Illinois assistant coach Dana Dimel dies – dead at 62

Longtime college football coach Dana Dimel has died.

Dimel’s family shared the news on Tuesday that the Illinois senior offensive assistant and former NCAA head coach has died at age 63. Dimel is survived by his wife, Julie, and two children, Winston and Josey.

“Today is a difficult day for college football and our Illini famILLy,” Illinois head coach Bret Bielema said in a statement. “Dana was an exceptional person, husband, father, friend, and football coach. He affected the lives of countless coaches, players, and staff members for more than three decades in college football. His influence on our program was incredible to witness and be a part of. His infectious positive energy had a major impact on me, our players, and everyone in our building every day. He will be dearly missed. Our thoughts and prayers are with his wife and family.”

Dimel had coached at the collegiate level for 35 years. He was an All-American offensive lineman at Kansas State in the 1980s and then began his coaching career under legendary former Wildcats coach Bill Snyder in 1987. Dimel was an assistant with Kansas State for a decade before he was hired as the head coach at Wyoming in 1997.

After three seasons at Wyoming, Dimel was the head coach at Houston from 2000-2002. He then worked as an assistant at Arizona for a few years before returning for a lengthy second stint at Kansas State. More recently, Dimel was the head coach at UTEP from 2018-2023.

Dimel’s son Winston was an All-Big 12 fullback at Kansas State for three seasons before he transferred to UTEP to play for his father in 2018.