Joe Dineen finally let his guard down.
Every reporter had left the Chancellor’s Lounge at the Anderson Family Football complex on Saturday night, but the Kansas linebacker — nearly a minute later — remained stationed at his interview seat. He pulled his cell phone out of his pocket for a quick glance, leaned forward, then slowly dropped his forehead to both hands, looking down while grabbing two fistfuls of disheveled hair.
Dineen, a senior captain from Lawrence, had just said all the right things to reporters following KU’s 26-23 overtime loss to FCS opponent Nicholls State.