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The University of Kansas was fined $25,000 by the Big 12 after it found football coach Lance Leipold made “an inaccurate statement” about a pocket knife found on the sideline during a recent game.
Leipold said a pocket knife “was thrown and hit one of our employees” during the Jayhawks’ 42-17 loss to Texas Tech on Saturday. Texas Tech officials confirmed a pocket knife was found on the Jayhawks’ sideline and reviewed game-day video. The Big 12 did not clarify which part of Leipold’s statement was inaccurate.
However, the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal reported that Texas Tech’s review, which was sent to the Big 12, said the “best possible video available to us” showed a Kansas “student athlete” picking up the knife and immediately handing it to a Kansas employee.
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Kansas Jayhawks head coach Lance Leipold watches the scoreboard during the game between Fresno State and Kansas at David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium on August 23, 2025.
“We believe this video makes it clear where the pocket knife came from, which will disprove any claims that it may have been thrown from the stands, and certainly makes it clear that it did not hit any KU staff on the sideline. There also did not appear to be any reaction from anyone on the KU sideline to it being thrown onto the field before it was reported recorded,” the review reads.
Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark said Leipold’s comments “call into question the integrity and professionalism of both the conference and a member institution.”
“I appreciate the Big 12 Conference’s thorough review of events that occurred during our game last Saturday at Texas Tech. I accept their findings and final decision,” Leipold said in a statement. “I had an emotional reaction in the aftermath of the game and recognize that I need to be better. We are excited to move forward and finish our season strong.”
Texas Tech was also fined $25,000 for fans throwing objects onto the field, for which the team was penalized twice. The school had a long tradition of throwing tortillas onto the field, but officials voted 15-1 to ban the act before the season.
Texas Tech fans toss tortillas prior to a Big 12 Conference football game, Saturday, Oct. 11, 2025, at Jones AT&T Stadium in Lubbock. (Nathan Giese/Avalanche-Journal/USA Today Network via Imagn Images)
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“After a formal review, Texas Tech did not take adequate steps to prevent and deter repeated throwing of objects onto the court and team bench areas,” Yormark said in his statement.
“I mean, it’s got to be for safety and things like that, and it’s a culture that’s been accepted to a point, and it hasn’t changed. And at the end of the day, somebody’s going to get seriously hurt, unfortunately,” Leipold said after the game.
Leipold was animated in his postgame handshake with Red Raiders head coach Joey McGuire, calling the actions “bulls—.”
“Coach, I can’t help it. Do you want me to do something about it?” McGuire asked.
Texas Tech Red Raiders head coach Joey McGuire and Kansas Jayhawks head coach Lance Leipold talk at midfield after the game at Jones AT&T Stadium on October 11, 2025 in Lubbock, Texas. (John E. Moore III/Getty Images)
The Red Raiders are ranked seventh in the AP poll and have a date at Arizona State this weekend to improve to 7-0.
