KU Jayhawks football loses outside linebackers coach to SMU, hires his replacement
Kansas football has lost its second assistant coach in the last month to a similar position at a non-Power Five school.
Chidera Uzo-Diribe, who was KU’s outside linebackers coach in 2020, will become the defensive line coach at SMU, ESPN and Football Scoop reported. The Jayhawks announced his replacement Monday, hiring Jake Schoonover as outside linebackers coach and special teams coordinator.
Uzo-Diribe was named a 247Sports 30 under 30 “Rising Star” last year, with writer Chris Hummer labeling him as an “impact recruiter.” Uzo-Diribe will reunite at SMU with defensive coordinator Jim Leavitt, whom he worked with on Colorado’s staff in 2016.
KU also recently lost offensive coordinator Brent Dearmon to Middle Tennessee last month, where he accepted the same position. The Jayhawks replaced Dearmon with Mike DeBord, a former offensive coordinator at Michigan, Tennessee and Indiana who has a long history with KU coach Les Miles.
Schoonover comes to KU after spending three years at Bowling Green. He coached linebackers for three years, while adding on special teams duties the last two seasons.
“He has a proven track record of coordinating good special teams units and developing defensive players,” Miles said of Schoonover in a release. “He also has premium experience recruiting Kansas, Missouri and this entire region.”
KU’s special teams certainly could use improvement after ranking 121st out of 127 FBS teams in Football Outsiders’ F/+ special teams measure last year. The Jayhawks also were one of only three teams nationally to finish with negative punt return yards (minus-5).
Jonathan Wallace, who was KU’s special teams coordinator and running backs coach last season, will now strictly be the Jayhawks’ running backs coach.
Before his stint at Bowling Green, Schoonover spent seven seasons on Indiana State’s staff. He played as a linebacker at Missouri Western and graduated from there in 2008.
This story was originally published February 22, 2021 at 12:26 PM with the headline "KU Jayhawks football loses outside linebackers coach to SMU, hires his replacement."
