Last week the Big 12 Conference held its annual football media days at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas and both Kansas and Kansas State were represented by their head coaches and a few key players.
Kansas’ media session included head coach Lance Leipold as well as offensive tackle Earl Bostick Jr., quarterback Jalon Daniels, safety Kenny Logan Jr. and running back Devin Neal.
The Jayhawks are coming off another disappointing season in which Leipold’s team finished at 2-10 overall and 1-8 in Big 12 play. The two victories came against South Dakota in the season opener and at Texas on Nov. 13. Leipold explained how his team looks for ways to improve without looking at their record.
“We’re not in the moral victory business, and we understand that completely. But we’re always looking at, whether it be individual improvement in certain things, how we’ve gone about our daily business and really how we’ve connected dots with our players about becoming better holistically, whether it be weight room or academically and better leadership, better teammates, that these things are going to stack upon themselves and help us on game day,” said Liepold.
The Jayhawks finished last year at the bottom of Big 12 conference which is something they’ve unfortunately grown accustomed to for the past seven straight years.
The Lawrence native Neal, however, had a stellar season with 158 carries, 707 yards and eight touchdowns. He discussed at Big 12 Media Day the challenges of recruiting at KU.
“I like challenges. I was devoted to changing the program,” he said. “And others, they look at it a little bit differently, they want to be successful right away, which is fair. I absolutely respect that.”
Jayhawk quarterback Jalon Daniels came to Lawrence in 2020 and has played brief stints mainly behind last year’s starter Jason Bean. Last season, Daniels saw action in six games and made 81 completions for 860 yards and six touchdowns.
Daniels is excited to take a larger role at the centerpiece of this Kansas offense.
“One of the things that brought me to KU was the culture; how the fans interacted with us,” he said. “You know, they haven’t seen much from KU football in, I don’t know how long, but the fact that they are still excited for what we have going on no matter what the past (looks like.)”
The Kansas State Wildcats were represented by head coach Chris Klieman, linebacker Daniel Green, nose guard Eli Huggins, quarterback Adrian Martinez and last but certainly not least All-American running back Deuce Vaughn.
Klieman touched on the transfer portal and how new guys will have to mesh with returning Wildcats in order to play together successfully. The new transfer portal rules leave the college football landscape much more open and free to be moved around once a player is college eligible both on the field and in the classroom.
“We’re excited. We have very optimistic, high expectations, as everybody does this time of year, but we’ve got a lot of work to do. It’s going to be the new players that you’ve got to mesh with those returning players that are going to be the key to your success,” said Klieman.
The Wildcats ended last season going 8-5 overall and 4-5 in Big 12 action. One of the highlights of the season was a strong bowl game appearance in a 42-20 TaxAct Texas Bowl win over LSU on Jan. 4. That game saw Vaughn score four touchdowns, three of them coming on the ground. It’s safe to say Vaughn is going to continue to be the go-to guy on the Wildcat offense.
“It’s the work ethic that you see with Deuce Vaughn that I think everybody feeds off of. Whether it’s on the field, in the classroom, in the film room, in the weight room. The kid works so hard,” said Klieman. “He’s an older guy now, and I’ve been really proud of the way that he has kind of commanded the running back room and done some things with those new running backs.”
Adrian Martinez will step into the shoes of graduating Skylar Thompson as starting quarterback. Martinez is mainly a run-first quarterback with the option to drop back and pass the ball and will be working with former Wildcat quarterback turned offensive coordinator Collin Klein.
