Whatever Happens Next With Kansas Football, This Year is a Success Story

What was an expectation for KU football two months ago would now be a disappointment and that's incredible progress.

Kansas head coach Lance Leipold has been clear that the job is not done. He said as much in the press conference after the Iowa State game on Saturday as he continues to preach that everyone must remain focused despite the early success and hype.

Just more than half of the season still needs to be played. But regardless of what happens the rest of the year, Leipold and Kansas have accomplished and progressed enough to make this season a success.

It’s not just winning more games in a year than any other Kansas coach since Mark Mangino nearly 15 years ago, and doing just as the calendar hit October. Or that the Jayhawks are now ranked for the first time since 2009. It’s also that Leipold and his staff – as well as this team itself – has made Kansas the national feel-good story of the year, where all the national networks want to come to Lawrence to talk about this turnaround, including now ESPN’s College GameDay.

So, let’s just look at the worst-case scenario and say Kansas doesn’t win another game all year (for the record, I don’t think this happens, but let’s go with it as a hypothetical). KU would have already accomplished more than virtually everyone expected, more than Vegas predicted, and by winning on the road and beating multiple Big 12 teams, which it hasn’t done in years.

But the fan reaction would, justifiably so, be devastation. Losing the final seven games of the year now would feel like a major disappointment. As it should be.

And that’s why this season is already successful in its own right. Because in just over a month, this program has made people go from hoping for a single win in conference and even losing competitively to expecting a bowl appearance. The goal posts for acceptability and expectations have been moved back, and that’s what happens with progress. That’s how you know you are moving in the right direction, when you’re not satisfied with last year’s (or even the preseason’s) expectations.

Believing you shouldn’t lose seven games in a row and instead expecting to make a bowl game is a luxury Kansas fans have not had for a long time. The 2022 Jayhawks have given them this luxury. That’s the progress this program has been desperate to see for so long. And now it’s here.

It’s the first step in the path to greater success.