photo by: Carter Gaskins/Special to the Journal-World

Kansas assistant coach Taiwo Onatolu instructs defensive end Dean Miller during practice on Saturday, March 30, 2024, in Lawrence.

Along with Wednesday’s press conference to reintroduce Kansas associate head coach Andy Kotelnicki came another bit of coaching news.

Head coach Lance Leipold has elevated Joe Dineen from defensive analyst to serve as the assistant coach for defensive ends. Taiwo Onatolu, who previously coached that position group while also handling special teams, will now serve solely as the special teams coordinator.

Leipold attributed the change to the removal of restrictions that had placed limits on how many coaches were able to take part in on-field instruction. Since 2024, analysts have been permitted to coach in the same fashion as anyone else on a staff.

“In the unlimited coaching now that you have,” Leipold said, “it just makes the most sense to use our personnel in such a way that — I thought we had a good year in special teams, I think we can take another step in that.”

Onatolu has worked for Leipold in various capacities since 2015, when he was the director of player personnel at Buffalo in Leipold’s first season as a Division I head coach. He coached cornerbacks for two years, then both the defensive ends and special teams for two more.

He came to KU as an analyst in 2021 and then assumed the defensive ends/special teams role again for the following four seasons. The 2025 campaign was a good one for KU on special teams, which included a record-breaking streak of made field goals for Laith Marjan, one of the best single-season per-punt averages in program history for Finn Lappin and strong moments in the return game from Emmanuel Henderson Jr. and freshman Tate Nagy.

Dineen is a Lawrence native and a former All-American linebacker at KU who returned to the school as an analyst in January 2025. He had worked at SMU and Illinois before serving as the rush ends coach at Purdue for two seasons.

“Joe’s an outstanding young coach, a lot of great energy, a lot of good thoughts,” Leipold said. “Talking with him, talking with D.K. (McDonald, the defensive coordinator), we thought this would be a way for us to move forward and try to be a little bit better, where Taiwo’s trying to balance things during the day, certain things like that.”

Defensive end has not been a weakness of the Jayhawks’ by any means. In recent years, the Jayhawks have developed an NFL player at that position in Minnesota transfer Austin Booker, grew former JUCO addition and longtime reserve Dean Miller into an all-conference player in 2024 and also fostered a breakout season from unheralded transfer Leroy Harris III in 2025.

“You look at our defensive ends, they’ve been very productive in our program here and at Buffalo,” Leipold said, “but I just feel for us taking the next step, that (move) was one that we should do.”

Leipold also noted the return of Bill Queisert, who worked with KU once before but had followed Kotelnicki to Penn State. He will serve as an assistant offensive line coach, a role he had occupied with the Nittany Lions. He also coached their tight ends in the Pinstripe Bowl in December.