Lance Leipold likes the effort, Cornell Wheeler stepping up

Kansas head coach Lance Leipold likes what he has seen from the first five spring practices of the year. He talked about keeping the intensity at a high level, some new looks he got to see on the offensive line, and how a couple of defensive players are stepping up.

Leipold is in the middle of transitioning his program, and with that he has had to replace several coaches and players ahead of the 2024 season.

“As we say, we're going to have mistakes,” Leipold said. "It's going to happen, but we can't have a lack of effort, strain and finish and the things that are going to be necessary to take care of some of those things when things don't go right. And I think they're embracing that. And our newer players have come in and adapted well to the formats and we just got to keep stacking them now.”

Even though there have been a lot of standards that have been established during Leipold’s tenure at Kansas, he knows that the effort on the field is never automatic despite that.

“It's never a given,” Leipold said. “In the days we think it's a given, I think we're going to regret that because there's always somebody new. There's always somebody. If you're missing a guy or something happens, you got to make sure that we're emphasizing it and checking off all the little things.”

The offensive line lost two valuable pieces in Mike Novitsky at center and Dominick Puni at tackle. They brought in some experience from the transfer portal, but are also looking for some returners to step up and be able to try new things. Michael Ford has taken some center reps in the past, and doing it again as Leipold looks for more depth at different spots.

“Michael Ford played center for the first time,” Leipold said about Tuesday’s practice. “He hadn't done that the first week. I'm confident we're going to have the right pieces there and some depth to move some guys around, but still early about who that group will be.”

The other big loss for the Kansas offensive line was Scott Fuchs, who took a job with the Tennessee Titans. However, Leipold has been very happy with the job the new offensive line coach Daryl Agpalsa has done in his early days at Kansas.

“I think I was reminded pretty quickly in one or two meetings what an outstanding teacher Daryl Agpalsa is and his way of explaining,” Leipold said. “I think our guys have really embraced it."

With Marvin Grant making the transition over to the hybrid position that Craig Young played last year, there are other players that are getting the opportunity to step up. Another guy who is looking to make a big move is Cornell Wheeler. Wheeler has shown flashes, but has been unlucky when it comes to building on his successes.

“Cornell's had some really good weeks in the program and then something's always happened that unfortunately set him back,” Leipold said. “Two years ago, I think when he got sick and he missed some time last year. He made that nice interception down in Texas and I think that's one that really boosted his confidence and got him going.

"But then there was maybe another little setback. But he understands it's his time and it's his time and opportunity to play a lot more.”

The Michigan transfer’s leadership ability has a chance to be on full display if he can earn the starting spot, and his confidence is continuing to grow.

“We need him to be in command of the defense and sometimes the guys will spend so much time learning it themselves to get their assignments, but now you're in one of those spots where you got to make calls and be confidently communicating to make sure everybody else is where they need to be,” Leipold said