Jayhawks looking local, offer Dineen from Free State

When Jay Dineen walked into the Kansas spring game it didn’t take long before head coach David Beaty and defensive coordinator Clint Bowen to welcome him.

Dineen, a 6-foot-2, 225 pound linebacker from Free State knows a lot about the Kansas football program. His older brother Joe, is slated to be a starting linebacker for the Jayhawks.

The two brothers play with different styles. Joe has grown into a linebacker but was undersized for the position when he arrived at KU. He plays with good speed and athleticism. Joe will be the first to admit his younger brother is bigger than he was as a high school prospect.

The plan was for Jay to attend the Jayhawks Friday Night Lights football camp but the Kansas coaches saw enough to extend him an offer.

“It was an honor,” Dineen said of getting a Kansas offer. “I have a lot of respect for coach Beaty and coach Bowen. It was great to finally get an offer under my belt. When I talked to coach Beaty at the junior day (in March) they said they would love to see me at camp. I was planning to go to their Friday night lights camp and get one then. This was kind of a surprise.”

Dineen got the offer just a couple days after attending the spring game.

“It (spring game) was awesome,” he said. “Just being from Lawrence a lot of people knew me. Some of the kids were coming up and asking for my autograph. The visit was really cool and being around some of the other recruits who were there.”

Now that Dineen has his first division one offer he said he would like to be patient in the recruiting process. He doesn’t want to rush through it. He has already heard a lot about the inner workings of the Kansas program from his brother.

“He loves it there,” Jay said of his brother. “They call him the mayor. He likes being the hometown guy and he loves the coaching staff. He is really excited and says everything is going in the right direction. He is looking forward to that home opener.”

Bowen will be the lead recruiter for Dineen. He also recruited Joe to Kansas. He has been close to the Dineen family for a long time.

“He is a good friend of ours and a fabulous coach,” Dineen said. “He knows what he is doing. I go to as many home football games as much as I can. Just watching the defense and the improvement that I see shows he knows what he is talking about.”

Kansas State, Iowa State, Northern Illinois, and SMU are the schools recruiting the hardest.