From The Couch – Chris Klieman Retires And Collin Klein Becomes The Next K-State Head Football Coach
It’s been quite a week for K-State football fans, huh? I first learned something was up when a buddy texted me at 5:30 AM on Wednesday, saying he was hearing rumors. I asked for details and who the source was, and it was someone “in the know” who was hearing that Chris Klieman was retiring and that Collin Klein was coming back to Manhattan to be the next head coach of the Wildcats. I didn’t question the information, but I decided to keep digging. Later that morning, I talked to a buddy of mine who talks to Collin Klein quite often, and he confirmed that it was a done deal and that it had all developed recently and pretty quickly.
The Manhattan Mercury was the first to “officially” break the story on Wednesday morning…
JM: The person I talked to said that Chris Klieman and Gene Taylor were expecting to announce the retirement later in the week, but the leak to the Mercury escalated their timeline. Wednesday was signing day, and a previously scheduled press conference at 11:00 was rescheduled for 4:00 with Taylor Braet kicking things off by discussing the incoming signees, followed by Chris Klieman addressing the media, then Gene Taylor taking questions. It was all strange and surreal that this all happened on national signing day. Only at K-State.
“After many deep and thoughtful conversations with my family, we have decided that the time is right for me to retire from coaching. This decision was not taken lightly and was the culmination of many factors, including my own personal health. I absolutely love coaching the game of football and developing players into young men, but now is the time for me to step away and spend more time with Rhonda and our three kids. I truly am thankful to Gene Taylor for trusting me with this program in 2018, and we have accomplished many great things including winning the 2022 Big 12 Championship. K-State will always be a special part of our family’s story, and we will forever be Wildcats.”…Chris Klieman, December 3rd.
JM: I wasn’t shocked by Klieman’s retirement. His breakdown at the podium after the Utah game, and the strange things he has said in press conferences recently and chronicled here, led me to believe he had had enough. I agree with him, and Gene Taylor, too, for that matter, that college football is a mess with all the NIL and transfer portal madness. But complaining about it isn’t going to change anything. It’s the way of the world now. You have to play the game under the current climate or be left behind.
“This has been an emotional day for myself, my family and Coach Klieman. Our friendship and family go back to when we first started working together at North Dakota State. Chris Klieman has built a program and culture that embodies what it means to be a K-Stater. Following a legend was no easy task, and he quickly established himself as one of the best coaches in the Big 12 Conference and one of the most successful in our program’s history. He is a special person, and we have been fortunate to have him leading the young men in our program and being a first-class representative of Kansas State University. I will miss being able to work with Coach Klieman on a daily basis, and it has been an honor to do so the last several years. We wish him, Rhonda and the kids all the success and happiness they desire as they enter this next phase of their lives.”…K-State athletic director Gene Taylor, December 3rd.
JM: This was Gene’s official statement, but when he was in front of the media, he let his emotions show….
JM: What did you feel about Gene’s comments? I didn’t have a problem with them, but he seemed over-the-top emotional that his best friend felt the need to retire because of all of this. It makes me wonder if this was a decision that Klieman made on his own volition or if this may have been a forced retirement. Collin Klien was getting head coaching offers, and I don’t think that K-State big money boosters wanted to see Klein go to another school if there was an opportunity for K-State to get him now. There are all sorts of rumors going around about this. My take on it is that while Kleiman’s heart wasn’t in it anymore, things were put into motion weeks ago to try to get Collin Klein in Manhattan now instead of taking a chance on not getting him. The hiring of Klein happened way too fast to think otherwise.
JM: My God, has he watched this basketball program the last two and a half years?
JM: The Manhattan Mercury went with their story in the morning before this press conference took place. The reporting was accurate. Collin Klein had already agreed to take the job. So why did Gene Taylor sit up in front of the media and lie to everyone? I understand that Taylor wanted to make the day about Kleiman, but he should have just told everyone that he wasn’t going to discuss anything about the coaching search on this day. Instead, he decided to lie about it. It was not a good look.
JM: Collin Klien was announced as the next head coach the very next day. It was probably the worst-kept secret in the history of K-State athletics.
JM: Translation: “Ha, sorry I lied. Joke’s on you. But you forgive me, right?”
Sorry, but this was all a little unseemly. I am over it, but it is still worth mentioning that Taylor sat there and lied to everyone.
“My family and I could not be more grateful for the opportunity to come home. Thank you to President Linton and Gene Taylor for believing in us to lead the Cats into a new era. The position of Head Coach at Kansas State has a long legacy of service, hard work, determination, and competitive greatness that I am honored to carry forward. This is Family business, and we cannot wait to get to work!”…New K-State head football coach Collin Klein, December 5th.
JM: Collin Klein didn’t have to think about accepting this job offer. It is his dream job that appears to be a perfect fit. Klein hit a home run in his first press conference.
JM: I agree with Thad that this was one of the best introductory press conferences I’ve ever heard. I was ready to run through a wall for Klein after listening to it.
“I love challenges. I love going and doing hard things. To take this program where it’s never been is going to be hard, and I want it to be hard. I want it to be hard. I want it to be difficult. We’re going attack it as a staff, with our players, as a fan base, and as an administration. We’re going to take this program where it hasn’t been before. This is a dream come true… I’m home.”…Collin Klein, December 5th
JM: There is only one place that this program hasn’t been before. A national championship.
“Coach Klieman, I know he’s not here, but he’s here in spirit — thank you,” I’m not standing here today if it’s not for Coach Klieman and his leadership and growth that he gave to me as coach by retaining me when Coach Snyder retired and promoting when the opportunity and fit was right for me to serve as offensive coordinator, and then as a mentor ever since. I’ve called him a couple times over the last two years, and that relationship is special, treasured and I’m so grateful for him and his stewardship of a program that means the world to me with the K-State values and traditions that he fostered so well.”…Collin Klein, December 5th
JM: Klein learned under some great coaches, including the best of all time, Bill Snyder. Learning under Snyder, Klieman, and Texas A&M coach Mike Elko has only expedited his readiness to take this job.
“Coach Snyder,thank you for creating that Powercat the year I was born.”…Collin Klein, December 5th
JM: This comment made me feel old.
“It’s going to take all of us getting on board and us giving everything we have to go to places that we’ve never been. It’s easy to talk about, to say, to pound a table at a press conference, but the bottom line is it’s going to take a heck of a lot of work. That’s what you’re going to get from me.”…Collin Klein, December 5th
JM: Klein eats, drinks, and breathes football. Does that remind you of someone named Bill Snyder?
“It was the weirdest interview I’ve ever had. It wasn’t like we interviewed. I called him up, we talked for a little bit, and I said, ‘Am I supposed to offer you the job right now?’ He said, ‘Well, it’d be nice if you would.’ I said, ‘So if I offer you, are you going to take it?’ He said, ‘Yeah.’ I said, ‘Well, we didn’t talk money or anything.’ He said, ‘Gene, I’m taking the job.'”…Gene Taylor, December 5th
JM: It is my understanding that Klein was more concerned about salaries for his assistant coaches and NIL money available than his own salary. By the way, it has been reported that K-State is paying Klein four million a year, but I haven’t seen the exact contract details yet.
“Kansas State football has stood for a lot of things, and if you ask anyone who has played against the Powercat for three decades, similar phrases come to the forefront. The competitive spirit that has been on our football team over the years and that our players have shown over and over again is different. It was different when teams played K-State and when we played other teams. When that ball went down, they had no idea what they were getting into. Coach Snyder knew a secret – it’s not a complicated secret – but it is the secret, that when you stir the spirit of a young man, and you make it hard, and you make him go through difficulty and make him strive to overcome, the competitive stamina and the resistance that he has and is able to bring onto that field of battle is different. He started that in 1989 and ever since that day, that’s been bred into every single one of us players that have come through his program. That is not going to change.”…Collin Klein, December 5th
JM: I read this and was quickly reminded what was missing from K-State football this past season.
“You look at toughness, and the ability and mental fortitude to play this game of football the way that it needs to be played is different. That has been bred and will continue to be bred into every Kansas State Wildcat. You talk about physicality, and this is a physical game. Some people like to visit physicality. We live there. Snap after snap after snap and week after week after week. I did a study this week of K-State’s record in the month of November at the end of the season and it’s off the charts. Why? It’s because we’re tough. We know how to finish, and we know how to go to a place and a level that most people don’t even understand.”…Collin Klein, December 5th
JM: I like what he is saying so far, but he wasn’t done yet.
“We’re going to be prepared. The work and detail it takes to prepare a football top, top to bottom, we’re not going to be in a hurry, we’re not going to take shortcuts, we’re going to do everything, and every little detail is going to be taken care of to make sure that our players know what is going to happen before it happens. They’re going to know where they’re going to line up, know their technique, know where their hand placement is, and they’re going to be able to go with confidence into that snap knowing what that other guy is going to do before he does it. That’s how you win fast.”…Collin Klein, December 5th
JM: Was Collin a Boy Scout? Their motto is also “be prepared.”
“We’re going to be resilient to adversity. I’ve always said what the game of football teaches you and what it turns you into is way more valuable than any trophy you can put in a case. I told the team that this afternoon. You have to learn how to pick yourself up from failure and how to not be afraid of failure and to put yourself out there again and again and again. Even in the moments of the greatest disappointment, when something doesn’t go your way, you stay true to your values. I’ve told the story over and over that Coach Snyder instilled into us that no matter what happens, it’s about how you respond to what happens to you in life, not the failure of the situation. That lesson is invaluable.”…Collin Klein, December 5th
JM: I think this guy knows what he is doing.
“K-State is about family, It’s about relationships and about people. It’s about being able to touch and impact the guy next to you, the person next to you, to help make their life better. We’ve got the most dedicated, passionate fans in the country. Their unwavering support and family value system is perfectly aligned to what our program is all about.”…Collin Klein, December 5th
JM: I always love a good shout-out to the fans.
“What is our mission moving forward? We’re going to be the new old school, and we’re going to stay true to a value system that has been in place for a very, very long time, and we’re going to move our program forward and take the steps necessary to chase excellence in everything we do.”…Collin Klein, December 5th
JM: The “new old school?” What does this mean? I believe it means that he will instill old-school values while also embracing what college football currently is. NIL, transfer portal, and all.
“We’re going to recruit, and we’re going to be really, really aggressive in how we move this program forward, and we’re going to be aggressive in this new era of college football. We’ll target the right type of character individuals, get the right type of support and alignment so we can attract and attack the best talent in the country, so when that ball does go down, we can go toe-to-toe with anybody.”…Collin Klein, December 5th
JM: All of this is just lip service if they can’t recruit. Recruiting has to get substantially better if this program wants to compete for the Big 12 championship again.
“We’re going to have a schematic advantage. If we’re asking our players to give everything they possibly can, we as a coaching staff are going to do the exact same thing, and we’re going to push the envelope of the edge schematically that we can attack people with on offense, defense and special teams, and their capacity to play fast, but also put a lot of stress on our opponent.”…Collin Klein, December 5th
JM: I am glad he mentioned special teams here. K-State was always known for great special teams play until recently. I hope that returns.
“Collin has been around this program and this community; these people and these students, for a long period of time. There is nothing that I could tell him that he doesn’t know. I think the important thing for him is to know that good things are going to continue and come forward, and there will be some hiccups in the road, and don’t let those get you down.”…Bill Snyder, December 5th
JM: Coach Snyder looked like a proud Papa before, during, and after the press conference. The huge smile on his face said it all. If he’s happy about this move, then I’m happy about it.
Klein said all of the right things, but many coaching hires say the right things and then can’t deliver on their promises. Ron Prince said all of the right things. So did Jerome Tang. Remember “elevate?” That said, this feels different to me. It really feels like it is going to work out well. I sure hope it does.
JM: I’m not bent out of shape about K-State declining a bowl bid. Who knows if they’d even be able to field a competitive team? Who would coach them? Would the game even matter? It would be nice for the seniors to get to play one more time, but apparently, the team took a vote, and they voted against it. I’m good with that.
