Jayhawks,
On April 30th, 2021, our athletic department distributed a press release announcing the hire of our new head football coach, Lance Leipold.
In it, I was quoted as saying that Lance “is a man of integrity, a developer of young men, a program builder and a winner. His track record of sustained excellence is exactly what we were looking for in our next leader, and is what the University of Kansas and our fans deserve."
I knew at that point -- after an exhaustive search and a deep analysis of what this program truly needed – that we had our guy. We had the coach who was going to get Kansas Football to a sustained and unprecedented level of success. I was prepared for a long-term build and ready to support over several years.
Lance and company had other plans.
Year one showed promising signs, in spite of not having spring practice with the new staff. Everyone remembers last year’s 5-0 start, ESPN College GameDay and our first bowl game since 2008. A long-term build suddenly became much more immediate thanks to an unapologetically relentless effort from Coach Leipold, his staff and our student-athletes.
The bar has been raised. Here we are again, 4-0 on the season, ranked inside the Top 25 and playing games week-in and week-out on ESPN, ABC and FOX on the biggest stage. The national media has taken notice, we are recruiting future student-athletes at a very high level and our athletic department and University leadership have shown that we are committed to giving our football program every realistic resource possible to succeed.
The many fans who have been on this journey have been tremendous. Our student section has been incredible. We are so grateful for the loyalty, passion and support you all have provided this team and program. I too lived the challenging years as a passionate alum so I know where we’ve been. For many years, we did not warrant outstanding fan support. I get it. But that’s in the rear-view mirror.
My message today is focused on our Jayhawk alumni and fans who are on the fringe. Those that have considered being ALL IN for this program but haven’t yet taken that step. There are many great reasons to stay on the sideline but that mentality will not help us reach uncharted heights. We need you. And we need you now to be part of the story that is being written right here at KU.
We have sold out four of our past eight home games and David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium has become a very difficult place for our opponents to win. In just a matter of days, we will welcome new member UCF to Lawrence, followed by Oklahoma, Texas Tech and the home finale against Kansas State. We have tickets available, and frankly, we shouldn’t. We should expect advance sellouts. We should follow the lead of our football program and we should continue this build faster than anyone thought possible.
We are creating unprecedented support for our football program. Thanks to generosity of passionate supporters like Dana Anderson, the team has a brand-new locker and weight room, and the Gateway District and David Booth transformation will begin in just a few short months.
I want to again express our sincerest appreciation for the countless Jayhawks who have stepped up over these past couple years. We would not be here without you.
Looking forward, we will continue to have a choice – will we settle or will we propel our university and program forward? Will each and every one of us do our part to seize the generational opportunity that’s in front of us?
Rock Chalk,
Travis
