Lance Leipold shares Jason Bean suffered head injury in Texas Tech loss

The Kansas Jayhawks were stunned at home Saturday afternoon, falling to the Texas Tech Raiders 16-13. Jayhawks offense struggled for the majority of the game after losing quarterback Jason Bean in the first quarter.

Following the game, in the postgame press conference, Kansas head coach Lance Leipold provided an update on Bean, revealing the nature of the injury that knocked him out of the game.

“Head injury. And he said he’s feeling better, but we’ll see from there,” said Leipold.

The early loss of Bean was a tough break for Kansas, which was trying to keep their Big 12 title game hopes alive in the final stretch of the 2023 season. Third-string quarterback Cole Ballard took over the reins of the offense, finishing out the game. Ballard struggled to find any rhythm, completing nine of his 20 pass attempts for 124 yards and an interception. He did not lead Kansas on a scoring drive until the fourth quarter, where the Jayhawks put up all 13 of their points.

Bean has been filling in for the Jayhawks’ initial starting quarterback, Jalon Daniels.

Leipold states he plans to end his coaching career at Kansas

In other news, the success Lance Leipold has enjoyed at Kansas over the last two seasons is on a level unseen in Lawrence in over a decade. 

That same success would typically see Leipold get looked at for a job at a more established program, namely Michigan State, but according to him — he’s not going anywhere. 

“It’s something we’ve been extremely — in fact, I was talking with Travis Goff on Monday,” Leipold said on his radio show Hawk Talk. “And he said, ‘Can you believe it’s only been two and a half years?’ I said, ‘Well, in many ways it seems like five or more because of the progress of the team on the field, but also how comfortable our family (is) and have been welcomed by everybody, and how much we enjoy being here.”

“This is the only interview (I’ve done today). And that’s the way it’s going to be. The one thing that happens during this time of year, is there’s a lot of speculation on things that are happening that are not accurate, as I’ve said for a long time, Travis Goff and Chancellor (Douglas) Girod have treated Kelly and I extremely well and our family. It is our plan and expectation that we want to be here and this is going to be the last job we have.”

There will be no budging from the Leipold household. Everyone, from his wife to his high school-aged son, is happy with the situation in Lawrence. 

Leipold even said so himself in September when asked about whether or not he was seeking a more prestigious job. 

“My wife and I are extremely happy here,” Leipold said. “We’ve been taken care of. We have a son that’s a junior in high school. We don’t want to relocate him.”

On3’s Barkley Truax contributed to this article.