From The Couch – Collin Klein Shines At Big 12 Media Days
What looked like a death stare to a reporter from K-State’s new head football coach Collin Klein really wasn’t. He was only trying to pay attention to the question. However, the screen capture shows a new intensity around K-State football going into the 2026 season. Big 12 media days were held this week, and Klein was one of the more popular figures. Here are some quotes of note from the session…
JM: Klein wants quarterback Avery Johnson to be in attack mode and cut it loose from the jump? This sounds like something I said five minutes into the game against Iowa State in Dublin and repeated almost every week of the 2025 football season. We could see a very special season by Johnson, and that is very exciting to think about.
JM: The message here is that you’d better have a high level of toughness and grit to play for K-State. If you don’t, they’re going to find someone who does.
JM: “I tell them it’s gonna be hard. I tell them it’s an honor to wear that PowerCat.”
This guy sure talks a good game and says the right things. Will we see it pay off on the field?
JM: The “newfound energy” quote sounds good. I don’t know what happened to that energy last season, but the team didn’t have it. They played lethargically and as if they didn’t really care to be there. There was no “fire” in the team. I hope they put that attitude behind them for good.
JM: I may have said the same thing that Mason Voth said back then. I vividly remember the first time I saw Collin Klein throw a pass in a game, and I was horrified at what I saw. He got better with time, but he was pretty lucky that he could run it and was so tough. It bought him some time to develop his passing game.
JM: I’m getting old. I can barely remember what I had for breakfast. This guy knows his X’s and O’s, that’s for sure.
JM: I like that Klein wears his faith on his sleeve.
JM: Recruiting has been great so far. Hope a good football season helps keep the momentum going and recruiting gets even better in the future.
Which road venue gave @CoachMackBrown the biggest challenge during his time at Texas?#HookEm pic.twitter.com/gK1gzYCo64
— THE STAMPEDE (@TheStampedeUT) July 9, 2026
JM: I always found it a bit odd that K-State always competed with and often beat Texas in football. Is it as simple as Mack Brown says, that the Longhorn players always overlooked them?
JM: I enjoyed listening to this story. Klein flew to Utah on his own dime and dressed in a suit and tie for the job interview. And they whiffed by not offering him a scholarship. Their loss.
