🏈 Camp Confidential: Quarterbacks Take Center Stage

More than three months after arriving at Kansas, both head coach Lance Leipold and quarterbacks coach Jim Zebrowski finally got a look at something they’ve been waiting to see.

Their quarterbacks throw the pigskin around.

“I finally got to see them throw a football,” Leipold said.

Added Zebrowski: “It’s good to just see them throw.”

See, Leipold took over the Kansas program after spring practice concluded. So when the Jayhawks took the field this week for their first practice, it marked the first time Leipold or Zebrowski got a chance to evaluate their signal-callers on the field in a true football setting.

Two days into training camp, consider both Leipold and Zebrowski pleased with the quarterback group.

“I think it’s a great room,” Leipold said. “They’re talented. Everyone has something to work on. It’s going to be competitive.”

Zebrowski, who arrived at Kansas from Buffalo, where he served in the same role under Leipold, also has experience coaching quarterbacks at Minnesota and Northern Illinois. He makes no mistake that his expectations are high, and he’s been pleased with how his group has met those expectations so far.

“It’s a great group,” Zebrowski said. “I love their attitude and effort. They are great guys to work with. I’m hard on guys, but I’m also a high-fiving, chest-pumping kind of guy. My biggest thing is figuring out which guys can handle adversity and get the rest of the team to rise with them and fight through it.”

The admiration in the quarterback room goes both ways. Three quarterbacks – Jalon Daniels, Jason Bean and Miles Kendrick – met with members of the local media after practice Friday and each expressed an appreciation for Zebrowski and his style of coaching.

“Coach Z is very energetic,” Daniels said. “He’s on top of my head making sure I’m doing the right thing at the right time and that I’m never too high or too low.”

Added Bean: “Coach Z is a great leader in the quarterback room. He wants us to inspire our teammates each and every day.”

Kendrick, the elder statesman of the group, has taken that challenge from Zebrowski to heart and looked to be a leader as a senior this year.

The Morgan Hill, California native has been eagerly trying to raise up, not just his teammates, but everyone inside Anderson Family Football Complex.

“I’ve been at KU for a couple of years now and it’s been an honor to be here,” Kendrick said. “I love the school. I love the university. I love my teammates. I love my coaches. It doesn’t matter who is in the building, if you’re a Jayhawk, I love you.”