Kansas brought in a new punter and kicker from the transfer portal this offseason. Special teams coordinator and defensive ends coach Taiwo Onatolu talked about the additions of Finn Lappin and Laith Marjan, the growth of Dean Miller, and the competition in the defensive ends room with transfer portal additions.

Fun getting to know new specialists

Punter Finn Lappin transferred to Kansas from McNeese State, while kicker Laith Marjan made the move from South Alabama to Kansas. Lappin, who can kick with both feet, brings a good personality to the team.

“Finn, you know, our punter, 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.”

Marjan was a semifinalist for the Lou Groza Award last season, making 16 of 17 field goals. Onatolu said he’s done a great job, and Marjan and Lappin both add some maturity as redshirt seniors.

“Very confident kid. He's been doing an excellent job,” Onatolu said. “Once they've been here, they've kind of been through it, and they're mature guys, so they bring some maturity to the group for sure.”

Onatolu also mentioned that Emmanuel Henderson, Cam Pickett, Tate Nagy and Keaton Kubecka have all gotten work in punt and kick return. Spring practice has given Kansas the chance to throw a bunch of guys back there and see who’s comfortable.

Dean Miller wants to be an All-American in 2025

Miller exploded on to the scene last season, finishing with six sacks and being named Second-Team All-Big 12. However, he wasn’t satisfied and is looking to take another big step forward in the upcoming season.

“Dean's a guy that when [he] heard he got second-team all-conference, he kind of just nodded his head. He kind of was disappointed,” Onatolu said. “He wants to be a first-team, all-conference kind of guy. He wants to be an All-American. And he keeps trying to find new ways to improve his game. So now that he really, that last year was his first year playing and he had a pretty good successful season, he knows he can take, if he can take that other step, he can really be a great player in this conference for us.”

Miller saw very limited action in 2022 and 2023 after transferring from the junior college level at College of the Canyons. Onatolu said Miller always had the skillset and ability but did a complete 180 last spring and offseason.

“He had a heck of a spring last spring, so we knew he was going to do something really good in the fall, and he had a great season there,” Onatolu said. “He's done a complete 180. Right. He kind of made a decision on his own, and then he said, ‘I'm going to get after this.’ He put on the weight, and that was the biggest thing holding him back. And then he matured a lot, and sometimes when your time comes, it comes, and he was really patient with it. But he works his butt off, and we're excited to see where he'll take things next.”

Justice Finkley, Caleb Redd bringing competition to defensive ends room

Finkley and Redd were the two transfer portal additions to the DE room. The Texas transfer Finkley has quickly made an impression with his leadership ability.

“You would think Justice has been here for four seasons,” Onatolu said. “Really mature guy, strong leader, comes in the room and he leads by mostly example, the way he comes in and how early he comes in and how much extra work he's doing. You see some of the young guys and even some of the new guys, they're generating towards that. And then he backs it up in practice every day. So he plays hard, he plays with a motor, and guys feed off it, and they respect that about him.”

Onatolu recruited Redd “pretty hard out of high school,” but he ended up at Kentucky. Onatolu said he’s excited for Redd’s future as a redshirt freshman.

“He's got speed, he's got a lot of natural pass rush ability, and he's still a young guy,” Onatolu said. “You know, he's got multiple years to play and he's a guy that's always wanted to come in and meet. So I'm excited about him.”

The additions of Finkley and Redd, the returns of guys such as Dak Brinkley, Bai Jobe, and Dylan Brooks getting healthy have created competition within the DE group. Onatolu said Finkley and Miller practice really hard, so others are stepping up too.

“The competition is great,” Onatolu said. “And that's when we're having discussions daily on, okay, who fits where. We haven't even talked about starting and things like that. We just talk about, hey, we've got some guys that can play. And we got to do a great job of getting these guys reps and throughout the summer so they can keep building on that and get to the season.”