Sources: Lance Leipold set to add strength coach to Kansas staff
The coach allowed to spend the most time with Kansas football players this summer is among the first ones Lance Leipold is finalizing for his new Jayhawks staff.
Multiple sources tell FootballScoop that Leipold will bring Matt Gildersleeve from Buffalo to run the Jayhawks football program's strength and conditioning development.
It's a position oftentimes cited by coaches as among the absolutely most critical staff spots, because strength coaches are afforded so much time with players during summer and offseason conditioning sessions.
Gildersleeve, who won an NCAA Division III national championship during his playing career as a tight end at Mount Union, brings two years' experience with Leipold at Buffalo and an additional seven years' work at Akron to the KU program.
With the coaching transition from the Les Miles and Jeff Long regimes to Leipold's new vision for the program, Gildersleeve is set to replace Ben Iannacchione, whose departure from his top strength and conditioning post in the program and decision not to accept a lesser role was first reported by Bryson Stricker.
Per sources, Gildersleeve's work in the Bulls' strength program is viewed as a key element in Buffalo's past two years of sustained success, during which the Bulls won 14 games, lost just six times and captured the program's first-ever bowl win.
Gildersleeve, who also has a master's in sports science from Akron, is certified by both the National Strength and Conditioning Association as well as Precision Nutrition Level I.
Leipold is continuing to quickly assemble his inaugural KU staff with a blend of Buffalo staff members and several key projected holdovers.
He is expected to retain as many as four or five assistants in various roles, though not expected to include his offensive or defensive coordinators, and also, per various reports, is poised to bring with him as many as seven or eight members of his Buffalo staff.
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