Kansas Jayhawks phoned it in (because of weather problems) at Big 12 Media Days
You knew something was amiss upon walking into AT&T Stadium early Thursday morning and seeing Kansas associate athletic director Dan Beckler on the world’s largest stadium’s high-def screen testing audio.
Beckler was not in the home of the Dallas Cowboys, but back in Lawrence, where he, new football coach Lance Leipold, wide receiver Kwamie Lassiter II and defensive back Kenny Logan Jr., were supposed to have boarded a flight for Texas to participate in Big 12 Media Days.
The players even bought new suits for the occasion.
But a storm in the region prevented the airplane from departing and KU had to adjust, much like the football program for more than a decade.
If the coordination on the fly to bring thoughts from Leipold and the players to the media was an indication, Kansas fans can at least expect a no-excuses approach to this coming season.
Lassiter and Logan got lessons on that Thursday.
“Today’s a little adversity,” Leipold said. “We didn’t get a chance to get down in person with all of you and we have to find a way to persevere through it.”
The Q&A went like this: Russell Luna of the Big 12 office sat behind a podium on stage and identified reporters with questions. But Leipold couldn’t hear the reporters. Daniel Berk, KU director of football communications, was backstage, mostly out of sight, relaying questions over the phone to Leipold.
Kansas and the Big 12 made the best of a difficult situation. For a program that hasn’t won more than three games in a season since 2009, that should be the objective all year for the Jayhawks.
This story was originally published July 15, 2021 at 2:37 PM with the headline "Kansas Jayhawks phoned it in (because of weather problems) at Big 12 Media Days."