Coaches all across college football nowadays are building their own respective coaching trees. With each passing cycle, the nation’s elite coordinators get their first crack at leading a program on their own.
While head coach Lance Leipold hasn’t necessarily built a tree among his own staff, he has seen some of his top assistants and coordinators look to see if the grass really is greener, and the results have been mixed.
Here are two coaches that Leipold currently enlists who could one day grow to be top dogs.
Andy Kotelnicki: Associate head coach
This one feels the most obvious. Kotelnicki already left the Jayhawks for the Penn State offensive coordinator gig following the 2023 season, and the results in Happy Valley were varied. However, when Penn State head coach James Franklin was shown the door, it was a clear sign that a lot of the higher brass would also be moving on.
Luckily for Kotelnicki, KU was trying to replicate the offensive numbers he once put up and just after the new year, Kotelnicki was reinstated as an associate head coach and was handed the offensive playcalling duties. Just as he expertly did under Leipold at Wisconsin-Whitewater, Buffalo and Kansas previously.
Kotelnicki was even tipped to become the Kansas Jayhawk head coach in the not-so-distant future.
At KU, Kotelnicki has several stats sprinkled into his first stint that showcase his elite offensive mind, the most impressive being that in 2020, Kansas averaged just 259.2 offensive yards per game, but in just one season under him, that jumped to 324.2.
Last season, Kansas averaged 368.8 yards per game, good for No. 77 in the nation, so any improvement he can make on that end would be a sight to behold for KU fans.
Joe Dineen: Assistant coach-defensive ends
Dineen is easily one of the most projectable names on the coaching staff and the fact that Kansas was so eager to reel him in makes him an exciting coaching prospect.
Firstly, Dineen has recent enough playing experience, as from 2014-18, Dineen quickly rose to become one of the best linebackers in the nation, having finished his career at Kansas with nominations that include an AP All-American mention and an All-Big 12 First Team selection in his senior year.
When his playing career was over, Dineen immediately got into the coaching game, becoming a graduate assistant at SMU under defensive coordinator Kevin Kane in 2020. Kane then moved to Illinois to become an associate head coach and outside linebackers coach and Dineen followed him in 2022 as a graduate assistant. Fighting Illini defensive coordinator Ryan Walters then got the Purdue head coaching job and brought Dineen with him as rush ends coach. Prior to even seeing a game with the Boikermakers, Dineen was thrown onto the 247Sports’ 30under30 list in 2023.
Dineen impressed at Purdue with Nic Scourton and Kydran Jenkins under his wings. Scourton eventually transferred to Texas A&M and is now with the Carolina Panthers. Jenkins, meanwhile, led Purdue with 15.5 TFLs to rank second in the conference in 2023, while also becoming an All-Big Ten Honorable Mention.
Of the two mentioned, Kotelnick is clearly set to become a head coach sooner than Dineen. Kotelnicki has coordinated at the highest level and overall has been wildly successful. But if things go well for Dineen at KU, there is no doubt he’ll be on radars in the future.
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