Chris Klieman

The Southwest Catbackers were part of the Catbackers tour this spring. Head football coach Chris Klieman and athletic director Gene Taylor headlined a crew from K-State athletics which rolled through Liberal Thursday morning at Old Chicago. The contingent included Willie the Wildcat Mascot, cheerleaders, assistant coaches, and student athletes from multiple sports. K-State play-by-play announcer Wyatt Thompson was the emcee for the event. K-State student ambassador and head section leader with the Wildcat Marching band Josh Diazdeleon joined the group for the trip. The Southwest Catbackers raise money for local scholarships for local students going to Kansas State University. The Sportsguys broadcast live at the show.

Here’s what Chris Klieman tells Kansas State football recruits when they ask him about NIL deals with the Wildcats

SALINA — Kansas State coach Chris Klieman used to think that when spring practice wrapped up in April, he could close the book on recruiting for the upcoming football season. How times have changed. Thanks in large part to the transfer portal and the unprecedented player movement that resulted,...

The Kansas State football team has landed a pair of new transfers.

Kansas State head coach Chris Klieman discusses Cooper Beebe's move to guard. Chris Klieman: “I think it's good for him. I think it's going to help him in the long term learn more about our offense and be able to help more guys, especially the younger guys. We'd like to have him at the point of attack. You're much more at the point of attack inside than sometimes you are outside unless you're just going right at that left side. So, I think he's done a nice job of challenging himself to get out of his comfort zone to learn more and more about what we do, and he's a really good communicator on the offensive line. You get an interior guy, obviously Noah (Johnson) everybody knows was such a great communicator inside out. Now you get a guy like him. I think Gilly (Hayden Gillum) has done a really good job of being a really good communicator. Hadley Panzer the same way.”

Kansas State head coach Chris Klieman discusses the impacts NIL is having on recruiting. Chris Klieman: “Yeah, control what you can control there, and I don't know what's going on. I'm learning more and more about things. You read about things, I don't know how accurate they are. You guys don't know how accurate they are. I know it is more prevalent right now than it was last year at this time, and how that impacts the kids that are in the portal, how that impacts the classes over the next few years that are coming in and how that impacts your current team. We're all trying to get our arms around that, but until we can get some legislation and try to corral it – which I don't think it's going to happen – I think it's going to continue to be what it is and nobody knows. All of the sudden, when will people know? Your guess is as good as mine.”

Kansas State head coach Chris Klieman speaks on quarterback Skylar Thompson's NFL potential. Chris Klieman: “I haven't heard enough things other than the places that he has gone as far as having really good success at a couple of visits he went to and people coming in working him out. How high people are on him, I don't know where he's at as far as where other quarterbacks are. Skylar will be on a roster and have a great opportunity to stick on a roster. I couldn't tell you where he's at as far as is he going to be a mid-round guy, a free agent guy? I just know this – the kid is a winner. He is just a flat-out winner, and he's going to make everybody around him better. Even if he's not the guy, I know his experience of being hurt and helping Will Howard game plan and help and Coach (Collin) Klein and Coach Mess (Courtney Messingham) game plan and get things ready, he'll make a great addition to a quarterback room. That doesn't mean you're going to take a ton of snaps. Easton Stick is going to hold clipboard for maybe the fourth year in a row behind a kid like Justin Herbert. It's not a bad living.”

Kansas State head coach Chris Klieman discusses the wide receivers that impressed him this spring as the Wildcats prepare for the 2022 season. Chris Klieman: “RJ Garcia II is the one that stood out the most to me. I always thought he was a really talented player but was young learning the offense last year as a true freshman. Coach (Thad) Ward has him playing fast and understanding what he's doing and really attacking footballs in the air. So, you can look at the guys like Phillip (Brooks), Malik (Knowles), Kade (Warner) that have played a ton of snaps for us playing really, really well. You look at RJ continuing to improve and a guy that's getting into the mix for sure. I think Chabastin (Taylor) is healthier and doing some things that can help us. Xavier Loyd is doing some really nice things, Ty Bowman is doing some really nice things. There's Shane Porter, Seth Porter, all those guys. We're getting a lot of guys involved, but RJ would be the one that has been the most impressive to me.”

Kansas State head coach Chris Klieman talks about the decision that he and offensive coordinator Collin Klein made to increase the pace of the Wildcats' offense going into the 2022 season. Chris Klieman: “Well, he and I had the conversation about it prior to the bowl game. It’s something that...

Kansas State head coach Chris Klieman speaks to the media as the Wildcats wrap up spring practice. “Alright, good afternoon. Great to see everyone. Practice 13 tomorrow. We'll have a full padded practice on 13, then we have 14 where we are back into just helmets and jerseys, clean some stuff up, get ready for the offseason or summertime for those guys, and then 15 on Saturday. Once again, due to our situation we have at the defensive line, we're just going to practice (on Saturday_. Probably the least amount of scrimmage that I have done in my time as a head coach from a spring ball session, simply because I think the other day, we were down to three defensive linemen and then we lost (Trevor) Stange, who was helping us out and Nelson Pipes was one of the three, and he's a long snapper. Pipes is doing a heck of a job. So, it's just been hard. Every time we have a drill offense versus defense, we have to supplement that with a special teams for five or six minutes to get those three kids a breath and they go hang out on the side. So, we probably will get one guy back tomorrow and Saturday to maybe get us up to four or five, but the max we've had is five. You can't function as a normal practice. So, I hope we're getting a lot better at special teams, and that was the emphasis during team period. Myself and another coach are down there doing special teams drills with everybody from old guys to young guys. Emphasizing an awful lot of things. Doing a lot of full group punt versus punt return, kick versus kick return, not to the ground but just full speed. That's an area that we know we need to improve upon. Even though we've been good, we want to be great. So, we feel good that we're getting better there. Then we'll finish up here and have those three days, and then coaches will be on the road and guys will finish up the semester.”

The Kansas State football team was supposed to end spring practice with a short scrimmage that would take place in front of fans on Saturday at Bill Snyder Family Stadium. But that is no longer the plan. A throng of injuries has made it difficult for the Wildcats to make...

Kansas State head coach Chris Klieman talks about the Wildcats' new quality control coaches and analysts. “Clint Brown, he's a defensive guy, and I've known Clint forever because he was at South Dakota State. He's going to help on the offensive side. He's going to replace Brian Lepak. So, I'm excited for Clint because he'll give that offense a different perspective, being a defensive guy and great experience on his side. Then on offense, we hired Josh Buford, an old high school coach in the Park Hill District of KC, Mo. He just started this week. Excited about him as well. Then we still have Matt Kardulis and David Orloff on the defensive side that I can't say enough great things. Those two make our operation on defense go because of their organization and how smart those guys are.”

Kansas State head coach Chris Klieman talks about the depth the Wildcats have at cornerback. Klieman: “Well, obviously we have Julius (Brents) and Ekow (Boye-Doe) that have played an awful lot of ball for us. I know that Josh Hayes is a really good football player. I've been around him enough to know that he's going to have an impact for us, whether or not it's at a corner or as an inside nickel player because he can do some of the things that Reggie (Stubblefield) did. So, he's going to play an awful lot for us. We have a couple of younger players that are growing and learning that, who knows? Are they as experienced as those three in front of them? Probably not, but they're going to get their opportunity. I'm excited to see this spring how they do competing against those good wide outs.”

Kansas State head coach Chris Klieman talks about the Wildcats' wide receivers as spring football gets underway. Klieman: “Great experience. Great playmaking ability. Excited to have as many guys back as we do. I think Landry (Weber) is the only one, and Eric Hommel, that played significantly for us. Between Phillip (Brooks), Malik (Knowles) and Kade (Warner) those are the three that played the most late in the season. Those three really understand the game well, understand our offense well, are good leaders and productive players. I'm excited to see this spring how Chabastin Taylor does. I think he's finally healthy. Unfortunately for C-Bass, he just was never healthy in the fall, and he knew it. He would be the first one to tell you, ‘I was not healthy the entire fall.’ His injury occurred middle of December of ’20, so he didn't get a surgery. So, it's been a little over a year now, and sometimes that's what it will take on that kind of an injury. So, I'm excited for C-Bass. I think Ty Bowman is going to bring something to the table. He's one of our better special teams, guys, and I love that out of a wide receiver. Then a guy that just made a couple of splash plays today, RJ Garcia II is a really talented player, and he made a couple really splash plays today at practice. We've got him in Phillip’s spot, but I'm excited because RJ is a dynamic player.”

Kansas State head coach Chris Klieman talks about the Wildcats' transfers from Nebraska having a bond. Klieman: “Oh, without a doubt. You see those three guys hanging around, but I also see those guys interacting with the team. They fit in really well. Once again, I thought we did a really good job of vetting the guys that we brought into the program that came from different schools. I've been very pleased to see how they all just fit in. Give you a great example, I when I walked over to practice at the indoor today, all four quarterbacks got all the same car. That tells me an awful lot that those kids accept Adrian (Martinez) and Adrian is fitting into that crew. I see Josh Hayes hanging out with Ekow (Boye-Doe) and Julius (Brents), guys he's competing with. We all want the same thing. We all want to be successful and have a chance to win, and we all know we need each other. It's something that's really important. You have to make our locker room better to be a part of this team, and all those guys do.”