Lance Leipold shares his excitement to be able to practice inside finished David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium

The Kansas Jayhawks have seen their program undergo a series of renovations in recent seasons, particularly to David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium. Now, with those in the rearview mirror, head coach Lance Leipold is happy to return to practice inside the stadium.

While the ongoing renovation is one that Leipold has been excited about, it’s also one he’s taken a hands-off approach to. With that, much of his chance to practice in David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium has been new to him, making it that much more exciting.

“It’s been great,” Lance Leipold said. “And, honestly, I probably wasn’t in there as much as you think. I really kind of stayed away from it. Not to get stressed out if it was gonna be finished on time, or what was going to be control what you can.”

Kansas would announce the initial plans for the stadium renovation in 2023. That included new facilities and renovations to the old facilities. Fans will notice new and more comfortable seating options, a new video board, and more food options, among other changes.

The renovation forced Kansas to play away from home during last season’s home games. That included playing at Children’s Mercy Park and Arrowhead Stadium, in Kansas City, Kansas and Kansas City, Missouri, respectively.

“But to be in there and get a feel for it has been great. Some of our coaches want to just practice in there every day,” Leipold said. “But right now we don’t have that luxury yet, as things are still being worked on. Looking forward to getting in there in about a week, where we can get the scoreboard on, get the play clocks on, get used to some other things. We’ve got a few other dry run things that we want to do, and it’s really nice. The more that you start to see things, it was done in a first class way.”

Kansas is set to open its 2025 season in Week 0 on August 23rd. That’s when the Jayhawks will welcome fans to the new David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium to take on Fresno State.

Lance Leipold describes changes in this camp vs. his first at Kansas

In his career at Kansas, Lance Leipold has helped build the program up from one of the bottom programs in the Big 12 to a formidable team. He’s also undergone plenty of facilities upgrades. Now, he’s noticing some changes from camp at the start of his tenure to now.

“Yes. I would say that. And part of it was I thought with as many newcomers that we have, like 50 new scholarships, I thought we’d have a lot more transitional type things, like we did in the first couple of years. We really haven’t. That’s a credit to the players, our leadership within the locker room, our strength and conditioning staff, and our assistant coaches that our guys are in a pretty good routine,” Leipold said.

“I think with some of the evolving rules, that our time with our players helps build this kind of consistency and routines within our days. But, I’m really pleased that way. Same thing with new coordinators. Again, we tweak as we move along, but we still believe fundamentally in how we go about our practices and what we’re striving for. So, that part, I don’t think is [different]. I think the one that we tried not to make an issue last year. What I really liked is the continuity about where we’re practicing in our daily routines for what we’re doing. It’s really helped us.”