| Kansas Jayhawks football | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| |||
 | |||
| First season | 1890; 134 years ago | ||
| Athletic director | Travis Goff | ||
| Head coach | Lance Leipold 3rd season, 18–21 (.462) | ||
| Stadium | David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium (capacity: 47,233) | ||
| Field surface | FieldTurf | ||
| Location | Lawrence, Kansas | ||
| NCAA division | Division I FBS | ||
| Conference | Big 12 Conference | ||
| Past conferences | Kansas Intercollegiate Athletic Association (1890–1891) Western Interstate University Football Association (1892–1897) Independent (1898–1906) Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Association (1907–1928) Big 6/7/8 Conference (1929–1995) | ||
| All-time record | 608–685–58 (.472) | ||
| Bowl record | 7–7 (.500) | ||
| Conference titles | 9 (1892, 1893, 1895, 1908, 1923, 1930, 1946, 1947, 1968) | ||
| Division titles | 1 (2007 Co-Big 12 North Division) | ||
| Rivalries | Missouri (rivalry)
Kansas State (rivalry) Nebraska (rivalry) | ||
| Consensus All-Americans | 13[1] | ||
| Colors | Crimson and blue[2] | ||
| Fight song | "I'm a Jayhawk" | ||
| Mascot | Big Jay, Baby Jay | ||
| Marching band | Marching Jayhawks | ||
| Website | kuathletics.com | ||
The Kansas Jayhawks football program is the intercollegiate football program of the University of Kansas. The program is classified in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I Bowl Subdivision (FBS), and the team competes in the Big 12 Conference. The Jayhawks are led by head coach Lance Leipold.
The program's first season was 1890, making it one of the oldest college football programs. The team's home field is David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium, which opened in 1921 and is one of the oldest college football stadiums in the nation. Until 2014, Memorial Stadium was one of the few football stadiums in Division I that had a track encircling the field. The track was removed in 2014, as the university's newly built Rock Chalk Park sports complex opened for use by the school's outdoor track and field team. In 2019, immediately adjacent to the west of the stadium, the University of Kansas Football Indoor Practice Facility was completed. The facility was built using only private donations from University of Kansas alumni, most notably David Booth.[3] KU's all-time record was 608–685–58 as of the conclusion of the 2023 season.[4] The program saw a re-emergence under head coach Mark Mangino who won 50 games in eight seasons. From the departure of Mangino to 2021, the Jayhawks struggled to meet the same success as under Mangino. The program's overall record in that time frame was 22–111 (.165 win percentage). They also never won more than 3 games and never more than a single conference win during that time frame. They also had two winless seasons and five losing streaks of 10 or more games. The Jayhawks also lost 46 straight road games from the final year under Mangino to 2018 and 56 straight road conference games which spanned from 2009 to 2021. The Jayhawks had an active streak of 44 consecutive losses to teams ranked in the AP poll that has stood since a loss to 24th ranked Oklahoma in 2009. This lasted until the 2022 Season when they beat 18th Oklahoma State 37–16. Kansas became bowl eligible for the first time since the 2008 season.[5]
While Kansas has yet to have a Heisman Trophy winner, they have had one Heisman finalist and 2 other players receive votes. John Hadl, Bobby Douglass, and David Jaynes all received votes, Jaynes being the only finalist. Other notable former Kansas players include Pro Football Hall of Famers Gale Sayers, John Riggins, and Mike McCormack, as well as All-Americans Nolan Cromwell, Dana Stubblefield, Aqib Talib, and Anthony Collins. Former line coach Mike Getto is the only coach to have gone on to become a head coach in the NFL. Additionally, two members of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame have been associated with Kansas Football: Phog Allen, who coached football at Kansas for a season in 1920, and Ralph Miller, who was a quarterback on the team from 1937 to 1940. Jim Bausch, who won gold in the decathlon at the 1932 Summer Olympics, was a running back at Kansas and was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame. Kansas has appeared in twelve bowl games, including three trips to the Orange Bowl (1948, 1969, and 2008). Kansas has also won six conference championships, most recently winning one in 1968. Kansas played in the first NCAA-contracted nationally televised regular season college football game on September 20, 1952, against TCU.
Along with Iowa, Missouri, Nebraska, and Washington University in St. Louis, Kansas was a charter member of the Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Association in 1907, which evolved into the Big Eight Conference. The Big Eight was folded into the Big 12 in 1996, and Kansas is the only original member of the MVIAA that is still part of the Big 12.
- ^ "2023 Kansas Media Guide (pp. 177/178)" (PDF). KUAthletics.com.
- ^ "Color | Brand Center". Retrieved May 19, 2017.
- ^ "University of Kansas Athletics". Archived from the original on June 23, 2011. Retrieved November 23, 2018.
- ^ "NCAA Statistics", stats.ncaa.org. Retrieved January 24, 2024.
- ^ Tait, Matt (November 5, 2022). "Sixth win secured: Kansas football rolls over Oklahoma State to become bowl eligible". KUsports.com. Retrieved November 6, 2022.