MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Kansas football coach Lance Leipold plans to walk into Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium in Memphis, Tennessee, on Wednesday like it’s a typical game day.
Except, it isn’t.
On Wednesday, Kansas plays in its first bowl game in 14 years. The Jayhawks (6-6, 3-5 Big 12) will face Arkansas (6-6, 3-5 SEC) at 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday.
Still, Leipold isn’t changing his pregame approach.
“It was many moons ago since I have played, but I always try to remember what the coach said in the locker room for the pregame fire-up speech and if I could remember it by the time I hit the field,” Leipold said, indicating such messages were often forgotten shortly after. “It’s good movie stuff and similar to that.”
Leipold doesn’t believe his team needs extra motivation. The team knows it’s an opportunity to play an extra game and be in the national spotlight as the only game at a specific time.
They’ve had a month to prepare for this matchup since losing to K-State 47-27 on November 26.
Leipold doesn’t know what to expect from his team after this break in play, but he hopes his team plays with great energy and makes it an entertaining game for those watching.
“Playing hard and playing clean are those things you are worried about from this chair with a layoff,” Leipold said. “Then again, (it’s also) uncharted waters for us (and) how we are going to react to it after that.”
A lot has been made of how Kansas comes in particularly motivated due to a 14-year absence bowl absence.
“I know guys want to be here and our guys want the opportunity to play, especially our upperclassmen and guys who’ve been through a lot,” Leipold said. “A lot of them had three head coaches and five to eight position coaches, crazy stuff that you know no young man ever thought he signed up for when he went to college. So I know they are going to be excited to play.”
The Razorbacks aren’t lacking in enthusiasm for the game either.
“We are motivated,” Arkansas coach Sam Pittman said on Tuesday. “Listen, Kansas is going to be ready because they have a great football coach. Coach Leipold is a freaking great football coach. They are excited and they are going to be ready. But hell, two teams can be excited and I know we are.”
For Kansas, a win on Wednesday goes beyond just winning a bowl game.
“When you look at 14 years or whatever without going to a bowl game, that extra weight room time, that extra development time — and it’s not just the current guys — it’s what you put in and stack together,” Leipold said. “(It’s) what your senior leadership talks about and how that’s passed off through the years and things like that.
“Those are things we are still working through. We’re just starting to lay that foundation. That’s what we were proud of in the last job was that we had that in a good spot. The players were leading the program, setting examples and telling young players expectations for different parts of the year. Hopefully, this is just the beginning of those things for this program and we can benefit from it.”
