Lance Leipold highlights his expectations for Kansas football’s spring showcase, more

LAWRENCE — Kansas football coach Lance Leipold had no shortage of topics to talk about Thursday, as he answered questions about his new contract and more.

That meant Leipold spent time addressing what he thought about some of the newer transfer additions the Jayhawks signed ahead of the 2024 season. It meant he reacted to how well some recent Kansas players have done as they’ve continued to embark on their professional careers. And it meant he could look ahead to the team’s spring showcase event in April.

Here are some takeaways from what he had to say about it all, as the Jayhawks continue their preparation for the upcoming campaign:

Getting through the spring showcase healthy is a major priority

As Kansas continues its renovation of David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium, the Jayhawks will hold their spring showcase event this year at Rock Chalk Park. It’ll be April 12 at 7 p.m. It’ll be another chance for fans to get a look at the team as it looks to build on back-to-back bowl appearances and a bowl victory.

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Leipold hopes it’ll be a great opportunity for those fans, but when it comes to what Kansas will do that likely won’t stray much from what the team did in 2023. During Leipold’s tenure, the spring showcase has included some scrimmaging and overall had a practice-like atmosphere. And Leipold noted they might even do less.

The reasoning focuses on the reality that the Jayhawks have a lot of guys who have played a lot of football, and holding a full scrimmage at the end of spring ball — in Leipold’s mind — probably isn’t the best idea. He highlighted the cornerback duo of Mello Dotson and Cobee Bryant as an example. Those who need work will get it, just in other ways.

“We keep adding, adding sometimes, but we don’t reduce in other ways,” Leipold said. “So, I think coaches have taken it upon themselves to reduce the importance of the spring game because football’s changed. And we get other times with our guys to develop and work on skills in other ways, that I don’t know if that’s the other component that we need.”

The momentum Austin Booker has ahead of the NFL draft doesn’t surprise Lance Leipold

Austin Booker and Dominick Puni, two key pieces of the 2023 Kansas football team, are examples Leipold and his staff can point to when they recruit players in the transfer portal. Before they arrived at KU, Booker hadn’t played much at Minnesota and Puni was a Division II talent from Central Missouri who was making the jump to Division I. Now, after developing with the Jayhawks, both are likely going to be selected in this year’s NFL draft.

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Speaking about Booker specifically, Leipold said he hasn’t paid a lot of attention to when people are saying Booker will go. But Booker is gaining a lot of momentum ahead of the draft, and that hasn’t surprised Leipold even though Booker doesn’t have a lot of college experience outside of the 2023 season. Leipold compared Booker to a player he coached at Buffalo, Malcolm Koonce, who was a third round draft pick in 2021.

Lance Leipold likes the veteran presence Javier Derritt and Dylan Wudke can provide

Booker wasn’t the only key member of Kansas’ defensive line who won’t be back in 2024, and that made the talent the Jayhawks targeted in the transfer portal all the more important. Defensive linemen Javier Derritt, from North Dakota State, and Dylan Wudke, from Youngstown State, became two of the additions. And Leipold mentioned the two provide stability as veterans.

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Derritt and Wudke are making their own jumps up in the levels of college football, of course. They’re going from FCS competition in Division I to FBS competition. But Leipold made sure to highlight how competitive the football they played was, and anticipates the redshirt seniors will ensure the Jayhawks won’t have to play some of their younger defensive linemen before they are ready.

Leipold also appeared to predict that Derritt, listed at 6-foot-2 and 280 pounds, and Wudke, listed at 6-foot-4 and 265 pounds, will make great strides because of the resources that are now available to them at this higher level. That includes nutrition, strength training and academics. And Leipold noted both have a level of maturity that made him feel they both fit the team’s culture well.

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Jordan Guskey covers University of Kansas Athletics at The Topeka Capital-Journal. He is the National Sports Media Association’s sportswriter of the year for the state of Kansas for 2022. Contact him at jmguskey@gannett.com or on Twitter at @JordanGuskey.

This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Lance Leipold wants Kansas football healthy following spring showcase