Inside Kansas Football Head Coach Lance Leipold's Comments At The Jayhawks Pro Day

Lance Leipold Kansas Football Pro Day Media Availability

Leipold: Absolutely. It’s a great day for our program for these departing seniors and having an opportunity to fulfill a dream — an opportunity to play at the highest level of football. I’m awful proud of them and what they’ve done, whether they were here for their whole career or a short stint. To have this type of turnout of scouts today says a lot about them as individuals.

Question: How did this end up being back on campus with individual schools again?

Leipold: I’m not quite sure of the whole thing, Henry, how it played out. I think, first of all, the players wanted to train where they’ve had a chance to do most of their offseason training before. It’s more comfortable. That was always a concern. There was also some concern about timing and the length of the event and how many people were there. There were just some things where I thought it was a solid idea to try it that way. I think the intentions of what it was supposed to be were good and it fulfilled some of them, but they thought it’d be best to kind of go back to this now. I wouldn’t be surprised if someday we get back to something like that as well.

Question: How involved have you been with the guys that went down?

Leipold:Just had a chance to talk with them and try to reach out when we can about how they’re doing in the process. Obviously we don’t make the decision about who gets invited. Leith was a late addition and we found out he was so excited. I’m proud of all those guys. Enrique Cruz is a young man who really, from the last half of the season through the All-Star game, has continued to pop on people’s radar and really come on the scene a little bit like Bryce Cabeldue did a year ago. Enrique continues to impress people.

Question: When you recruited Enrique, did you see him as a potential combine guy?

Leipold: I don’t know if we looked at it that way. He was a big tackle that fit a need and what we were looking for. We were very impressed with him. He was a young man who wasn’t starting at the time he entered the portal at Syracuse. We were looking to fill a void, but as he progressed through camp and kept getting better and better — by the time we hit conference play — we thought that could be a possibility.

Question: The specialist showcase Laith was in is pretty new. How helpful was that exposure?

Leipold:I think the exposure was extremely good for him. He had an excellent year for us and was extremely accurate. Unfortunately he didn’t end the season quite the way he wanted to and that might have hurt him a little bit. But anyone who gets a chance to interview him and watch what he can do will see he deserves an opportunity in a camp.

Question: With the late start to spring football, what are you able to accomplish right now?

Leipold: We’ve taken time to analyze what we want to do to move the program forward and what we can do better. One thing we’ve talked about is starting earlier in the past in case something happened injury-wise so we could get guys healthy again. What we’ve really done this year is wait until after spring break and condense the practice schedule. That gave us a full eight weeks of training since the guys arrived, and I think it’s paying off in speed and strength development.

Question: How much does that help with transfers and new players?

Leipold: That was part of it too. With so many new guys, it helps get them acclimated to what we’re doing — using the eight hours we’re allowed with them — installing things and getting them used to terminology, along with the weight program. We’ll see how it pays off, but we feel it was the right way to go.

Question: What are you hearing from Gilbert about the workouts?

Leipold: He’s been very pleased. We use GPS units and other measuring tools, and he feels very good about where we are in terms of team speed, work ethic, strength and mobility. Once we get through spring break and back on the field, we’ll see what we’re made of. There are a lot of new faces and good competition at some spots, so it should be an exciting spring.

Question: How different does it feel knowing you don’t have another transfer portal window ahead?

Leipold: I sleep better, that’s for sure. It was a scramble there for a while. Looking back at it, I think the current setup is the best spot for a lot of reasons because we really know what our football team should look like next year. With early enrollees and everyone else here except a few walk-ons and about seven high school players, we have a good idea of what our team will be heading into the fall.

Question: You’ve had several offensive linemen develop into NFL prospects. How much does that help in recruiting?

Leipold: Everyone talks about their aspirations to play in the NFL when they’re being recruited — whether it’s from high school, the portal or junior college. Development is a big part of that conversation. At the offensive line position especially, the majority of our guys in the last few years have gotten opportunities through the draft or free agency. I think the three seniors who started this year will get those opportunities as well.

Question: From your perspective, what would NFL teams be getting in Jalon Daniels?

Leipold: First of all, athletic ability, charisma, leadership and a very smart individual. Sometimes people ask if he’d be okay being a backup quarterback. Jaylen is about the team and development, and he’ll do whatever it takes. I know he’s going to work hard and take advantage of opportunities. When he had a chance to throw here today, he impressed some people once again.

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