SE: K-State Calling — Blake Seiler’s Journey to Wildcat Football Rooted in Love for Program
Aug 28, 2017 | Football, Sports Extra
The first time it happened, Blake Seiler was sitting in a dorm room at Oklahoma State. It was winter break of 2002, and K-State was playing Arizona State in the Holiday Bowl.
Seiler was on scholarship as a wrestler for Oklahoma State that season, which would end with the Cowboys winning a national championship. It was an experience he said he would not trade "for the world," but it was not the experience he dreamed of since he was a child.
Seiler realized this while watching Arizona State lose, 34-27, to K-State, where he planned to play football before he broke his leg his senior season at Bishop Carroll. He healed in time for a breakout season in wrestling to catch the attention of Oklahoma State.
Before his first season in Stillwater was finished, Seiler decided there was something missing. By the end of the 2002 Holiday Bowl on December 27, he came to a life-changing conclusion: "I have to go where my heart's at."
The second time it happened, Seiler was sitting in a cubicle in Wichita. He was working as a structural engineer for Cessna Aircraft Company, not long after Bill Snyder came out of retirement to return as K-State's head coach.
"Sean (Snyder) gave me a call to see if I would be interested in being a (graduate assistant). I said, 'You know what? Let's go,'" Seiler, now K-State's assistant defensive coordinator in charge of the linebackers, recalled of his decision to leave Cessna. "It was a really good job. I worked with a lot of good people down there, but I couldn't handle sitting in that cubical all day."
Twice, Seiler's love for K-State trumped the obvious financial risks of staying put.
When he departed Oklahoma State, which would go on to win four-straight national championships (2003-06) in wrestling, he left a scholarship to walk on for K-State's football team.
What may seem like a risk to most people was an investment in what Seiler believed in.
"In college athletics, you have to be so invested if you're going to be successful. Your heart has to be in it, whatever you're doing. I just knew that my heart was up here at K-State," said Seiler, who earned a scholarship at K-State as a defensive end, while also being named a captain as a senior in 2006. "I'm a K-Stater through and through, and I had to go do what I wanted to do my whole life growing up."
When Seiler left Cessna about three years after graduating K-State, he took another financial risk to start on the low end of the coaching totem pole. For the second time in his life, he knew his heart was in football and, more specifically, K-State football.
"Again, once you know, you know," he said. "At that point, I was definitely done with the cubicle lifestyle and had to go do what I wanted to do."
What Seiler wanted to do was be involved with Wildcat football again, even if that meant starting at the bottom.
He began his current career as a quality control coach from 2009-10, serving the next two seasons as a graduate assistant. In 2013, he was promoted to a full-time position with an assistant coach title. He took another step up the ladder this spring, being named an assistant defensive coordinator.
"As a player, you come in as a walk-on, earn a scholarship, become a starter, become a captain and then you come back as a GA and you're at the bottom. I think it has really helped me from a coaching perspective. Obviously, we're recruiting kids all the time and recruiting walk-ons all the time. I've been through it. I've done it and I can relate to all of those guys," Seiler said. "I think it really helps any coach to come in, start from the ground floor, be a GA and really do all the grunt work — breaking down film, doing all of those things that really people don't understand happens behind the scenes. Now, as a full-time coach, you really understand what that position is all about, what it needs to be and you appreciate those guys because they're working their tails off for as many hours as we are for no pay whatsoever."
Even more, Seiler said his up-the-ladder coaching climb has helped him see the bigger picture. Since returning to K-State, he has worked with the defensive line, secondary and, now, the linebackers, who must constantly communicate with both of the other groups.
"I know what the D-line does, I know what the secondary does, and that's what really helps me relate to the linebackers. They need to know it all, and I can kind of help them in that regard," he said. "I've really been able to experience it all and see it all from all perspectives. Obviously as a defensive coach, the more angles you see it from, the better off you are."
While adjusting to a new position coach always takes some time, Seiler's experience in the program has helped streamline the process to where he's teaching much more than he's learning.
"His attention to detail is incredible," senior linebacker Trent Tanking said of Seiler. "The specific techniques that he coached with the defensive ends is very key. He translated that to the linebacker position and it really helps us out a lot, the attention to detail to be able to get an edge on the other player we're going against."
Seiler takes over a position group that lost its two main starters, Elijah Lee and Charmeachealle Moore, who combined for 185 tackles last season. Tanking, a senior captain and former walk-on is among a handful of Wildcats expected to compete for a starting spot this season.
"The good news is we have guys who've been in the program, experienced guys that know our defense, know what we do, and they're well prepared," Seiler said. "I'm walking into a room that's got guys who are not brand new. They know what to do, they know how to line up, they know how to read their keys. It's just a matter of getting them to do it consistently and step up into that starting role now."
Seiler knows the K-State process better than anyone. He lived it as a player and now preaches it as a coach. It is a big reason why he left secure situations two times to come back to Manhattan. Now, he wants to give his players what the program gave to him.
"To see them come in as freshmen and watch them grow, help them grow, help them achieve their goals on the field, off the field, in the classroom… I've been here nine years now, so I've seen a lot of guys come in as a freshman and graduate, and it's pretty cool to see how they develop in the program," he said. "I wasn't getting that in my engineering job. You don't have that personal interaction, where you're developing young people. To me, that's very rewarding.
"Playing here, walking on here, you put a lot of time in and invested a lot of blood, sweat and tears into this program, so obviously it means a lot to me. As a coach, I think I carry that into work every single day."
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