'It happens more than we'd like': Kansas football coach says he's called coaches about tampering

Yahoo

22-07-2025

FRISCO, Texas — Among the many things talked about last week during Big 12 Conference media days, as Kansas football looked ahead to its 2025 season, was the issue of alleged tampering.
It was something that was discussed during a roundtable of Big 12 coaches. Enforcement of the rules, and how that occurs when an athlete on one roster is someone another program might want to poach, was discussed. In what at times seems like an ever-changing world of college athletics, it's something that is on a lengthy list of things that need to be handled.
KU coach Lance Leipold later acknowledged during media days that it's something his program has had to deal with when it comes to other programs being interested in his players. He acknowledged it's a frustrating part of the sport right now. And, according to him, it's something he's taken the time to address with certain individuals in the past.
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'It happens more than we'd like, probably a lot more than I even know about,' Leipold said. 'I didn't this year, but in the previous two years, I've picked up the phone and called head coaches. They all said they were going to call me back after they were going to find out about it, and my phone's never rang. But, I'll let you guess the conference it came from.'
Leipold is entering his fifth season in charge at Kansas, after taking over ahead of the 2021 season. In both 2022 and 2023, the Jayhawks reached bowl games. In the latter, KU won its first bowl game in more than a decade.
This upcoming season, Kansas will look to bounce back after a disappointing 2024 season. It'll have two new lead coordinators attempting to help the Jayhawks do so, after one retirement and one departure to another power-conference program. Perhaps most importantly, quarterback Jalon Daniels is back for his redshirt senior season and healthy to the point he can lead the offense and the team in general.
Kansas' season opens with an Aug. 23 home game against Fresno State, and non-conference play continues in the weeks that follow with a home matchup against Wagner and a road game against rival Missouri. Big 12 play follows. The Jayhawks aren't seen as the Big 12 title contenders they were a year ago, and it'll be up to them to prove those who hold that view wrong.
Jordan Guskey covers University of Kansas Athletics at The Topeka Capital-Journal. He was the 2022 National Sports Media Association's sportswriter of the year for the state of Kansas. Contact him at [e-mail] or on Twitter at @JordanGuskey.
This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Kansas football coach Lance Leipold addresses tampering concerns