photo by: Journal-World illustration

University of Kansas football recruiting

The first high school recruit to publicly commit to Kansas football after Lance Leipold took over the program, Texas prep cornerback Jalon Peoples backed out of that decision on Tuesday.

Peoples, rated a three-star prospect in the Class of 2022 by Rivals, announced on Twitter his decision to decommit from KU and reopen his recruitment.

The standout defensive back from Cedar Hill, Texas, picked up several scholarship offers over the past year before visiting KU this past June and making a nonbinding pledge to Leipold and his staff on June 27.

Peoples, who has received more than 30 scholarship offers during his prep career, decided to reopen his recruitment three days after the Jayhawks’ blowout home loss to Baylor.

During the summer, Peoples made visits to not only KU, but also Baylor, Texas Tech and Iowa.

KU currently has seven high school seniors committed in its 2022 recruiting class. The earliest any of the prospects can sign with KU and make their ties to the program official is in December.

After much prayer and talks with my family, I have decided to decommit from The University of Kansas and open up my recruitment.

— Jalon Peoples (@D1Jay3) September 21, 2021

KU football Class of 2022 commitments

(Rivals rankings)

• Dewuan Mack — 3-star Missouri DB

• Jacobe Chester — 3-star Texas athlete

• Nikki Taylor — 3-star Alabama athlete

• Anthony Davis — 3-star Texas CB

• Kaleb Purdy — 3-star Missouri S

• Joey Baker — 3-star Texas OT

• James Livingston — 2-star Michigan OT

Grunhard expected to miss more games

Leipold said Tuesday during his weekly press conference that veteran offensive lineman Colin Grunhard will continue to miss games, projecting it will be “awhile” before Grunhard might return.

At the very least, Leipold said, Grunhard will miss KU’s next two games “for sure” — at Duke on Saturday and at Iowa State on Oct. 2.

“And then we’ll see where we are after the open week,” KU’s head coach said of Grunhard’s recovery, pointing to the week leading up to an Oct. 16 home date with Texas Tech as a possible time to reassess.

Grunhard, a former walk-on at Notre Dame who joined KU football this past January as a graduate transfer, started at right guard in the season opener.

The 6-foot-1, 295-pound junior played through some pain in Week 1 after getting slowed by an injury during the preseason. He has yet to recover and missed the past two games as a result.

Redshirt freshman Michael Ford Jr., who transferred in from Buffalo during the summer, replaced Grunhard in the starting lineup.

Former KU OC DeBord hospitalized

Former KU offensive coordinator Mike DeBord earlier this week suffered a stroke and a brain bleed and is an intensive care unit at a University of Michigan hospital, according to a report from Football Scoop.

Hired earlier this year by former head coach Les Miles, DeBord led the Jayhawks’ offense throughout spring football. KU then hired Leipold as Miles’ replacement, and the program transitioned to a revamped staff without DeBord and some other former Miles assistants.

Previously DeBord, 65, worked as the offensive coordinator at Indiana, Tennessee and Michigan.