Lance Leipold was on the NFL network this morning. Here is what he had to say in the interview.
Leipold on having the draft in Kansas City:
Kansas City's been working on this so hard and with passion and pride. What a great experience. The NFL does such a great job to put this on and really respect everything that goes around with it, and happy for all those players that had their dreams come true last night.
Q: There's a cool connection between the NFL's Kansas City Chiefs and the Kansas Jayhawks football team and especially since you took over as head coach. I know Matt Nagy was at a coaching clinic earlier this spring. You guys are now working together more and more and I think that's pretty interesting for this, especially your team in the Big 12, which is so loaded with talent.
Leipold: You have a chance through these process with scouts coming through all the time, but our ability to connect with Coach Nagy and Coach Reid is really special. We appreciate that relationship. Just like when we were in Buffalo, we had a chance with Brandon Bean and Sean McDermott and we're all pretty busy, but at the same time, to have that opportunity to interact and have that type of relationship is special.
Q: Big 12 had a big night last night. Saw Bijan Robinson go eight, you saw Tyree Wilson go seven, Will McDonald goes 15. Now you look at those players as opponents, but you also look at them as, you got to be proud of those young men from the conference who you competed against, seeing them at the next level. Do you want to give a scouting report on any of them for the fan bases at home who just selected them?
Leipold: Well, Bijan Robinson has special talent. Whether or not the running back positions lost some of its total value in the draft, I think he's a special talent that can do so many different things and in our two meetings he was definitely the difference in many ways.
You have a chance to line up against all these players and you put that on film against some of the best that have gone into this draft, and it's motivation for off-season work for our current players and also there's going to be plays that they've been productive on as well.
Q: There are a couple players from the Kansas football program that are given draftable grades, two of them in particular. Do you want to highlight them?
Leipold: We have two players at the combine. Lonnie Phelps is an edge player, defensive end for us, also an outstanding special teams player. And then Earl Bostick, our left tackle and with as many edge players that have gone in this first round, I think Earl will have plenty of film that show he can play at the next level.
Q: The Bostick story is interesting. It's not like he's had the most stable situation as far as getting proper coaching and also being put in the same offense. What's his story been?
Leipold: Earl's a player that's from South Carolina that came into Kansas. Stability's been a little bit of an issue and we're here to stabilize this thing, but he's had 8 to 10 position coaches in his time.
He is a tight end that moved back and forth, plus the staff changes. You're trying to get trust and understanding of techniques and how things are being done, let alone terminology. I think his best football's definitely ahead of him.
Q: Viewers at home might see that Kansas Jayhawk logo and they think Danny Manning, or they think Mario Chalmers, or they think hoops, but there is this buzz that the football program's coming. Do you want to talk to the audience at home as to why Kansas football is on the rise?
Leipold: We had a chance to get off to a great 5-0 start and sold the stadium out for the first time in about 14 years. We have an outstanding young quarterback in Jalon Daniels, along with his teammates, that have been able to put some energy back in our program and we feel excited about where our future's going. Our administration's made a commitment towards us and we're excited about what the future holds.
Leipold on having the draft in Kansas City:
Kansas City's been working on this so hard and with passion and pride. What a great experience. The NFL does such a great job to put this on and really respect everything that goes around with it, and happy for all those players that had their dreams come true last night.
Q: There's a cool connection between the NFL's Kansas City Chiefs and the Kansas Jayhawks football team and especially since you took over as head coach. I know Matt Nagy was at a coaching clinic earlier this spring. You guys are now working together more and more and I think that's pretty interesting for this, especially your team in the Big 12, which is so loaded with talent.
Leipold: You have a chance through these process with scouts coming through all the time, but our ability to connect with Coach Nagy and Coach Reid is really special. We appreciate that relationship. Just like when we were in Buffalo, we had a chance with Brandon Bean and Sean McDermott and we're all pretty busy, but at the same time, to have that opportunity to interact and have that type of relationship is special.
Q: Big 12 had a big night last night. Saw Bijan Robinson go eight, you saw Tyree Wilson go seven, Will McDonald goes 15. Now you look at those players as opponents, but you also look at them as, you got to be proud of those young men from the conference who you competed against, seeing them at the next level. Do you want to give a scouting report on any of them for the fan bases at home who just selected them?
Leipold: Well, Bijan Robinson has special talent. Whether or not the running back positions lost some of its total value in the draft, I think he's a special talent that can do so many different things and in our two meetings he was definitely the difference in many ways.
You have a chance to line up against all these players and you put that on film against some of the best that have gone into this draft, and it's motivation for off-season work for our current players and also there's going to be plays that they've been productive on as well.
Q: There are a couple players from the Kansas football program that are given draftable grades, two of them in particular. Do you want to highlight them?
Leipold: We have two players at the combine. Lonnie Phelps is an edge player, defensive end for us, also an outstanding special teams player. And then Earl Bostick, our left tackle and with as many edge players that have gone in this first round, I think Earl will have plenty of film that show he can play at the next level.
Q: The Bostick story is interesting. It's not like he's had the most stable situation as far as getting proper coaching and also being put in the same offense. What's his story been?
Leipold: Earl's a player that's from South Carolina that came into Kansas. Stability's been a little bit of an issue and we're here to stabilize this thing, but he's had 8 to 10 position coaches in his time.
He is a tight end that moved back and forth, plus the staff changes. You're trying to get trust and understanding of techniques and how things are being done, let alone terminology. I think his best football's definitely ahead of him.
Q: Viewers at home might see that Kansas Jayhawk logo and they think Danny Manning, or they think Mario Chalmers, or they think hoops, but there is this buzz that the football program's coming. Do you want to talk to the audience at home as to why Kansas football is on the rise?
Leipold: We had a chance to get off to a great 5-0 start and sold the stadium out for the first time in about 14 years. We have an outstanding young quarterback in Jalon Daniels, along with his teammates, that have been able to put some energy back in our program and we feel excited about where our future's going. Our administration's made a commitment towards us and we're excited about what the future holds.
