5 questions with Purdue football linebackers coach Joe Dineen

WEST LAFAYETTE − Not long ago, Joe Dineen was playing college football.

Now, he's coaching it.

After getting his introduction into coaching as a graduate assistant at SMU, Dineen followed Kevin Kane, now Purdue's defensive coordinator, to Illinois and now to West Lafayette where he coaches outside linebackers for the Boilermakers.

Prior to embarking on a college coaching career, Dineen was an All-American linebacker at Kansas.

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Q: Defensive coordinator Kevin Kane called this a five-down defense. What will be the role of the outside linebackers in this scheme and who are the players working in your position group?

A: Their responsibility in the run game is to knock everything back. We’re going to bottle everything up. And then in the pass game, we’re going to get after the quarterback. ... The big thing we look for is guys that got a pass rush. That is the most important thing. Then we want them to be athletic enough to move in space a little bit. The guys that are working there right now, we’ve got Khordae (Sydnor), Scotty Humpich, Joe Strickland, Nic Caraway. Will Heldt is doing a really good job. Roman Pitre is doing a good job and then when KJ (Kydran Jenkins) gets back he’ll be in that group as well.

Q: You were a standout linebacker at Kansas. What do you like about this defense?

A: It’s a one-on-one matchup across the board so you know your matchup going into the game. It’s really like if I am better than that guy, I am going to make a bunch of plays. That is all you can ask. You’re not going to get doubled. For inside linebacker play, you’re kind of able to scrape free. All the O-linemen are occupied by our front. It’s the same way for the outside guys. If you’re better than that tackle or you’re better than that tight end, you’re on the edge and you’re going to get a one-on-one block, so you have to handle business.

Q: How has Kevin Kane been a mentor for you?

A: He’s like my football dad. He’s kind of put me on his back and taken me everywhere he’s been. I played for him so I know what it’s like to play for him. I was a linebacker for him my sophomore year in college. After I got done playing, I called him up, after three years of just kind of texting back and forth, and he was at SMU at the time and he hired me as a GA. Then he took the job at Illinois and I followed him up there and here we are and I followed him again.

Q: You assume some player personnel that doesn't necessarily fit the scheme. How will the players transition to what this defense does?

A: We’ve got some dudes in there. I am really excited to work with these guys and just pour into them as much as I can. We were the Big Ten West champs last year. There’s a bunch of good football players here. Now we’re just going to come in and kind of mold the defense to how we want it. The body types that are here, there’s a bunch of really good football players here who are wanting to learn and carry us and want to be better. That’s always the most important thing.

Q: You were in training camp with the Denver Broncos after graduating from Kansas. What did that experience teach you that helps in your coaching?

A: It’s different at that level. I tell everybody I made it to the league. I didn’t make it in the league. Those dudes that make it in the league, they’re different. I do feel like there’s some guys here who are going to make it in the league. The great thing about this defense from the front to the back is it allows people to really showcase their talents. Just seeing guys at that level, I was fortunate enough to be on the Broncos when Von (Miller) was there. Now that is kind of the position that I coach. Seeing how he worked every day, the moves that he does, it is hard to ask some of these guys to try to compare to him, but I saw him work and I know what it takes to be a guy like that in the short time I was there.

Sam King covers sports for the Journal & Courier. Email him at sking@jconline.com and follow him on Twitter and Instagram @samueltking.

This article originally appeared on Lafayette Journal & Courier: 5 questions with Purdue football linebackers coach Joe Dineen