Why KU coach Lance Leipold’s contract extension brings AD Travis Goff ‘a sense of relief’

Kansas athletic director Travis Goff realized after the first month of the 2022 season — around Oct. 1 when the Jayhawks improved to 5-0 and secured a visit from ESPN’s College GameDay crew — that other schools might ultimately try to steal away the man responsible for football fever in Lawrence, second-year KU program-builder Lance Leipold.

“I mean it could have been Nebraska. It could have been any of the openings that were out there,” Goff said Sunday at a news conference called to discuss KU’s accepting a spot in the Dec. 28 Liberty Bowl, where the Jayhawks will face Arkansas. Goff also was happy to field some questions about Leipold’s new contract, which was made public last Tuesday.

“I said it before the season, ‘If people don’t know that this coach and this staff are the real deal, they are going to soon find out.’ There’s a lot of great coaches out there; I don’t think there’s a better program-building coach and coaching staff in the country than Lance Leipold and this group,” Goff added. “There were a lot of openings that needed a program-builder whether it was that one you mentioned (Nebraska) or any of the others out there.”

Wisconsin, Auburn and Colorado were among other programs who changed coaches this offseason.

Specifically with the searches at Wisconsin and Nebraska, Leipold’s name surfaced through media reports as a potential candidate. That certainly added some sense of urgency to Goff needing to negotiate and finalize a new contract with Leipold, who once worked at NU and hails from the state of Wisconsin.

As it turned out, Leipold netted a deal that will average more than $5 million a year through 2029.

“It was big throughout the fall. It was important at every moment that we were trying to get to that outcome. Then it gets done and obviously you are excited. There’s a sense of relief in a lot of ways,” Goff said Sunday, referring to Leipold signing on the dotted line.

“Then you start to see the coaching carousel occur. To be able to kind of sit back and observe the madness that occurs during that coaching carousel and knowing that here at KU we have exactly who we want and need at the top and the helm to lead this program — and we’ve got him and his staff and the key pieces around them here for a long time — feels good for sure,” Goff added.

Chancellor’s support was pivotal

Goff credited KU Chancellor Douglas Girod for his support in realizing KU needed to make Leipold a significant offer to stave off other schools from hiring KU’s second-year coach, who led the Jayhawks to a 6-6 record and bowl bid in Year 2 after a 2-10 debut season.

“We had a chancellor highly engaged. We had a chancellor committed to exactly the outcome I was committed to and a fan base and donor base that were somewhere along that journey as well in understanding it was critical (to sign Leipold),” Goff said. “I think KU broadly speaking transformed this fall around this football program and this (re)build.”

Leipold wants to work for Goff for years to come

The Leipold contract was not only about money for the head coach and his assistants.

Included in the contract is a clause that says Leipold can leave KU and have his buyout reduced by 50% if Goff is no longer the person in charge of KU’s athletic department.

Goff was asked if Leipold wanting that in his new KU contract made Goff feel as if he and Leipold are a true “team.”

“I think what that says is that the alignment aspect is real,” Goff said. “We get along awfully well, probably as well as an AD and a football coach can in this day and age.

“But it really is more about the alignment of just saying, ‘OK we started the journey in a lot of ways at the same time and together.’ How we’ve worked together — … I’m not just talking about me but the administration and university really with the chancellor at the helm how we’ve worked together — there’s that theme of continuity again,” Goff stated.

Goff ‘loves’ that facility improvements are in coach’s new deal

Also in the contract is a stipulation that planned renovations must become reality or Leipold’s contract can be rendered null and void.

The contract reads: “The parties agree that if KU has not made meaningful and substantial progress toward either adding additional square footage to Anderson Family Football Complex or stadium renovations by December 15, 2023, Head Coach shall have the right to terminate the Agreement and any applicable Release Payment under Section 17.C shall be waived. For purposes of this section, ‘meaningful and substantial’ shall mean the physical construction of the structure and/or grounds shall have commenced.”

Goff said, “I love it,” when asked about that part of Leipold’s deal.

“That’s a win-win for everybody. That’s good for me as the athletic director. It’s good for our university and obviously it’s good for Lance and the program. To have that written, … those were not ambitious dates or moments or progressions. Those are all what we knew was going to occur in 2023. If you know that, believe it and have got the right alignment, put that in the contract,” a confident Goff added.

Staff’s pay must rank in top half of Big 12

The new Leipold contract also provides a review of Leipold’s salary, the coaching staff salary pool and the other support staff salary pool each season. If any of those numbers are not in the top half of the Big 12, then there must be an adjustment to keep KU staff members in the top half of all staffs in the conference.

“I think it’s natural and really fits,” Goff said. “I guess the example I’d use is we don’t aspire to win some games in the Big 12. We don’t aspire to be 6-6. We aspire to win a Big 12 championship. I think that’s absolutely in the cards for this program and can be part of this journey and one of those outcomes along the way. If that’s the case, then are you supporting and resourcing the program in that manner? Just by indicating top half of the league, that should be the minimum of what you are doing if that’s what your aspirations and goals are for your football program.”

Goff was able to get the contract finalized as the Jayhawks headed into the final week of the season without the contract distracting KU’s coach from work.

“I think there were a couple fullcourt presses. And there were times you just knew the right thing to do was to step back. What you don’t want is distraction in the season from the herculean task of being a coach during the year. We were both very mindful and cognizant of that,” Goff said. “We did our very best to ensure there were not any distractions.

“You kind of pick and choose the right moments (to talk contract with a busy coach), make sure we continued to have very good and honest conversations and owning some of the gaps.

“I also knew we weren’t going to sit back and kind of hope or wait for the perfect moment to talk about committing to the staff and locking this thing down,” Goff added. “We were going to go at the time it felt right.”

Goff believes sky is limit with Leipold in charge

It all worked out and now Goff says KU fans should get ready for football in the postseason — perhaps for years to come.

“This isn’t an anomaly. This isn’t going to (just) be that wonderful story in 2022,” Goff said. “We know we have work to do. We all know that. This is a catalyst to some of the work that has to be done to make sure this is a regular thing, to make sure Jayhawks across the country are holding that swath of time or allowing for flexibility in their travel plans. That is what it’s going to be.

“It’s like March (in men’s basketball). Plan on being along that journey like you have been with men’s basketball for as long as anybody can remember. You are going to need to be along for this journey with this program in the Decembers and Januarys ahead.”