Tag: Lance Leipold

Power ranking 7 candidates who are reportedly in the mix for Michigan State football’s coaching job

Ranking 7 candidates who are reportedly in the mix for MSU’s coaching job:

It has been a long road for the Michigan State fan base, but that road is finally coming to an end. MSU has reportedly been conducting interviews with candidates that they have vetted over the last two months and are looking to zero in on their next leader.

There have been some leaks on guys who have interviewed for the job, and some sources have shared some names with Spartans Wire, giving us a good idea who is in the mix to take over the Spartans football program.

Let’s take a look at where Spartans Wire ranks the candidates that are reportedly in the mix for MSU’s job:

Wisconsin confronts a familiar face in USAToday’s latest bowl projections

Wisconsin confronts a familiar face in USAToday’s latest bowl projections

The 2023 Wisconsin Badgers clinched bowl eligibility for the 22nd consecutive season with Saturday’s overtime win over Nebraska.

A disappointing and injury-plagued season has the chance to finish on a positive note as we move into 2024. That positivity, of course, would only be present if the Badgers were to defeat Minnesota on Saturday and reclaim the Axe.

Regardless, Wisconsin’s bowl game will not be one of the highest-anticipated. USAToday released its latest bowl projections this morning and had that contest come in the Guaranteed Rate Bowl (again) against a familiar face in this state: Kansas and head coach Lance Leipold.

Leipold’s Jayhawks sit at 7-4 after a hot 7-2 start. The program’s trajectory under his watch is remarkable…a 2-10 2021 season, a 6-7 record (despite a 5-0 start) in 2022 and now this. Remember, Kansas is not traditionally a winning football program.

This would be a fun matchup as we watch the Jayhawks’ creative and high-powered offense meet a solid Badger defense. And we get the storyline of UW-Whitewater legend Lance Leipold coaching against that state’s only power program.

Kansas head coach Lance Leipold shoots down Michigan State speculation

“This going to be the last job that we have”

It is remarkable the job that Lance Leipold has done at Kansas. Since he took over the program, the Jayhawks have completely turned the program around. KU is currently 7-2 (4-2) through nine games this year and qualified for the postseason for the second straight year. That hasn’t happened since 2008.

As has been the case with any successful coach, speculation and rumors swirl about their future. Leipold was a coach, whose name was thrown about last year during the coaching carousel. The regular season will come to an end in three weeks as the carousel begins to spin once again.

Could Leipold be on the short list of names that Michigan State wants to replace Mel Tucker, who they fired earlier this season? The Kansas head coach addressed those rumors revolving around his meeting with the Spartans.

“This is the only interview [I’ve done today], and that’s the way it’s going to be.”

“The one thing that happens during this time of year is there’s a lot of speculation on things that are happening that are not accurate, as I’ve said for a long time, Travis Goff and Chancellor Girod have treated Kelly and I extremely well and our family.”

“It is our plan and expectation that we want to be here and this is going to be the last job we have.”

We have heard plenty of head coaches deny these rumors in the past, only to leave a week or two later. At this time, Leipold hasn’t given any reason to not take him at his word.

We will just have to wait and see.

Power ranking 10 candidates for Michigan State football’s head coaching job: Version 2.0

Power ranking 10 candidates for Michigan State football’s head coaching job: Version 2.0

November is here and Michigan State’s coaching search is about to start ramping up in a big way.

In this series, we have ranked the potential candidates that could be in the running to take over Michigan State’s job. The list will be capped at ten names along with a few other honorable mentions, and will fluctuate based on how coaches are performing this season along with any rumored or confirmed interest from the Spartans.

Check out where we see the rankings at heading into the final month of the college football season:

Report Card: Poor grades all around as Oklahoma loses to Kansas

Oklahoma struggles nearly across the board areas but how did each position group grade out in the loss to Kansas?

Oklahoma took their first loss of the season on Saturday, falling to the [autotag]Kansas Jayhawks[/autotag] on a rainy and disgusting day in Lawrence. From the first play from scrimmage, it appeared Oklahoma would be in for a fight. And sure enough, that’s precisely what happened.

Oklahoma fell victim to another slow start on both sides of the ball. The Sooners were never able to get their passing game going. Due to the weather conditions, they relied heavily on their offensive line and running backs to generate offense.

The sooners will try and figure things out as they get set to take on the Oklahoma State Cowboys in what will be the last Bedlam for quite some time.

OU played a rough game on all fronts. Some things were encouraging, but a lot of the performance put forth was not good enough. We broke it down by position group below.

A Wisconsin legend praises the work of Kansas HC Lance Leipold

A Wisconsin legend praises the work of Kansas HC Lance Leipold:

Any football fan in the state of Wisconsin should be familiar with current Kansas head coach Lance Leipold. The long-time college coach took UW-Whitewater to six D-III championships before spending six years at Buffalo, and now three at Kansas.

The Wisconsin legend took Kansas to a program-defining win yesterday, a 38-33 win over No. 6 Oklahoma. The win over the Sooners was the Kansas Jayhawks’ first since 1997. It brings the Jayhawks to 6-2 on the season, bowl-eligible for the second consecutive year.

While the Wisconsin Badgers fell to Ohio State last night, Wisconsin legend J.J. Watt took to ‘X’ to express admiration for what Leipold is doing at Kansas.

Best Photos from the Oklahoma Sooners loss to the Kansas Jayhawks

A look at the best photos from the Oklahoma Sooners loss to the Kansas Jayhawks.

It was a cold, wet, and dreary day in Lawrence, Kan. and the skies got even dimmer at the end of a hard-fought, weather-interupted contest between Oklahoma and Kansas.

The Sooners dropped their first game of the year 38-33 in a performance that was inconsistent from start to finish.

From Dillon Gabriel’s pick six to the inability of the defense to make stops late in the game, the Sooners struggled to execute in key moments in Oklahoma’s first loss of the season.

Oklahoma will need a bounceback next week when they go to Stillwater for what could be the final Bedlam in years.

Here’s a look at some of the best photos from Oklahoma’s loss to Kansas.

5 takeaways from Oklahoma’s devastating loss to the Kansas Jayhawks

Taking a look at five takeaways in the aftermath of OU’s 38-33 loss against Kansas on Saturday.

Oklahoma’s final trip to Lawrence as Big 12 members was not a pleasant one. Lance Leipold’s Jayhawks pulled off the stunning upset on Saturday. Kansas came out on top 38-33 after standing firm as Oklahoma attempted one final prayer of a throw into the endzone.

The game was topsy-turvy from the very beginning, but it’s hard to argue that the better team on the day didn’t win. Kansas set the tone early, running through Oklahoma tackles with ease and disrupting the Oklahoma offense from the outset.

Some of the issues that have been underlying coming into the game resurfaced, and Oklahoma couldn’t overcome those. Additionally, the spirited play of the Jayhawks, who were determined to end the 26-year drought between their last win against the Sooners, made a huge difference in the outcome.

The result is hard to swallow, but now that the dust has settled, here are our five takeaways from Oklahoma’s first loss.

5 keys to an Oklahoma Sooners victory over Kansas

Can the Oklahoma Sooners extend their winning streak over Kansas on Saturday? Here are our five keys to the game.

On Saturday, No. 6 Oklahoma (7-0, 4-0) will take on Lance Leipold’s [autotag]Kansas Jayhawks[/autotag] (5-2, 2-2) for the final time as Big 12 foes.

Oklahoma needs to play a much better game on Saturday than they did against the UCF Knights. They looked to be sleepwalking through the game at times and could have been more crisp on offense. The offensive line had its worst game of the season in pass protection, and until the fourth quarter, the Sooners couldn’t expose a lousy run defense.

Defensively, two busted plays defined the day, as both led to UCF touchdowns. Those plays aside, it was an excellent day for an Oklahoma defense that continues to show improvement.

Kansas will present another challenge for this revitalized Oklahoma defense. The Sooners D continues to make opposing offenses look outmatched at times. Aside from the occasional busts in coverages, this unit is much better than the one that Kansas saw in Norman last year when Kansas quarterback Jason Bean threw four touchdowns.

The Jayhawks have two solid running backs, Devin Neal and Daniel Hishaw Jr. They are as explosive as teams get and will provide Oklahoma with a challenge.

Ultimately, the Sooners still hold advantages at multiple spots. With their lackluster performance from UCF behind them, the Sooners should come out on fire.

The Jayhawks surely won’t go down without a fight, and Brent Venables will make sure the team knows that.

Kansas hasn’t beaten OU since 1997. The Sooners have won the last 18 matchups between the two sides. But what are the keys to Oklahoma closing out the 100-year series with a win? Here are this week’s keys to the game.

‘Physical makeup of the team’: Kansas sports reporter on why Leipold’s Jayhawks are different

To get ready for the Oklahoma Sooners matchup with the Kansas Jayhawks we talked with The Topeka Capital-Journal sports reporter @JordanGuskey.

A decade and a half ago, Mark Mangino and Todd Reesing helped elevate the [autotag]Kansas Jayhawks[/autotag] to the national conversation. They became Big 12 title contenders behind an offense that was able to keep pace with just about everyone.

But that was a long time ago. In the aftermath, Kansas became one of the worst programs in the country, cycling through Turner Gill, Charlie Weis, David Beaty, and Les Miles. They couldn’t replicate the success of the Mangino-Weiss era, failing to reach bowl eligibility for 13 consecutive seasons.

Then the Miles era abruptly ended and the Jayhawks went all the way up to Buffalo to bring Lance Leipold to the Power Five and to a program in desperate need of resuscitation. Coming in late in the spring, Leipold didn’t have much of a chance to find success that first year, but they were a team that was far more competitive than they had been in a long time despite the two-win season. One of those two wins came on the road against Texas.

Then last year, the Jayhawks started strong, earning their first bowl bid since 2008, and in 2023, they are 5-2 and on the verge of reaching a bowl game for the second straight season.

And while they head into their matchup with the Oklahoma Sooners as a double-digit home underdog, there’s a sense this Jayhawks team could cause some problems for the Sooners.

To get ready for the 114th meeting between the Oklahoma Sooners and Kansas Jayhawks, Sooners Wire had the pleasure of discussing the matchup with Jordan Guskey, a Sports Reporter covering the Kansas Jayhawks for The Topeka Capital-Journal.