Arizona football associate head coach Dana Dimel announced Tuesday he would leave the Wildcats’ coaching staff for a similar job at Kansas State.

A big factor in his decision was his chance to be close to his 13-year-old son, Winston, who lives in the town where KSU is located, Manhattan, Kan.

“”He’s spent enough time away from his pops through the years,”” Dimel told the media Tuesday. “”You don’t get the high school years back. You only get one shot. You’ve got to be a dad. That’s important.””

Dimel was Arizona’s tight ends coach in 2006 and then became the interim offensive coordinator later in the year. After Sonny Dykes was brought in to oversee the offense, Dimel spent another year as the tight ends coach before being designated as the running backs coach along with his associate head coach title in 2008.

“”Dana’s been a real asset to the program for the past three years,”” Arizona head coach Mike Stoops told the media. “”He will be deeply missed, but we’ll try to fill his position as soon as possible to keep the continuity he helped foster going.””

Dimel will fill the place of Dave Brock at Kansas State, where Brock coached wide receivers, but he said his job responsibilities as KSU Wildcat will be almost the same as when he was a UA Wildcat.

Dimel previously played for KSU from 1983-1986 under then- and soon-to-be-again head coach Bill Snyder and served as either a graduate assistant or assistant coach for more than 10 seasons.