photo by: Missy Minear/Kansas Athletics

Kansas' Finn Lappin punts during spring practice on Thursday, March 27, 2025, in Lawrence.

There’s a first time for everything, and if new punter Finn Lappin kicks with both feet at various points during the 2025 season it will certainly be a first for Kansas special teams coordinator Taiwo Onatolu.

“That would be interesting,” Onatolu said on Thursday. “I think he did it in a game last year. But we’ll see how that goes this year. I don’t think he did it a whole lot, but it is a good skill set to have, for sure.”

Lappin was coy about whether that particular technique — which he has previously credited to his background in Australian rules football — would see the light of day this season: “It’s something I’ve dabbled in in the past … We’ll save that one.”

Whichever foot he uses, he’s capable of flipping the field. The native of Melbourne, Australia, a transfer from McNeese, is a product of the prolific punting program Prokick Australia, much like his predecessor Damon Greaves, who transferred away in the offseason.

Lappin shone in his lone season with the Cowboys. His average of 46.1 yards per punt was the best in program history, and he was the only special-teams player among the 25 finalists for the Jerry Rice Award that goes to the best freshman in FCS.

Now, he’s made it to Kansas, a place with which, as he put it, “my previous experience was ‘Wizard of Oz.'”

“He’s done a good job,” Onatolu said. “He’s an experienced guy, and nothing seems to fluster him. He’s got a good personality.”

He and South Alabama transfer kicker Laith Marjan form the core of a revamped special-teams unit.

“When you bring in new people, you don’t know kind of what you’re going to get until you get them on campus,” Onatolu said, “but once they’ve been here they’ve kind of been through it, and they’re very mature guys, so they bring some maturity to the group for sure.”

Lappin was technically a freshman last year but has made the jump all the way to redshirt senior on KU’s current roster. That is presumably because he studied at the University of Melbourne before he made the move to the United States.

Lappin said Lawrence actually reminds him of his hometown.

“Lawrence is like an oasis in a desert, the way I look at it,” he said. “It’s quite hilly, which is something I know Kansas isn’t known for. It’s got some lovely old buildings.”

He characterized joining the Jayhawks as a no-brainer: “Who wouldn’t want to play here?”

“What can I say?” he added. “They’ve got the new stadium coming in, fantastic facilities. All the coaches seemed really intentional when they were recruiting me, and it just seemed like the right place for me.”

He also got a player’s perspective from Greaves, who had been a little ahead of him when they both trained at Prokick back in the day. Lappin remembers being “astounded that a big school like (KU) would go for an Australian, so it’s pretty cool to fill those shoes now.” Greaves, who is now at Colorado, “had nothing but the best things to say about everything that goes on with this program.”

Beyond his own responsibilities as KU’s punter, Lappin said he tries to serve as a positive presence around the Anderson Family Football Complex.

“I definitely try to get the most out of all the guys on the special teams,” he said, “and try to be there as someone who can encourage and really try to push them to be their best.”

Presumptive starters Lappin and Marjan are joined among the specialists, a smaller group this year, by punter Grayden Addison and long snappers Emory Duggar and Hollis Moeller. Freshman kicker Dane Efird will join the fold for the fall semester.

photo by: Missy Minear/Kansas Athletics

Kansas’ Finn Lappin punts during spring practice on Tuesday, April 1, 2025, in Lawrence.