photo by: Rod Aydelotte/Waco Tribune-Herald via AP

Kansas running back Devin Neal runs downfield between Baylor cornerback Lorando Johnson, left, and safety Devin Lemear, right, in the first half of an NCAA college football game, Saturday, Nov. 30, 2024, in Waco, Texas.

Waco, Texas — Running back Devin Neal technically became a Kansas football alumnus as soon as he walked off the field at McLane Stadium on Saturday, following his school-record 20th career 100-yard rushing performance.

The Jayhawks’ turnover-laden and massively disappointing 45-17 loss to Baylor had ended any reasonable hope that they could reach a third straight bowl game under head coach Lance Leipold.

But the real moment at which Neal seemingly progressed from current Jayhawk to KU legend occurred during his postgame press conference. He had mentioned something Leipold had told the players postgame — that they might have been a tired team after battling four straight ranked opponents prior to Saturday — but said he didn’t want to give out excuses.

Then a notable shift occurred as he restated one particular sentence.

“And so we have to find a way to — or future guys have to find a way to — prepare differently, have a better mindset from the get-go,” Neal said.

From then on, the Lawrence native took a more reflective approach to what had just unfolded — a 1-5 start, four of five wins following a bye week in a “fantastic stretch,” then the poor showing on Saturday for a 5-7 record, bringing to an underwhelming end the trailblazing careers of so many of his teammates among the 38 players who went through senior day on Nov. 23.

“I’m not saying that guys were complacent at the beginning of the season, but I don’t believe we had that same edge and that same swagger that we played with (in) years past,” Neal said. “Fall camp’s going to be really important for these guys’ development.

“I’m really excited to come back and watch and give any advice to those I can.”

Neal, by the way, added that he had no regrets about coming back for his senior season when he could have left after winning the Guaranteed Rate Bowl as a junior. In 2024, he managed to become the Jayhawks’ all-time leading rusher and set a host of other records for touchdowns, rushing touchdowns and 100-yard performances.

Now it’s all in the past, following what Leipold said “ends up being a roller-coaster year in so many ways.”

“It just kind of set the tone for what this program can be — and also set the tone for what, if we don’t do what we’re supposed to do, what this program can be as well,” Neal said. “I think that gives a sense of hunger for the guys coming back, especially the coaches as well. I know everyone’s hungry to really get back and start the process all over again, be a better team than we were this year.”

When they come back, though, they’ll be doing it not only without Neal but without wide receivers Lawrence Arnold, Luke Grimm, Quentin Skinner and Trevor Wilson; tight ends Jared Casey and Trevor Kardell; offensive linemen Bryce Cabeldue and Michael Ford Jr.; defensive linemen Jereme Robinson, Caleb Taylor and Dylan Wudke; linebackers Taiwan Berryhill Jr., JB Brown and Cornell Wheeler; cornerbacks Cobee Bryant and Mello Dotson; and safeties O.J. Burroughs and Marvin Grant, among many others.

“It’s very challenging,” Burroughs said after the loss to Baylor. “This senior class was a very special group, coming to be a part of the change, and to fall short like that kind of hurts.”

With as many as 38 departures by seniors — not even including potential transfers out by younger players — KU will have an entirely new look next season. Several senior-day participants have decisions to make as to whether they want to return for an additional year of eligibility, including a starting tackle in Logan Brown, and most notably a longtime starting quarterback, Jalon Daniels.

Daniels and Leipold have said he went through senior day in order to walk with many of the players he came in with upon arriving at KU in 2020. However, he has a sixth year of eligibility he can still use at KU or elsewhere after playing during the COVID-affected 2020 season and then redshirting due to injury in 2023.

“I wanted to be able to wait until the season was over for me to even be able to think about such a thing like that,” Daniels said, “because next year is a big part of my future, big part of being able to develop to be able to get to where I want to be able to get to next year. Now that the season is over, it’s definitely going to be something I have to think about.”

Daniels finished the year with 2,174 passing yards, 14 touchdowns and 10 interceptions, as well as 410 rushing yards and six additional touchdowns. His decision, with freshman Isaiah Marshall waiting in the wings, will go a long way toward determining what KU looks like in 2025 and in the near term how it approaches the offseason.

Leipold also has to go through a process of self-scouting to determine how KU responds to a disappointing season in which, as he said, “you could pick three plays of about four different games, if something’s a little bit different, if some of it executes differently, we’d be talking about a lot different December.”

He said a significant part of the process consists of looking at patterns in explosive plays that KU has either achieved or given up, as well as third-down conversions, and making decisions about concepts to add or eliminate.

As for the prospect of further schematic or personnel changes, he said, “Sometimes you look at teams that might be similar to you. You look at teams and you study them, and you look at any way that you can improve some things that might make it better in anything, whether it be defensive schematics of coverages or blitzes, just base defense of certain things on how to play certain formations, (and) offensively.

“There’s a wide range of things you can do in today’s football, you just have to find a way to make sure that you find the things that you can execute the best.”

He did note that KU has continued to post marked improvement as compared to the years before his arrival, something he’s “not going to shy away (from) making sure that we kind of build upon.”

“Now, could we have done better, absolutely, and that’s the responsibility of myself,” he said. “I have to look at a lot of this as we move forward and continue to work to get better.”