LAWRENCE, Kan. — The Kansas Jayhawks open the 2026 season Friday night against FCS opponent Long Island with a new look at quarterback and a familiar face returning to run the offense.
Season reset in Lawrence
Kansas comes into the opener on the heels of a 5-7 campaign in which the Jayhawks lost their final three games and missed postseason play. The program enters Lance Leipold's sixth season seeking to regain the momentum that produced a rapid turnaround early in his tenure.
Leipold, who transformed a winless roster into a nine-win team by his third year, acknowledged the current expectations are different than they were during that rise.
"Obviously standards have changed and expectations have changed," Leipold said. "We've had some opportunities, probably well-documented. Some close losses that we could be sitting up here today talking about four consecutive bowl games and yada, yada yada, but we haven't done that. And where does it fall? It falls on the head coach to do that. Our players embrace that. They understand that we're getting people's better shots than we did a couple years ago."
Leipold's words underline the internal and external pressure the program faces as it opens another season with hopes of advancing past last year's outcomes.
Key changes: quarterback and coordinator
The most notable personnel changes entering the opener are on offense. Longtime starter Jalon Daniels is no longer in the lineup, and Kansas has named redshirt sophomore Isaiah Marshall the starting quarterback. Marshall saw action in nine games during the 2025 season.
Marshall won the starting job over former walk-on Cole Ballard, who has played in 15 games across the last three seasons. The switch represents a significant moment for the Jayhawks' offense, which is also welcoming back a play-caller associated with some of the program's best recent results.
Andy Kotelnicki returns to Kansas to help run the offense after serving as Penn State's coordinator for the past two seasons. Kotelnicki previously coordinated the Jayhawks' offense during Leipold's most successful campaigns and is widely credited with engineering those units.
Opposition and immediate challenges
Kansas opens against Long Island, which finished 6-6 last season at the Football Championship Subdivision level. While the opponent is technically a lower-division program, the game offers a live look at Kansas' revamped offensive approach and how Marshall handles first-team reps under game conditions.
Beyond Friday's opener, the schedule provides an immediate measuring stick: Kansas faces rival Missouri next weekend. Consecutive games that pit a team’s new starters and new staff alignments under scrutiny can quickly shape the narrative for the early part of the season.
What to watch this opener
- How Isaiah Marshall manages the offense in his first start, including decision-making and protection under pressure.
- Implementation of Kotelnicki's offensive system — tempo, play-calling balance and effectiveness in the red zone.
- Trends from the defensive side of the ball following a late-season slide in 2025 that contributed to missing a bowl.
The combination of a returning coordinator familiar with the roster and a new quarterback at the helm makes the opener more than a routine tune-up; it will be a concrete snapshot of whether Kansas can begin to reverse a two-year slide.
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| 2025 record | 5-7 (missed bowl) |
| Long Island 2025 record | 6-6 (FCS) |
| Kansas head coach | Lance Leipold (sixth season) |
| Starting QB (2026 opener) | Isaiah Marshall (redshirt sophomore) |
Fans in Lawrence and across the state will be watching closely. The program's early results, and the performance of its new offensive leadership, will influence not just the mood of the fanbase but the broader assessment of where the Jayhawks stand in a competitive Big 12 landscape.
The immediate focus is clear: secure a season-opening win against Long Island, build confidence around the newly installed starting quarterback, and use next week's meeting with Missouri to demonstrate tangible progress.
This season will test whether the Jayhawks can turn recent close losses into consistent results and reestablish themselves as a bowl contender under Leipold's guidance.
