Kansas May Be Getting More Dynamic On Offense

Things are looking up for Kansas football. And hey, when you finish 0-9, things are bound to get better. Right? OK, maybe.

But the vibe for the Jayhawks has clearly improved under interim coach Emmett Jones during the early days of spring practice.

“Man, we're just players, so we just focus in on the task in front of us, and just get better every single day,” senior safety Ricky Thomas told reporters. “Just put our best foot forward and let whoever take care of that, handle that.”

Kansas has a new athletic director, Travis Goff, who is leading the search for a new coach. With positive feelings already emanating from spring, perhaps Jones will be the Jayhawks' man.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if they just stay with him as the head coach,” senior linebacker Kyron Johnson said last week, “because he’s just great like that.”

Thomas is all in on Jones too.

“He's been pretty good so far, been bringing the energy, getting us riled up, ready to go to practice every single day,” Thomas said. “I feel like he's been bringing the energy every day, and we've been getting better every single day.”

One thing that multiple players have cited is Jones' offensive game plan. It's considerably more dynamic, they say. Given their issues putting up points under former coach Les Miles ... well, that counts for a lot.

“Sometimes we will spread it out, and sometimes we can pack it in, and we can do more than one thing,” tight end Mason Fairchild said. “Obviously, we can run the ball up the middle, we can run it wide, we can throw it at any given moment, we can get vertical downfield, and we can tear a defense apart with little, short passes. It's a really dynamic offense, and it allows for a lot of options for what we can do.”

Hey, when you're 0-9, it's never a crime to dream.

Written by
Sam Amico spent 15 years covering the NBA for Sports Illustrated, FOX Sports and NBA.com, along with a few other spots, and currently runs his own basketball website on the side, FortyEightMinutes.com.