SE: Klieman’s ‘Attack the Day’ Process Taking Hold, Leading to Success
Nov 04, 2019 | Football, Sports Extra
By Corbin McGuire
It can take years for a new culture to fully establish itself in a locker room. Those who have stood inside K-State football's this season, however, led by first-year head coach Chris Klieman, know it can also happen sooner.
They've seen it.
How it took a team with plenty of unknowns to a 3-0 start. How it kept that team from panicking after dropping consecutive games to open Big 12 play. How it enabled a thrilling upset win over then-No. 5 Oklahoma. How it kept a team grounded en route to a convincing 28-point victory at rival Kansas — the program's 11th in a row over the Jayhawks. How it has K-State (6-2, 3-2) ranked No. 20/22 and bowl eligible the earliest in a season since 2014 heading into a road battle at Texas (5-3, 3-2) on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. on ESPN.
They've heard it.
Klieman's emphasis on attacking each day to stack good days. His weekly sermon on how one week, good or bad, has no bearing on the next. His belief in the process being more important than the results.
"Don't worry about anything that you can't control and just focus on the process of winning each day and attacking Monday to get to Tuesday," Klieman said after Saturday's win at Kansas. "I told the guys before the game, I told the guys at the end of the game, 'Do not be a results-based individual. Do not be a results-based program. Be a process-based program and process-based individual.' If you do those things and attack it on a daily basis and stack good days, then you have a chance to be really successful on Saturday."
The last three weeks, all wins, have helped reinforce that message. The Wildcats followed Klieman's formula and have done nothing but improve.
They allowed 241 yards of offense against a Kansas team that had put up 500-plus in back-to-back games. Without two of their top running backs, they ran for 342 — K-State's most in a Big 12 game since putting up 345 against Oklahoma State in 2016.
"Coach Klieman preaches all the time, you just have to take it day by day and attack every single day and the outcome will go in your favor," sophomore defensive end Wyatt Hubert said. "(Kansas is) always an important game on the schedule, but we just approached the same way we approached any other week. You attack it day by day and you'll come out successful."
"That's one thing that this team is buying into right now," senior defensive tackle Trey Dishon added. "I remember (safeties) coach (Joe) Klanderman talking to me after the Oklahoma win, saying, 'You guys are really starting to understand and buy into what he's preaching,' and when you buy into what your head coach is preaching, the players have an edge on their opponent. But the biggest thing is attacking it one day at a time and humbling yourself. Every day is a new day, every game is a new game, every week is a new week, every play is a new play. It goes from top to bottom.
"I love it. I love what he preaches, because I think that's why we're being so successful right now, everybody buying in."
Why players bought in so quickly, and on such a deep level, has a few answers.
Klieman's energy is infectious, for starters, evident on the sideline and in the locker room. What fans see on TV, at a game or in social media clips, is what players get all the time.
It's also worth mentioning his fundamental beliefs and thematic messages aren't far off to those of the man he took over for last December.
Results certainly help, too — an oxymoron of sorts. But it's been a truth of accelerating this process.
"The more we're buying into this stuff, the more success we have on Saturday," Dishon said. "Taking it one day at a time, one play at a time…everybody says one play at a time — it's cliché — but it's winning games for us right now."
Now, as K-State's exceeded last season's win total with four weeks to go, Dishon said it's about being steadfast with that approach. Stay humble and hungry. Stay focused on small tasks and believe they'll lead to big goals. Bowl eligibility was one of those, but there's more out there.
"The biggest thing is humbling ourselves. Because you come off a big win (against Oklahoma) and then you come down and beat your rival on the road and you're on a streak right now and you're doing good and sitting at 6-2…everything's going well," Dishon said. "The hardest thing this week is attacking where we can get better. We can always get better. You always have to get better for the next opponent."
"It's a step in the right direction," Klieman added of reaching six wins. "We have a lot of games left, and we're not going to worry about the results. We're just going to attack this week with Texas. We're going to have another tough game on the road. We'll just try to hit Monday and be as good as we can on Monday."
It can take years for a new culture to fully establish itself in a locker room. Those who have stood inside K-State football's this season, however, led by first-year head coach Chris Klieman, know it can also happen sooner.
They've seen it.
How it took a team with plenty of unknowns to a 3-0 start. How it kept that team from panicking after dropping consecutive games to open Big 12 play. How it enabled a thrilling upset win over then-No. 5 Oklahoma. How it kept a team grounded en route to a convincing 28-point victory at rival Kansas — the program's 11th in a row over the Jayhawks. How it has K-State (6-2, 3-2) ranked No. 20/22 and bowl eligible the earliest in a season since 2014 heading into a road battle at Texas (5-3, 3-2) on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. on ESPN.
They've heard it.
Klieman's emphasis on attacking each day to stack good days. His weekly sermon on how one week, good or bad, has no bearing on the next. His belief in the process being more important than the results.
Focused on the task at hand #KStateFB ? Pound The Stone pic.twitter.com/ntAICoieav
— K-State Football (@KStateFB) November 2, 2019
"Don't worry about anything that you can't control and just focus on the process of winning each day and attacking Monday to get to Tuesday," Klieman said after Saturday's win at Kansas. "I told the guys before the game, I told the guys at the end of the game, 'Do not be a results-based individual. Do not be a results-based program. Be a process-based program and process-based individual.' If you do those things and attack it on a daily basis and stack good days, then you have a chance to be really successful on Saturday."
The last three weeks, all wins, have helped reinforce that message. The Wildcats followed Klieman's formula and have done nothing but improve.
They allowed 241 yards of offense against a Kansas team that had put up 500-plus in back-to-back games. Without two of their top running backs, they ran for 342 — K-State's most in a Big 12 game since putting up 345 against Oklahoma State in 2016.
"Coach Klieman preaches all the time, you just have to take it day by day and attack every single day and the outcome will go in your favor," sophomore defensive end Wyatt Hubert said. "(Kansas is) always an important game on the schedule, but we just approached the same way we approached any other week. You attack it day by day and you'll come out successful."
It's the culture#KStateFB ? Pound The Stone pic.twitter.com/WvwA64IvRg
— K-State Football (@KStateFB) October 26, 2019
"That's one thing that this team is buying into right now," senior defensive tackle Trey Dishon added. "I remember (safeties) coach (Joe) Klanderman talking to me after the Oklahoma win, saying, 'You guys are really starting to understand and buy into what he's preaching,' and when you buy into what your head coach is preaching, the players have an edge on their opponent. But the biggest thing is attacking it one day at a time and humbling yourself. Every day is a new day, every game is a new game, every week is a new week, every play is a new play. It goes from top to bottom.
"I love it. I love what he preaches, because I think that's why we're being so successful right now, everybody buying in."
Why players bought in so quickly, and on such a deep level, has a few answers.
Klieman's energy is infectious, for starters, evident on the sideline and in the locker room. What fans see on TV, at a game or in social media clips, is what players get all the time.
Players' Coach#KStateFB ? Pound The Stone pic.twitter.com/0uXOiND8m1
— K-State Football (@KStateFB) October 27, 2019
It's also worth mentioning his fundamental beliefs and thematic messages aren't far off to those of the man he took over for last December.
Results certainly help, too — an oxymoron of sorts. But it's been a truth of accelerating this process.
"The more we're buying into this stuff, the more success we have on Saturday," Dishon said. "Taking it one day at a time, one play at a time…everybody says one play at a time — it's cliché — but it's winning games for us right now."
Now, as K-State's exceeded last season's win total with four weeks to go, Dishon said it's about being steadfast with that approach. Stay humble and hungry. Stay focused on small tasks and believe they'll lead to big goals. Bowl eligibility was one of those, but there's more out there.
"The biggest thing is humbling ourselves. Because you come off a big win (against Oklahoma) and then you come down and beat your rival on the road and you're on a streak right now and you're doing good and sitting at 6-2…everything's going well," Dishon said. "The hardest thing this week is attacking where we can get better. We can always get better. You always have to get better for the next opponent."
"It's a step in the right direction," Klieman added of reaching six wins. "We have a lot of games left, and we're not going to worry about the results. We're just going to attack this week with Texas. We're going to have another tough game on the road. We'll just try to hit Monday and be as good as we can on Monday."
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