Report: Lance Leipold, Kansas Agree to New Contract with Average Salary Around $7M

After leading Kansas to its best record since 2007, head coach Lance Leipold has been rewarded with a new contract.

Per ESPN's Pete Thamel, Leipold's deal with the Jayhawks will pay him more than $7 million per season that ranks among the top three average annual salaries among Big 12 coaches.

Kansas originally hired Leipold in April 2021 after he went 37-33 in six seasons at Buffalo. He was tasked with turning around a Jayhawks program that lost at least nine games in each of the previous 11 seasons, including going 0-9 in 2020.

The Jayhawks' last bowl appearance was a 42-21 win over Minnesota in the Insight Bowl on Dec. 31, 2008.

After a 2-10 record in his first season, Leipold got Kansas back to respectability with a 6-7 record in 2022. They played in the Liberty Bowl, losing 55-53 to Arkansas in a double-overtime thriller.

Last season wound up being one of the best in the history of Kansas football. The team finished 9-4 and climbed as high as No. 16 in the College Football Playoff standings.

Kansas' 2023 season was highlighted by a 38-33 win over Oklahoma. It was the program's first victory over the Sooners since October 1997, snapping a streak of 18 consecutive losses.

The Jayhawks finished the season with a victory over UNLV in the Guaranteed Rate Bowl. It was their first bowl victory in 15 years.

With Oklahoma and Texas leaving the Big 12 to join the SEC next season, the door is open for new teams to take over as the program to beat in the conference.

Kansas still has work to do if it wants to get to that level, but Leipold's success with the program in just three seasons makes it easy to envision a scenario in which it is challenging for Big 12 titles on an annual basis.