WEBVTT - ALL BALL -Kansas Head Football Coach Lance Leipold - Part 2 0:00:08.680 --> 0:00:11.200 Hey, what welcome in. I'm Doug Gottlieb. This is All 0:00:11.280 --> 0:00:13.480 Ball part two of Lansleie pulled up coming if you 0:00:13.520 --> 0:00:15.760 heard part one. If you didn't, it's amazing. But this 0:00:15.800 --> 0:00:20.000 is you know, how he transitioned to Kansas football and 0:00:20.040 --> 0:00:22.680 how you build something from nothing and now they've got 0:00:22.680 --> 0:00:26.239 a stadium and how you sustain it. I think you'll 0:00:26.320 --> 0:00:29.000 you'll love it. Uh, And that's our challenge, right, that's 0:00:29.040 --> 0:00:32.720 our challenge at Green Bay. Obviously, our season finished record wise, 0:00:32.760 --> 0:00:34.839 not the way we wanted. But I think everybody who 0:00:34.880 --> 0:00:36.920 watches like, wow, you guys really got them playing hard 0:00:37.000 --> 0:00:39.720 and you were onto something late in the year. And 0:00:39.920 --> 0:00:41.839 there's lots of things we learned, and I think I'll 0:00:41.840 --> 0:00:43.320 share them and I'll start to share them in the 0:00:43.320 --> 0:00:46.040 next spot. But I will give you one, which is 0:00:47.640 --> 0:00:52.080 players respond when there are players around them that all 0:00:52.120 --> 0:00:55.000 want to be there, you know that all want to 0:00:55.040 --> 0:00:57.200 be there. And it's one of the things we're going 0:00:57.240 --> 0:00:59.160 through here in terms of, you know, the portal. Not 0:00:59.200 --> 0:01:01.480 every kid that enters the portal wants to enter the portal, 0:01:02.120 --> 0:01:06.160 and you know, you know, sometimes it is their choice 0:01:06.200 --> 0:01:09.280 and you don't want them to. But I think that 0:01:09.319 --> 0:01:14.120 the one commonality for teams that are still playing and 0:01:14.120 --> 0:01:15.840 playing well in the NCA tournament, playing well in their 0:01:15.840 --> 0:01:19.200 conference tournament is they have a high high percentage if 0:01:19.200 --> 0:01:22.760 not all of the guys all in on the present, day, 0:01:22.800 --> 0:01:26.440 the current and on. They want to be there, you know, 0:01:27.080 --> 0:01:28.560 And it's a hard thing to determine, like do you 0:01:28.560 --> 0:01:29.040 want to be here? 0:01:29.080 --> 0:01:29.440 Do you not? 0:01:30.520 --> 0:01:34.080 But you set standards, you hold them to them, and 0:01:34.160 --> 0:01:36.920 the once you get a group and it could be 0:01:37.080 --> 0:01:39.160 five guys, it could be seven guys, eight, it could 0:01:39.160 --> 0:01:42.720 be hopefully twelve guys or whatever that all want to 0:01:42.760 --> 0:01:44.680 be part of it, want to do it and do 0:01:44.760 --> 0:01:48.680 it the right way, you end up getting more production 0:01:49.120 --> 0:01:51.560 even with less talent than you ever thought possible. That 0:01:51.920 --> 0:01:56.400 makes sense. Yes, do the most talented teams work, sure, 0:01:56.960 --> 0:01:59.760 but they have to be teams and it's the most 0:01:59.760 --> 0:02:03.080 talent did actual teams that work, not just the most 0:02:03.120 --> 0:02:06.120 talented guys that work. I'm sure Lance Leopold knows that. 0:02:06.360 --> 0:02:08.679 So let's get to part two, our interview with the 0:02:08.720 --> 0:02:10.160 Kansas head coach LANs. 0:02:10.800 --> 0:02:13.079 Be sure to catch live editions of The Doug Gottlieb 0:02:13.160 --> 0:02:16.720 Show weekdays at three pm Eastern noon Pacific on Fox 0:02:16.760 --> 0:02:23.680 Sports Radio and the iHeartRadio appen. 0:02:21.400 --> 0:02:23.679 When you're too intent. The great thing about you being 0:02:23.680 --> 0:02:26.800 too intent was you had one big at Whitewater. So 0:02:26.840 --> 0:02:29.480 it's not like you don't know what you're doing. You 0:02:29.480 --> 0:02:31.920 don't know the template, you don't have the resume for it. 0:02:34.120 --> 0:02:38.000 But you also have to evaluate, Okay, we got to 0:02:38.080 --> 0:02:42.080 change some things. How do you How do you personally 0:02:42.160 --> 0:02:45.160 do it? Do you do you take notes? Do you 0:02:45.240 --> 0:02:48.200 do individual meetings? Do you like again, and I'm not 0:02:48.200 --> 0:02:50.840 talking just coaching, I'm not talking just players, staff as well, 0:02:51.200 --> 0:02:54.560 and yourself self evaluation? How did you how did you 0:02:55.360 --> 0:02:58.120 kind of self scout in order to get the program 0:02:58.200 --> 0:02:59.040 back in the right direction? 0:02:59.400 --> 0:03:02.040 Well, a couple of different ways there. I think you know. 0:03:02.080 --> 0:03:04.440 One of the things you know when things aren't going well. 0:03:04.560 --> 0:03:07.640 You know, as head coaches, it's kind of like playing quarterback. 0:03:07.680 --> 0:03:10.079 You get way too much credit when things are going well, 0:03:10.120 --> 0:03:13.119 and you probably get to take too much criticism when 0:03:13.240 --> 0:03:16.040 things aren't because the buck stops with you. But a 0:03:16.040 --> 0:03:18.400 lot of times I'll try to I'll put it in 0:03:18.440 --> 0:03:21.000 a staff meeting. What can I do better for you guys? 0:03:21.040 --> 0:03:23.079 What am I not doing enough? I'll put it out there. 0:03:23.160 --> 0:03:26.280 Let the assistant coaches give you feedback of where we 0:03:26.320 --> 0:03:28.919 can need. The one thing that I think we've done 0:03:28.919 --> 0:03:31.520 a good job wherever we've been is I think our 0:03:31.560 --> 0:03:34.520 structure and discipline has been solid wherever we've been. So 0:03:34.680 --> 0:03:38.160 expectations and the standard is the standard for us, so 0:03:38.200 --> 0:03:40.160 that we're not going to compromise. We're not going to 0:03:40.520 --> 0:03:44.560 compromise on effort levels and timeliness and all the little 0:03:44.560 --> 0:03:46.839 things that we know that can be a difference down 0:03:46.880 --> 0:03:49.720 the road. And as long as we're consistent in those ways, 0:03:50.000 --> 0:03:51.560 the young men in the program are going to make 0:03:51.600 --> 0:03:53.280 a decision if they're going to buy in or not, 0:03:53.520 --> 0:03:56.240 and if not, they're you know, they then usually they 0:03:56.280 --> 0:04:02.400 move on. But again there's you know, you get people 0:04:02.440 --> 0:04:05.320 second guessing, whether it be yourself or the staff or 0:04:05.680 --> 0:04:09.160 the scheme and everything that you're doing. But again, when 0:04:09.200 --> 0:04:11.440 we looked at we're a pretty young football team, we 0:04:11.880 --> 0:04:14.720 liked what we had coming back. We were playing hard 0:04:14.760 --> 0:04:16.760 in a lot of ways. We knew where we were deficient, 0:04:17.080 --> 0:04:19.240 and we found ways to try to improve upon it, 0:04:20.480 --> 0:04:22.920 you know, through ourselves, scouting and a lot of different things. 0:04:23.640 --> 0:04:26.360 Andy cold Nicky was our offensive coordinator, was now at 0:04:26.360 --> 0:04:28.599 Penn State. I remember one of the things he went 0:04:28.600 --> 0:04:30.440 through and did a study, and one of the things 0:04:30.560 --> 0:04:33.520 was sometimes when you're a younger football team, you're trying 0:04:33.560 --> 0:04:35.719 not to get beat and you're trying to keep games 0:04:35.760 --> 0:04:37.880 close and get him in the fourth quarter, and you're 0:04:37.920 --> 0:04:40.120 doing things. But one of the things that we found 0:04:40.160 --> 0:04:42.400 out we didn't do was we didn't take enough shots 0:04:42.440 --> 0:04:45.279 down field and to throw the ball down the field 0:04:45.279 --> 0:04:48.599 and a lot of times instead of trying to drive 0:04:48.640 --> 0:04:50.719 the ball for fifty yards, you need to try to 0:04:50.760 --> 0:04:52.960 throw one and either get an interference call or come 0:04:53.000 --> 0:04:55.280 down with a fifty to fifty ball and the next thing, 0:04:55.320 --> 0:04:57.839 you know, and we made that a high point of 0:04:57.880 --> 0:05:01.320 emphasis the next season and it started play dividends for us. 0:05:01.640 --> 0:05:05.120 And again we've gone through I say this in our 0:05:07.120 --> 0:05:10.160 I had three athletic directors in six years at Buffalo, 0:05:10.360 --> 0:05:13.400 and I had five strength coaches in six years, and 0:05:13.720 --> 0:05:15.919 we still ended up our last four years winning the 0:05:15.920 --> 0:05:18.760 most games over a four year period than any other school. So, 0:05:19.120 --> 0:05:21.240 as you know, it's got to be the continuity of 0:05:21.279 --> 0:05:23.440 everybody who are some of the people that help you 0:05:23.440 --> 0:05:27.200 you're athletic director in what you're doing anytime there's a 0:05:27.279 --> 0:05:29.920 change in athletic director, there's always that pause because a 0:05:29.960 --> 0:05:32.520 new person is going to survey the situation before they 0:05:32.560 --> 0:05:35.200 jump in and do anything. Your strength coach, you're trying 0:05:35.200 --> 0:05:38.440 to build consistency in your weight program. And again, but 0:05:38.880 --> 0:05:40.680 the fortunate part is a lot of the guys that 0:05:40.720 --> 0:05:43.039 were with me in Whitewater and other places, we're able 0:05:43.040 --> 0:05:45.560 to keep a good nucleus of coaches and we didn't 0:05:45.560 --> 0:05:47.680 have a lot of guys jump ship that way, and 0:05:47.720 --> 0:05:48.960 I think that helped us. 0:05:50.120 --> 0:05:51.719 Your last year there was the COVID year. 0:05:52.600 --> 0:05:55.559 Yes, well what was that like? It was crazy? Again, 0:05:55.839 --> 0:05:57.360 you know, some of it gets to be a blur, 0:05:57.480 --> 0:06:01.679 but you know, you know, if you remember in COVID 0:06:01.720 --> 0:06:03.960 and you remember the state of New York and what 0:06:04.000 --> 0:06:06.760 it was like in that where there was daily press 0:06:06.760 --> 0:06:09.640 conferences and from the governor and all these things of 0:06:10.000 --> 0:06:13.080 everything being really shut down, and what you could do. 0:06:13.480 --> 0:06:16.520 I thought our strength coach and our and our medical 0:06:16.520 --> 0:06:19.120 people came up with a good way that we could. 0:06:19.320 --> 0:06:22.640 We moved some weight room stuff to the open concourse 0:06:22.680 --> 0:06:25.240 of the stadium, so we had open airlifting. We've tried 0:06:25.279 --> 0:06:27.760 to find a way to keep going. We didn't get started. 0:06:27.760 --> 0:06:31.920 We played a six game regular season and a five 0:06:31.960 --> 0:06:35.280 game regular season and a conference championship game that we 0:06:35.440 --> 0:06:37.720 came up short against Ball State, and then we won 0:06:37.760 --> 0:06:40.520 a bowl game. But we found a game. We found 0:06:40.520 --> 0:06:44.080 a way to win games. We played well. Probably the 0:06:44.120 --> 0:06:46.960 benefit was we didn't we didn't play non conference games 0:06:47.000 --> 0:06:49.479 were supposed to be Kansas State and Ohio State that year, 0:06:49.520 --> 0:06:53.080 so that probably helped us a little bit. But I 0:06:53.160 --> 0:06:55.560 remember that, you know, you're going through all the testing. 0:06:55.640 --> 0:06:58.960 We're testing three times a week with our guys and waves, 0:06:59.040 --> 0:07:01.800 and then you wait for the results and you're holding 0:07:01.839 --> 0:07:06.320 your breath. You got enough guys, and we're going down 0:07:06.400 --> 0:07:09.520 to play Coach Solizer's Ohio team, and we just got 0:07:09.560 --> 0:07:13.080 done with with our meetings and walk through stuff and 0:07:13.200 --> 0:07:15.560 we're gonna get on the bus. And they came up 0:07:15.560 --> 0:07:18.440 to me and said, hey, you may want to have 0:07:18.560 --> 0:07:23.000 to wait. Ohio's got some positive guys in the games 0:07:23.000 --> 0:07:26.280 in Jeopardy, and I'm like, I can't tell the guys 0:07:26.320 --> 0:07:28.880 that we may not play the game because mentally, then 0:07:28.920 --> 0:07:30.920 guys are either gonna be disappointed or they're going to 0:07:31.040 --> 0:07:32.720 check out. And then we've got to try to get 0:07:32.720 --> 0:07:35.679 them back mentally ready to play. I said, we're going, 0:07:36.480 --> 0:07:39.800 and so we got on the bus and we started going, 0:07:39.880 --> 0:07:41.800 and we're gonna stop at a rest stop and grab 0:07:41.920 --> 0:07:44.840 sandwiches that we had ordered from someplace. And I got 0:07:44.880 --> 0:07:46.840 a call about an hour before we even got to 0:07:46.880 --> 0:07:49.400 the rest stop that the game was canceled. So we 0:07:50.280 --> 0:07:52.800 had to start and go through it all, go give 0:07:52.840 --> 0:07:54.800 them their sandwiches, and then call them up and call 0:07:54.840 --> 0:07:57.280 them all up and say, hey, bring it in here. 0:07:57.360 --> 0:08:00.880 A game got canceled. We're heading back home, and stuff 0:08:00.920 --> 0:08:03.800 that you never even think about these days. And in 0:08:03.920 --> 0:08:06.120 all all the all the ways that you would try 0:08:06.120 --> 0:08:07.920 to find a way to play a game, they would 0:08:08.400 --> 0:08:11.200 you know, contact tracing and stuff like that. They would 0:08:11.240 --> 0:08:14.920 try to, uh, they would have a stop watch about 0:08:14.920 --> 0:08:17.800 how many seconds each guy was lined up against a 0:08:17.840 --> 0:08:22.360 guy that was that was possibly uh you know positive. Yeah, 0:08:22.640 --> 0:08:24.800 just just the thing that you're trying to do just 0:08:24.840 --> 0:08:28.520 to get the game played is it was crazy. Uh. 0:08:28.600 --> 0:08:32.679 Is there any part of you that misses the bussing 0:08:32.720 --> 0:08:36.440 to games because now you only bust the K State. 0:08:36.920 --> 0:08:40.960 We bust the Kick State and Iowa State. But you know, honestly, 0:08:41.640 --> 0:08:44.120 Doug and the fact that my body's getting old, and 0:08:44.160 --> 0:08:47.360 I don't My back's a little more sore after riding 0:08:47.400 --> 0:08:51.280 those buses. I do believe that there's something about bus 0:08:51.320 --> 0:08:54.600 trips that I will miss. I I look at it 0:08:54.640 --> 0:08:57.880 as you know, we would at Whitewater. We had ones 0:08:57.880 --> 0:09:00.120 all the way out to New Jersey. We we we 0:09:00.160 --> 0:09:03.520 played Buffalo State in Buffalo, we played Dickinson, North Dakota. 0:09:04.440 --> 0:09:07.280 I think they're good team building. I think they they 0:09:07.440 --> 0:09:09.320 it's a I don't know if it's a badge of 0:09:09.400 --> 0:09:11.920 honor or what it is, but I do think there's 0:09:11.920 --> 0:09:14.840 something about it that, as we said earlier, when people 0:09:14.880 --> 0:09:17.840 want to get into coaching, I do think everyone needs 0:09:18.080 --> 0:09:20.559 an extended bus trip once in their career. 0:09:20.360 --> 0:09:23.600 No question. And to unload the bags. You're a little 0:09:23.600 --> 0:09:26.280 man on the tone bowl. Yeah, unload the bags as well, 0:09:27.160 --> 0:09:28.080 you know, right. 0:09:28.760 --> 0:09:30.959 And we always say there's that, you know, as a 0:09:30.960 --> 0:09:34.040 as a head coach or whatever, hopefully you don't ask 0:09:34.080 --> 0:09:36.559 somebody to do something that you haven't done yourself somewhere 0:09:36.559 --> 0:09:38.280 along the line and you're still not willing to do. 0:09:38.559 --> 0:09:42.240 It's interesting. They the guys, my guys are always on me, 0:09:42.280 --> 0:09:44.880 my assistant coach as so as I coach, you don't 0:09:44.920 --> 0:09:47.240 have to get the bags. And I was like, I'll 0:09:47.280 --> 0:09:50.160 be honest with you, I haven't necessary. I haven't been 0:09:50.200 --> 0:09:52.240 doing this long enough to have somebody else get my back. 0:09:52.800 --> 0:09:54.440 So I get the front seat. That's the only thing 0:09:54.480 --> 0:09:56.839 I get, you know. And if I want to stop 0:09:56.840 --> 0:09:59.600 for coffee, damn it, we stopped for coffee. Outside of that, 0:09:59.679 --> 0:10:02.360 I'm just like any other any other smow you know, 0:10:02.559 --> 0:10:04.320 only I'm not on my I can't tell them to 0:10:04.360 --> 0:10:08.120 not be on their phones and be on my phone myself. 0:10:08.200 --> 0:10:08.560 Okay. 0:10:09.320 --> 0:10:14.760 So Kansas had won nine games in six years, nine 0:10:14.800 --> 0:10:19.960 in six years, right, no facilities, And the m O was, 0:10:20.920 --> 0:10:24.199 they don't care as long as basketball is winning championships, 0:10:24.200 --> 0:10:26.960 and they won a gajillion big toll champions in row, 0:10:27.400 --> 0:10:31.160 they don't care. Right, there's not enough in state players 0:10:32.720 --> 0:10:35.520 at the time you got ou in Texas in the league. Heck, 0:10:35.559 --> 0:10:38.520 even Oklahoma State in terms of funding, like just you 0:10:38.559 --> 0:10:41.040 don't have a Boon Pickens to give a couple hundred 0:10:41.040 --> 0:10:44.400 million dollars. Why why would you take on that challenge? 0:10:45.040 --> 0:10:48.040 Well, you know, part of it was some of the 0:10:48.080 --> 0:10:51.480 same things that you know, try to build something that 0:10:51.559 --> 0:10:55.760 hadn't been done. I had. I had some opportunities that 0:10:56.280 --> 0:10:59.120 I thought that we're going to play out earlier in 0:10:59.160 --> 0:11:02.360 the job cycle. And it was kind of one of 0:11:02.360 --> 0:11:05.440 those who were getting close my wife, who's a great 0:11:05.480 --> 0:11:10.280 reader of of of me that year before, like when 0:11:10.440 --> 0:11:12.760 that COVID year, we ended up ranked twenty fifth in 0:11:12.800 --> 0:11:15.079 the country in the final AP poll, and we had 0:11:15.080 --> 0:11:18.600 a really good nucleus of players coming back. But I 0:11:18.640 --> 0:11:21.439 came home once in February because this job opened really 0:11:21.559 --> 0:11:24.559 late in the cycle. And but she said to me, 0:11:24.640 --> 0:11:26.640 she goes, I think next year should be your last 0:11:26.720 --> 0:11:29.280 year here. We need you need to look And I said, why, 0:11:29.400 --> 0:11:33.160 she goes, you seem bored. You know, we had gotten 0:11:33.160 --> 0:11:35.800 some facilities done. We got an indoor, we redid the 0:11:35.840 --> 0:11:39.080 locker room, we got some things going. We built a 0:11:39.120 --> 0:11:42.640 new a feeling station, things like that, and we had 0:11:42.679 --> 0:11:44.800 gone from some of the worst facilities in Buffalo to 0:11:44.880 --> 0:11:46.920 some of the better ones. And it was like some 0:11:47.000 --> 0:11:48.960 of the things that I really take out as challenges 0:11:49.280 --> 0:11:51.760 and and and then we had become a player led program, 0:11:51.840 --> 0:11:54.320 doug and the things that you really try to strive for. 0:11:54.480 --> 0:11:57.680 And and I was like, you know, maybe she's right, 0:11:57.880 --> 0:12:00.680 And and I thought, you know, you go to a 0:12:00.720 --> 0:12:04.040 place like Kansas is you know, you can do something 0:12:04.080 --> 0:12:07.000 that maybe others haven't done, you know. And I had 0:12:07.040 --> 0:12:10.120 mentioned Barry Alvarez before, and Barry's one of the reasons 0:12:10.200 --> 0:12:14.040 Barry said he never left Wisconsin was much like Hayden 0:12:14.080 --> 0:12:16.520 Fry never left Iowa. You have a chance to do 0:12:16.600 --> 0:12:19.800 something consistently that has never been done at that school. 0:12:20.080 --> 0:12:22.600 And I was like, you know what, I'm at an 0:12:22.640 --> 0:12:24.559 age and a point of my career. If I'm ever 0:12:24.640 --> 0:12:26.720 going to get a Power five job, this may be 0:12:26.840 --> 0:12:29.280 the one, and let's take a swing at it. And 0:12:29.600 --> 0:12:32.400 if you don't, if it doesn't work out, you end 0:12:32.480 --> 0:12:34.560 up being just like the four or five before you. 0:12:34.960 --> 0:12:36.560 And if you have a chance to get it going, 0:12:36.640 --> 0:12:38.360 you can do something special for a place. 0:12:39.960 --> 0:12:45.840 Year one, you open up with South Dakota and you 0:12:45.880 --> 0:12:49.280 get a win, and then you play Coastal Carolina. 0:12:49.800 --> 0:12:51.839 By the way, Doug, they stormed in the field after 0:12:51.880 --> 0:12:53.280 we beat South Dakota. 0:12:54.160 --> 0:12:57.200 That's right, I forgot about that. What was that? 0:12:57.360 --> 0:13:00.480 Like? Well, we had to come back to win, and 0:13:00.520 --> 0:13:04.840 I was like, you know, I said, Unfortunately, God blessed 0:13:04.840 --> 0:13:07.079 the kids that stuck around and worked hard. Here I said, 0:13:07.360 --> 0:13:09.400 we were too and ten that year. I said, but 0:13:09.480 --> 0:13:12.440 we might have been. We might have been oh to 0:13:12.440 --> 0:13:15.280 twelve on the eyeball test in pregame warm ups. Just 0:13:15.559 --> 0:13:18.200 that it was. It was tough, it was, but you know, 0:13:18.480 --> 0:13:21.360 we missed springball here. We didn't really know what we 0:13:21.480 --> 0:13:24.120 had were We're trying to get kids to build, you know, 0:13:24.240 --> 0:13:27.080 buy into our way of doing it, but getting a win. 0:13:27.240 --> 0:13:28.800 But he said, but I know you're going to talk 0:13:28.800 --> 0:13:31.200 about Coastal Carolina and that was a good Coastal team 0:13:31.240 --> 0:13:33.280 and they got after us on the road. 0:13:34.320 --> 0:13:36.280 Well, I was just gonna the balance of that, and 0:13:36.360 --> 0:13:38.320 all of a sudden's Coastal and You're like, oh uh 0:13:38.360 --> 0:13:41.080 oh uh oh. 0:13:41.600 --> 0:13:44.400 I questioned, why were we going to Coastal even play? 0:13:44.520 --> 0:13:46.480 First of all, you know, what are you know, those 0:13:46.520 --> 0:13:48.079 are things that you're. 0:13:48.240 --> 0:13:50.959 You did you have the conversation because I had one 0:13:50.960 --> 0:13:53.720 of these conversations like after you lose a game which 0:13:53.720 --> 0:13:55.320 you knew you shouldn't have been scheduled, but it was 0:13:55.320 --> 0:13:58.160 out of your control. You said, Okay, just so we're aware, 0:13:58.760 --> 0:14:00.079 I said, I didn't want to play this game. We 0:14:00.080 --> 0:14:03.200 didn't play this game. So from this point forward, I 0:14:03.240 --> 0:14:05.440 get the yeah, I'm taking the l's I get to 0:14:05.679 --> 0:14:06.439 I get the schedule. 0:14:07.040 --> 0:14:09.400 Yeah, and it's like if you're going to play those 0:14:09.559 --> 0:14:12.200 those need to just be home games and things. But 0:14:12.400 --> 0:14:15.360 you know, it's it's what it is, and you learn that, 0:14:15.400 --> 0:14:17.920 you learn from it and go. But yeah, there's there's 0:14:17.960 --> 0:14:19.760 a lot more saying scheduling. 0:14:19.320 --> 0:14:25.120 Now during the losing, because you lost I think seven 0:14:25.200 --> 0:14:25.840 or eight in a row. 0:14:26.320 --> 0:14:26.640 Mm hm. 0:14:27.360 --> 0:14:29.960 But you had been through it before at Buffalo. But 0:14:30.120 --> 0:14:32.600 what was it like at the Kansas level where you're 0:14:32.600 --> 0:14:36.200 walking in the stadium's not right. You know, you're trying 0:14:36.240 --> 0:14:38.400 to do something that hasn't been done. What are those 0:14:38.400 --> 0:14:39.120 feelings like? 0:14:39.880 --> 0:14:42.360 Yeah, I can remember like the Baylor game and you 0:14:42.400 --> 0:14:44.440 made something in front of you. I don't remember the score, 0:14:44.480 --> 0:14:46.280 but I remember we were down like three scores at 0:14:46.320 --> 0:14:49.600 halftime and and you walked into a locker room and 0:14:50.240 --> 0:14:53.640 they were they were done. They are the confidence level 0:14:53.680 --> 0:14:56.800 of our team and and and and not like blank, it. 0:14:56.840 --> 0:14:58.240 Was only fourteen to seven at half. 0:14:58.920 --> 0:15:04.800 Wasn't okay? But they're but they're but it was maybe 0:15:04.840 --> 0:15:06.760 I'm missing another game there where it was like and. 0:15:06.800 --> 0:15:10.400 Half No, I know, listen, I know exactly what you're talking. 0:15:10.160 --> 0:15:12.280 About you know, they've gone through it so many times, 0:15:12.280 --> 0:15:14.120 and you're like, Okay, how are we going to break 0:15:14.160 --> 0:15:17.440 this cycle? And it's chipping away with confidence and finding 0:15:17.520 --> 0:15:20.800 ways to work evic and and if you have unwavering 0:15:20.840 --> 0:15:23.120 belief in the process, it's going to pay you back 0:15:23.200 --> 0:15:25.920 and you keep working. But there were some times where 0:15:25.920 --> 0:15:28.160 you looked at it and you could just see it 0:15:28.720 --> 0:15:32.400 the the here we go again type things. One of 0:15:32.400 --> 0:15:34.280 the things that we were able to start doing though, 0:15:34.400 --> 0:15:37.000 is we we told it. We moved to a morning 0:15:37.040 --> 0:15:41.200 practice philosophy from an afternoon. They had had really long 0:15:41.280 --> 0:15:44.880 practices with the previous staff. We had shorter practices. We 0:15:44.920 --> 0:15:48.160 moved faster, We got in, we did our work, We 0:15:48.200 --> 0:15:50.480 did what we said we were going to do, and 0:15:50.520 --> 0:15:53.440 we started to build trust with them by by acting 0:15:53.480 --> 0:15:57.520 out and the kids started to trust us, and we 0:15:57.600 --> 0:15:58.440 slowly got better. 0:15:59.640 --> 0:16:03.800 But to be Texas and it was wild. What do 0:16:03.840 --> 0:16:06.320 you remember about the game? Well, I remember we got 0:16:06.360 --> 0:16:08.080 up big and it was like, okay, here we go. 0:16:08.120 --> 0:16:09.360 Then all of a sudden you could feel in the 0:16:09.360 --> 0:16:11.880 fourth quarter, here they're coming. They're getting it together. So 0:16:12.360 --> 0:16:15.400 then they tie it up and it goes into overtime. 0:16:14.920 --> 0:16:19.440 And and we won the toss and went on defense, 0:16:19.680 --> 0:16:23.400 and I and I told, I told our offensive coordinator, 0:16:23.480 --> 0:16:27.120 Andy cole Nikki. I said, Andy, if I said, if 0:16:27.160 --> 0:16:30.800 they score, we're gonna if we score, we're going for 0:16:30.840 --> 0:16:33.760 two right away. We're not going to keep playing this out. 0:16:34.040 --> 0:16:37.520 And he goes, I have a play, so it's sure enough, 0:16:37.560 --> 0:16:39.440 you know, it goes in there. And then a walk 0:16:39.520 --> 0:16:42.200 on tight end who who the only reason why is 0:16:42.240 --> 0:16:44.920 in a game because the third string walk on that 0:16:45.080 --> 0:16:47.800 was ahead of them broke his broke his foot and 0:16:48.200 --> 0:16:51.800 walked throughs on Thursday. So he jumps in and plays 0:16:51.840 --> 0:16:55.240 and catches and catches the game winning two point conversion 0:16:55.920 --> 0:17:00.400 and it and it really propelled us into some leaf 0:17:00.440 --> 0:17:03.680 and confidence. We didn't win the last two games, but 0:17:03.760 --> 0:17:06.040 we played a lot better. And and the way I 0:17:06.040 --> 0:17:08.240 looked at that season after after it was done, Doug 0:17:09.040 --> 0:17:13.760 was August. August was our spring ball because we didn't 0:17:13.760 --> 0:17:18.960 get one. September was our fall camp. October was our 0:17:19.080 --> 0:17:22.159 our beginning of the season, and and November ended up 0:17:22.200 --> 0:17:24.159 being a kind of our mid year where we started 0:17:24.160 --> 0:17:27.240 to improve. And when we left the field after losing 0:17:27.440 --> 0:17:30.240 our last two even the TCU and West Virginia in 0:17:30.320 --> 0:17:33.199 close games. We were at a we were at a 0:17:33.280 --> 0:17:36.879 new confidence level of belief that this program could win games. 0:17:36.880 --> 0:17:38.280 Heading into the twenty two sues. 0:17:39.560 --> 0:17:41.679 In twenty three, you kind of started out it was, 0:17:41.920 --> 0:17:44.439 I mean, that's obviously your signature year. You won your 0:17:44.520 --> 0:17:49.560 first four did you know, I mean nine wins in 0:17:49.600 --> 0:17:52.480 the Big twelve is Jake hint? Did you know going 0:17:52.520 --> 0:17:54.440 into the year you had some pession. 0:17:54.680 --> 0:17:56.560 Yeah, we had enough coming back that we thought we 0:17:56.560 --> 0:17:59.240 could be good. You know, we had lost Jalen Daniels, 0:17:59.240 --> 0:18:01.760 our quarterback year before when we started five in all, 0:18:02.200 --> 0:18:04.200 its kind of like what you're saying about looking at 0:18:04.320 --> 0:18:07.320 looking at the crowd of share with our strength coach. 0:18:07.560 --> 0:18:11.040 We played we played Duke there in twenty two and 0:18:11.080 --> 0:18:14.240 it was sold out, and you know in football sometimes 0:18:14.280 --> 0:18:16.600 in a month maybe like in basketball as well as that, 0:18:16.840 --> 0:18:19.240 when you go in after warm ups and then you 0:18:19.359 --> 0:18:22.000 come back out and it's full, you kind of get 0:18:22.040 --> 0:18:24.359 a different feel. And the strength coach came up to me, 0:18:24.440 --> 0:18:27.320 he goes, can you believe we got him here this quick? 0:18:28.680 --> 0:18:31.520 And so the twenty two season went well. Twenty three, 0:18:31.960 --> 0:18:34.760 we you know, Jalen had gotten hurt. He came back 0:18:34.800 --> 0:18:37.680 and played. We we play ours on the bowl game, 0:18:37.880 --> 0:18:40.960 but we had enough snaps of returning players going into 0:18:41.000 --> 0:18:43.640 twenty three, we thought we could be a very competitive foot. 0:18:43.520 --> 0:18:45.080 Let me pause for a second. How did you get 0:18:45.160 --> 0:18:46.880 Jayleen'd begin? 0:18:47.000 --> 0:18:50.720 He was committed here before we got here. He the 0:18:50.800 --> 0:18:53.159 previous staff signed him and brought him in, and he 0:18:53.240 --> 0:18:55.760 played as a true freshman in the COVID season and 0:18:55.800 --> 0:18:59.760 got sacked ten times against Oklahoma. The young man is outstanding. 0:19:00.320 --> 0:19:04.920 Is back to that Texas win. We were going to 0:19:04.960 --> 0:19:08.840 red shirt him then, and I said, but our two 0:19:08.880 --> 0:19:11.800 other quarterbacks had gotten hurt. I said, Jalen. I said, well, 0:19:11.840 --> 0:19:14.080 here we are. We're two and eight at the time, 0:19:14.119 --> 0:19:15.960 and I said, we said we're going to red shirt you. 0:19:16.320 --> 0:19:17.800 What do you want to do? He said, I'll do 0:19:17.840 --> 0:19:21.040 anything you want, coach, whatever's best for the team. Most 0:19:21.040 --> 0:19:24.040 guys today are going to check out and and say 0:19:24.240 --> 0:19:30.199 back their year. And he has been amazing. He's he 0:19:30.280 --> 0:19:33.879 believes in us, he's he hasn't wavered about leaving, and 0:19:33.920 --> 0:19:36.560 now he's back for a sixth year. We're excited about him. 0:19:36.560 --> 0:19:40.639 But you know, in twenty two, kind of jumping between 0:19:40.720 --> 0:19:42.960 years here for you. Twenty two we had college game 0:19:43.080 --> 0:19:45.640 Day and in twenty three we had big Noon here 0:19:46.040 --> 0:19:49.119 and you know those were those were big moments for 0:19:49.160 --> 0:19:52.119