Nebraska football is in the market for a new head coach. So are a record number of teams this early in the college football season. That’s good news for coaches that are running programs who might be of lesser stature that are looking to move up. It’s likely bad news for fans of those programs who were hoping to have a little more time with those coaches. Lance Leipold of the Kansas Jayhawks is just such a coach.
Leipold has become the hottest name in the college football coaching circles mainly because he’s expected to have his pick of jobs once the season is over. In fact, it’s gotten to the point where almost every college football analyst, to a person is expecting Leipold to leave the Kansas Jayhawks for one new job or another. That’s despite the fact that so far, he’s saying the right things about sticking around.
On Tuesday, one more college football analyst made it clear he thinks Leipold is on his way out the door in Lawrence.
ESPN‘s Paul Finebaum expressed his expectations that Leipold will leave KU once 2022 is over. “I know this will be his week with GameDay and all the circus acts that they bring into town, but ultimately he’s getting out, he’s not going to be there long,” Finebaum said this week on ESPN’s college football podcast.
Finebaum went on to say that when Leipold leaves, Kansas will deserve it. “If you can get a couple wins and some momentum there,” he continued. “Have your agent get you an offer worth about four or five times that value.”
Finebaum went on to say that Wisconsin would be a great landing spot for Lance Leipold. That isn’t particularly great news for Nebraska football fans who might be hoping the Jayhawks’ coach will come to Lincoln.
Nebraska football fans left waiting for Leipold?
While there are plenty of national prognosticators who think Lance Leipold is going to be the next Nebraska football or Wisconsin Badgers, or some other team’s new coach this December, he’s busy swearing up and down that he’s staying put.
During his weekly press conference, the hottest name in coaching addressed the rumors that he’s headed elsewhere.
“We’re focused on this ,” he said. “I’m focused on this . We’re extremely happy here. We have no plans of going anywhere. Anything like that is just rumors.”
He also claimed that while Kansas fans might hear talk about him leaving for the Nebraska football program or for Madison, Wisconsin, he is far too busy coaching the Jayhawks to hear that stuff.
“When some of this things will happen we’re in film rooms and other stuff,” the coach said. “I don’t even know what’s going on. I didn’t even know some of the stuff that was going on Sunday until later in the evening.”
While Lance Leipold is claiming he isn’t hearing the rumors about Nebraska football or Wisconsin, it’s clear that fans of those programs are all too aware of the talk. Of course, Cornhuskers fans and Badger fans are going to have to wait a while before there’s any real clarity on the issue.