17 May 2023
NORTHEAST KANSAS (KSNT) – The Sunflower State has an elite coaching duo running the show for its DI college football programs.
K-State’s Chris Klieman and KU’s Lance Leipold are both among the nation’s best, according to CBS Sports. CBS Sports’ experts ranked every power five college football coach from 1-65. The top 25 list was released on Wednesday, with both coaches from the state of Kansas making the cut.
CBS Sports list Leipold as the 23rd best college football coach in the country. The Jayhawks’ leader has launched a historic turnaround. In 2022, he led KU to its highest win total since 2008. In two years, he took a program that won zero games in 2020 to a bowl game in 2022.
It’s a jump of 19 spots for Leipold. CBS Sports ranked him No. 42 last year. The KU head coach signed a contract extension in November.
Here’s what the CBS Sports team said about Leipold.
Seriously, what else needs to be said about Leipold other than he had Kansas ranked last season? The Jayhawks started 5-0, and while they had a rough finish to the season to end up 6-7, those six wins are more than KU have compiled in any season since Mark Mangino went 8-5 in 2008. Leipold built a program from essentially nothing at Buffalo and appears to be on the way to doing the same thing in Lawrence, Kansas
CBS Sports Experts
K-State’s Chris Klieman cracked the top 15 on this national list. Klieman is listed at the 12th best college football coach in power five. It’s a jump of 19 spots, after CBS ranked him at No. 31 in 2022.
In 2022, Klieman led K-State to its first Big 12 title since 2012. The Wildcats earned a New Years Six bowl and won ten games, also for the first time since 2012. Klieman also earned a contract extension, becoming official just last week.
Here’s what the CBS Sports team said about Klieman:
Winning your conference warrants a giant leap forward, which is what Klieman did after Kansas State won the Big 12 last season. The Wildcats played spoiler, avenging their regular-season loss to TCU by denying the Horned Frogs a perfect season. Any time you’re replacing a legend at a school, there’s concern you’ll never emerge from their shadow, but the steady build Kansas State has made under Klieman has to have Wildcats fans feeling great about where this program stands with the Big 12 on the precipice of a new age
CBS Sports Experts
Only one Big 12 coach, TCU’s Sonny Dykes, is ranked higher than Klieman. For the full list of rankings click here.