Things haven’t gone according to plan for the Kansas Jayhawks in 2024, as they are headed into their first bye week on a five-game losing streak.
The doleful 1-5 start has residents in and around Lawrence, Kansas, wondering what has gone wrong after it delivered a 9-4 campaign a season ago.
Unfortunately for KU football fans, this reality is all too familiar, as the Jayhawks had turned in 14 consecutive losing seasons prior to last year’s triumph. However, what they are not so familiar with, is the reason for such a dropoff.
After Kansas finished the season ranked in the AP poll for the first time since 2007, three of its assistant coaches left — not because they underwhelmed, but because they played such pivotal roles in turning around a hapless program.
In case you need reminding, defensive backs coach Jordan Peterson is now on staff at Texas A&M, offensive line coach Scott Fuchs jumped to the NFL and is now with the Tennessee Titans, and offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki left for the same position at Penn State.
The Nittany Lions (5-0) are currently the No. 4 team in the country and appear to be finding their rhythm on offense after a few slow starts under their new play-caller.
Meanwhile, the Kansas offense has been a trainwreck without him, and Jayhawks fans want to know why they weren’t able to hang onto him.
In a recent interview with the Kansas City Star, Kansas athletic director Travis Goff discussed, among other things, the lengths to which KU went in order to keep Kotelnicki around.
“Andy Kotelnicki, we had so many countless incredible conversations,” Goff said. “I would just say this about that one: We left nothing on the table. If you had a chance to bump into Andy Kotelnicki, he’d tell you that Kansas did more than anyone would have pondered possible, to have continuity. We loved Andy and we love what he did, but at the end of the day, it was to maintain continuity.”
At the end of the day, it appears that Kotelnicki’s departure was less about Kansas’ efforts to keep him and more about fulfilling a childhood dream.
“Andy said, ‘I’ve had a longstanding love and passion for Penn State. I grew up as a Penn State football fan.’ Then he bet on himself, because if you can go and get a Penn State offense humming, you are going to position yourself really well in college football.”
In addressing the coaching turnover as a whole, Goff explained that it wasn’t an issue with something inside the program, but instead an unfortunate pattern of extenuating circumstances that led to key members of the staff leaving.
“I think it was three really unique isolated incidents,” he said. “Just like Lance does, you love all three of those guys. They went to the niche spot, in my estimation — the only one that could have taken them away from KU.”
