coach of the year, reached 100 career victories faster than any other coach in NCAA history at any level.

So what is the blueprint for that level of success?

“We’re gonna play excellent defense,” Leipold said on the show. “We’re going to be a physical team, be solid in both offensive (and) defensive lines and strive for balance. We are running the ball pretty well right now, but I still think it still goes back to player development. We’ve been trying to do that from the start here, and I think that’s been kind of the consistent way of doing it.

“We’re going to try to win the turnover battle,” Leipold added. “We’re not going to beat ourselves in penalties. It may not be as flashy as some other people are doing it, but we want to do it as consistently.”

It has certainly worked.

In six seasons under Leipold, the Bulls have an overall record of 37-33 (.529) at the FBS level. Buffalo has played in three consecutive bowl games, which is actually one more bowl berth than the program had in the previous 25 years before he got there.

“I think philosophically we’ve kind of taken the same approach where we’re going to get better by working hard each and every day,” Leipold said. “Hopefully you’re doing a good job in recruiting and evaluating and having depth so players are motivated to get better each and every day for themselves to reach their goals but also for the program.”

Based on this podcast, it sounds like Leipold emphasizes the importance of player development. For him, that really starts in practice and making sure everyone is involved and getting their fair share of reps.

“We practice very similarly like we did at Whitewater,” Leipold said. “We try to get a lot of reps. We don’t have a lot of guys standing around. It helps morale, it builds that depth we’re talking about.”

“It may not be the flashiest, but it works very well for us,” Leipold added.