K-State Holds Spring Football Press Conference
Apr 09, 2019 | Football
MANHATTAN, Kan. - Kansas State head coach Chris Klieman met with the media on Tuesday for a final time prior to the K-State Football Spring Showcase this Saturday. Details regarding the Spring Showcase can be found here.
Below is a transcript of the press conference, as well as a collection of quotes from select players.
CHRIS KLIEMAN, HEAD COACH
Opening statement…
"Good morning everybody. It is hard to believe we're in the middle of April. We just finished practice 12, and we have three practices left. We will have a pretty good one tomorrow on Wednesday and then we still have to have one of Friday, one more non-padded, t-shirts and shorts, and helmet practice. Then we'll finish up on Saturday, a combination of a practice and a little bit of scrimmage. It's going well so far, obviously it is a work in progress every day. Every day I am learning a little bit more about a position or a young man. They are practicing hard. We're learning. It's going to take time. I think all of us coaches - and the players understand that as well - but we have seen tremendous improvement from one to four, four to eight, and eight to 12, so we are making strides. We have to look at the big picture and understand, for instance on defense, they are not go against that kind of offense a whole lot during the season, and so there are some times that we are trying to stop some plays that we maybe won't be seeing, a certain formation but I still think it is good. We are focusing on communication on both sides of the ball. We are actually going to incorporate some noise tomorrow to help on both sides of that end for the first time with some silent counts and things. Situational football, we are continuing to emphasize a little bit but we are still big picture with all the schemes offensively and defensively."
On handling being a hands-on coach and also taking on the CEO role...
"At that time, we are always trying to move guys around. We were looking at a couple guys at another position just because we still trying to maximize the talent we have. So, I took some guys with one of our G.A.'s and we just kind of went through some basic run and pass fits. I still enjoy doing that, if I can lend a hand to Coach (Joe) Klanderman, Coach (Van) Malone or Coach (Scottie) Haze (Hazelton), those three guys, I am going to. I listen on the defensive conversations. I am involved with them, so the players know that they can come to me and say, 'Hey coach, what do I do on this?' It's a balancing act because I still like to have fun with the offensive guys, but sometimes they hear me cheering for the defense just because I am trying to coach a little bit."
On D.J. Render potentially moving to safety…
"It's an experiment right now. D.J. did some really good things on a tackling circuit that we had from a special-teams point of view. So, we wanted to give him an opportunity just to see where he would be. I do not know if that will happen, wholesale, for the fall, but we thought with three or four practices left, we would give him an opportunity so that we could learn more about D.J. So, we will kind of evaluate that after these next few practices, but he will stay on defense throughout the end of Saturday and we will make a decision.."
On if the transition has gone the way he expected…
"Yeah, it really has. It was a slow process, to be honest with you, to start, and I knew it was going to be simply because it is such new terminology. Football is not reinventing the wheel, you got to be able to block and tackle, you got to be able to get off blocks and those things. Just our terminology, offensively and defensively, it's a foreign language to anybody, not just coming here, we could have gone anywhere and it would be a foreign language. I knew that would be a process. The key now on these terms that we're using, the guys are understanding. Now our offense shifts, motions and trades an awful lot and to know when to say the right thing and know how to align correctly, those are the things that we spent most of our time on, both offensively and defensively is alignment stuff. Now the last three practices, all the installations has been in, now we have another just day of football where there was no installation offensively and defensively. We'll still have the same thing for two more practices, so we will have a better feel for where we are at. But, absolutely it has gone about what I thought."
On quarterback Skylar Thompson…
"I'm really pleased with where Skylar has come from day one to where we're at now of continuing to feel more comfortable in the system to being able to make to make some calls on his own - to be able to change to protection, to be able to change a play, to be able to get out of something that he knows probably isn't going to be the best play and put us in a better opportunity to be successful. Obviously, from a physical standpoint, he has loads of ability, to be able to run the football and throw it from different platforms; in the pocket and out of the pocket. Just the mental side of the game, him visiting with Coach (Courtney) Mess (Messingham) and Coach (Collin) Klein, I have been really impressed with because it is started to slow down. That's what you hope for as we finish up spring is that it is slowing down, but it can't just stop at the end of the spring. All these guys have to continue to work on their own, not just getting bigger, stronger and faster, but looking at install notes and looking at film from the spring so they stay on top of their game."
On quarterback John Holcombe II…
"He's done a nice job. He's improved quite a bit, especially I have seen a ton of growth with John over the last three practices. The game is starting to slow down for him. He is making some really good decisions. He has great arm talent as everybody knows and an ability to run the football. Now, it's just him seeing the pictures pre-snap and trusting what he sees pre-snap that, 'Yeah, that is right. That's the right picture I saw. Now let's make quick decisions and be able to deliver the football where it is supposed to be.' So in the last three practices, in particular, I have been really impressed with John."
On balancing offensive style with what the defense sees in the season…
"We have to do a good job of balancing both sides because, no matter what, our offense, if we are in a two tight end set, has to be able to go against the one defense and see the right pictures. We've helped each other out by, 'Hey, can you get into this front for these five to six plays,' and, 'Can you play this coverage for this period,' whatever it may be. Then on the flip side, defensively, we have been doing some no-huddle periods, which our offense can always continue to work on just because of tempo. Those have been really good for our defense so say, 'Alright, it's going fast for six plays in a row. We have to get lined up and get the call. And our offense, can you give us this formation? Can you give us these plays?' I think that's part of the balance of winning and playing together offensively and defensively. I've been impressed with the coaches sharing information back and forth of, 'Hey, we see more of this in this league, can you give us this?' It has been good. It is a balancing act and that's something, as we get in to fall camp, I will sit down with Mess (Courtney Messingham) and Haze (Scottie Hazelton) and say, 'Okay, what days do we want to designate for more of a defensive emphasis? What days do we want for offense emphasis? With is still getting good? Hey, let's just go play football.'"
On which position groups have improved the most...
"I think all of them are in a sense-of-urgency mode just to see how much more information we can hold on to and understand as we finish up spring ball. Depth issues obviously, running back is a concern, we have some depth issues. We will have to count on some young players, probably coming in here to at least to give us an opportunity to see if they can compete. I have been really pleased with the depth we have on the defensive line, which we thought was going to be a strength. Depth that we probably have at the safety position, we have some guys that are injured and have limited action playing like (Jahron) McPherson and (Brock) Monty that we think will be in the mix, but they are not out there yet. You throughout Jonathan Alexander, which makes our safety positions better, Marcus Hayes makes our safety position better. So, we have some depth there, which we weren't sure of. Probably running back, still, is a thin position for us. I still think the corner position is a little thin for us. If you get an injury, then all the sudden you are thin somewhere else. We have to continue to push the guys that are in the mix to make sure they're understanding where they fit, offensively and defensively, because you can't go into a season with just two guys and a linebacker, two guys and a left tackle. You have to continue to develop all the time."
On running backs James Gilbert and Harry Trotter…
"James has probably been the most consistent, but he's the one that's made every practice. Harry has been nicked up and little bit, Tyler Burns has been nicked up a little up. James came in really not knowing a lot about our system and has picked up things really well. He's an extremely coachable guy. He sees the hole and hits it. He has to continue to work on pass protection, running the routes and those things, but I've been really pleased with James right now. Learning how to finish runs, finish plays and understand through Coach (Brian) Anderson just where he fits within our offense, and whether it is in a one-back set or in with a fullback. He is still learning our terminology, our footwork and those things, but he works at it hard."
On sharing of ideas about defense with the other coaches…
"It's fun. That's the thing I appreciate about Coach Haze (Hazelton) is that he's not an ego guy. He wants everyone's opinion. That's when you get the most out of guys, when they're not afraid to say something knowing that they're going to have a valued opinion and they're not going to be just lip speak, it's more, 'Hey, what's the best thing for us.' A lot of that stuff happens, in my opinion, on third down. Where's our skill set? Do we have really good cover guys? Do we have better zone eyes guys? Who's our best rush guys? What are some things to beat this protection? Because, you know, we're going against our offense, and we understand how they're protecting things. Ok, how do we beat that protection? You want to find out what the best things are to beat the protection with a bunch of different voices in the room because that's what every Wednesday and Thursday is like in the fall because people and offenses protect things differently. So it's fun to just have everybody's input. I think that we've got a bunch of veteran coaches in that defensive room, and everybody has had coordinator experiences and has been in Power Five football for an awful long time that their opinion is really valued."
On who is coaching the specialists…
"It's Stanton (Weber) right now. Stanton's helping them right now as a graduate assistant. I go over there and spend some time with them as well. Coach (Conor) Riley helps them when we get to PAT/field goal. But when he's talking about scheme with our kickoff, our kicker is a part of the scheme. Not only is he kicking it, but he's has his third of the field and he's got to understand where he's sending the play back to. Our kickoff team is no different than our punt team - it's another defensive snap. You have to know where you fit. You just can't run aimlessly down the field and say, 'I'm a part of the kickoff team or a part of the punt team.' It's no different than defensive football, just like kick return and punt return are more offensive football, you have to make sure and detail the scheme. And that's what he's probably talking about. We're probably a little ways away because we've spent so much time implementing the offense and defense that we know we've done a nice job on special teams - and Stanton's done a really good job of kind of taking ownership there - but we know we have a long ways to go once we get into fall camp."
On who has impressed on kickoff and punt returns...
"Well, because we're not going live on kickoff and punt returns, we're just putting guys back there to catch the football. Obviously Marcus Hayes was exceptional at New Mexico, and we still haven't heard on his eligibility. Phillip Brooks is another candidate back there. We're trying a lot of guys just in catching the football. We'll get into more of the schematics but we're obviously hoping Zubes (Isaiah Zuber) is back 100-percent ready to go. I know that he's moving better, but he's not going to be ready until the summer, which we anticipated him having a full June and full July to get himself ready."
On Coach Conor Riley…
"Riles and I have known each other for a long time. I think he's the best offensive line coach in the country. I've been around an awful lot of them. I say that two-fold - one, schematically, technique wise, all of those things. There is a lot of great offensive line coaches out there. But the ability to connect with players, I have never seen anyone do it better than Conor, as far as challenging the heck out of those guys - and that's a position where you are going to challenge those guys. It is the most fun guys to be around. They're the guys that can take being challenged as long as they know they are loved and they know that they're cared about. That is something that I have seen Riles in operation for six years, seven years now, and every one of those kids would run through a wall for Coach Riley, and they know he has their back. He is a great technician, but more than that he is a great mentor to those guys. It's fun because I went and sat in on the offensive line meeting on Saturday and their locked in and he is challenging guys. It is so true, you're offensive line is five guys, but if they are not playing as one, you are in trouble. So the communication that those guys have to rely on on a play-to-play basis is pretty impressive for Riles to orchestrate."
On depth at nickelback…
"Walter Neil's experience is a playmaker. I think AJ Parker is a really good player. The issue that we're having at corner is that everyone else out there is typically in a red jersey, so they can't do anything full go. We stuck Walter out there yesterday, in fact. We stuck Walter out there and said, 'You're going to be a corner today,' because he's played so much nickel. It's still a position where there are similarities; if you can play corner, then you need to play nickel. Now there are some different fits, there are some different call that you're going to have to learn at nickel. Jonathan Durham is playing some nickel for us, but he has a red jersey on too so we can't have him go in a live situation. That's where we're working Marcus Hayes, yesterday I was working with Marcus. But he has a red jersey on so we're not allowed to go live with him. So we're just trying to, right now, move around as many guys that have the skillset to be able to tackle at nickel, to be able to play really good man coverage and to be able to blitz. Those are three complements that you can't just throw a 165-pound corner in there, but you also have to have a skillset that you're going to be able to cover a Wykeen Gill or Phillip Brooks in the slot, and sometimes that's not a bigger safety. So, all of our corners, we're going to try at nickel at some point because there's so much similarity between the two positions"
On defensive back Lance Robinson moving from nickelback to cornerback…
"We have right now. We wanted to give Lance something to just hang his hat on, because we were tying him at nickel for half a practice, we were trying him at corner for half a practice. I don't think that was very fair to Lance in the fact that he was staying pretty average at both. I have great respect for Lance because he's a tremendous competitor. We wanted to, for the last seven or eight practices, learn one position. Lance is going to be a really, really good football player here. He just needs a lot of repetitions, and he needs to find one spot that he can take ownership in. So that's what we're doing right now with him."
On using analytics…
"It's big, obviously. We didn't have as many resources at North Dakota State as we'll have here. It's something we're going to look at more in the summer as far as companies that actually deal with those things. A lot of that is our own information as well. Some of that is still gut, some of it is still how the game flow is going, what the situation of it is, all of those things play into it. But, without question, it's become a big part of, not just football, but all sports. It's something that I know this summer we are visiting with some people about."
On what to expect out of the Spring Showcase…
"More of a practice. Simply this, and we've talked about it, we only have two active corners are not in red jerseys so we can't have a full scrimmage. We only have a couple of active defensive ends that are not in a red jersey. K-State's not on the schedule for us next year, so we want to make sure that we get our work done. So, you're going to see a practice. You're going to see 7-on-7. You're going to see a red zone period or a third down period. You're going to see some of our double-rep period where we get young guys at one end and older guys at the other end to try to still get our work in. We're still improving every day, technique-wise, fundamentals, schematics, all those things. And then, based on how much time we have left, if we are in good shape, we'll scrimmage some young guys a handful of plays. If we feel pretty good, we may have the older guys do what we would call a 'thud' period where everybody stays up and the younger guys scrimmage a little bit. If we get somebody nicked up during that time, like what's happened in practice, then you have to eliminate the scrimmage part. So you still have to get your horses to the fall, and that's something we still have to keep an eye on."
On Samuel Wheeler's transition from quarterback to tight end…
"I've been really impressed with Sammy. He gives us an element of speed there, he's faster than the other tight ends that are playing. Obviously, we've got to work on his run blocking; he's not afraid to do it. He has no habits to break because he's brand new at the position. So it's fun for Coach Mess (Messingham) because he gets to teach him from square one, from scratch. Go out and try to block Wyatt Hubert, that's not easy to do. So we're putting him in some positions to continue to push him on the run game, but he's a big weapon in the pass game if he continues to progress. He can run and he's got really good hands and now, like everyone else, he just need to understand the system."
Below is a transcript of the press conference, as well as a collection of quotes from select players.
CHRIS KLIEMAN, HEAD COACH
Opening statement…
"Good morning everybody. It is hard to believe we're in the middle of April. We just finished practice 12, and we have three practices left. We will have a pretty good one tomorrow on Wednesday and then we still have to have one of Friday, one more non-padded, t-shirts and shorts, and helmet practice. Then we'll finish up on Saturday, a combination of a practice and a little bit of scrimmage. It's going well so far, obviously it is a work in progress every day. Every day I am learning a little bit more about a position or a young man. They are practicing hard. We're learning. It's going to take time. I think all of us coaches - and the players understand that as well - but we have seen tremendous improvement from one to four, four to eight, and eight to 12, so we are making strides. We have to look at the big picture and understand, for instance on defense, they are not go against that kind of offense a whole lot during the season, and so there are some times that we are trying to stop some plays that we maybe won't be seeing, a certain formation but I still think it is good. We are focusing on communication on both sides of the ball. We are actually going to incorporate some noise tomorrow to help on both sides of that end for the first time with some silent counts and things. Situational football, we are continuing to emphasize a little bit but we are still big picture with all the schemes offensively and defensively."
On handling being a hands-on coach and also taking on the CEO role...
"At that time, we are always trying to move guys around. We were looking at a couple guys at another position just because we still trying to maximize the talent we have. So, I took some guys with one of our G.A.'s and we just kind of went through some basic run and pass fits. I still enjoy doing that, if I can lend a hand to Coach (Joe) Klanderman, Coach (Van) Malone or Coach (Scottie) Haze (Hazelton), those three guys, I am going to. I listen on the defensive conversations. I am involved with them, so the players know that they can come to me and say, 'Hey coach, what do I do on this?' It's a balancing act because I still like to have fun with the offensive guys, but sometimes they hear me cheering for the defense just because I am trying to coach a little bit."
On D.J. Render potentially moving to safety…
"It's an experiment right now. D.J. did some really good things on a tackling circuit that we had from a special-teams point of view. So, we wanted to give him an opportunity just to see where he would be. I do not know if that will happen, wholesale, for the fall, but we thought with three or four practices left, we would give him an opportunity so that we could learn more about D.J. So, we will kind of evaluate that after these next few practices, but he will stay on defense throughout the end of Saturday and we will make a decision.."
On if the transition has gone the way he expected…
"Yeah, it really has. It was a slow process, to be honest with you, to start, and I knew it was going to be simply because it is such new terminology. Football is not reinventing the wheel, you got to be able to block and tackle, you got to be able to get off blocks and those things. Just our terminology, offensively and defensively, it's a foreign language to anybody, not just coming here, we could have gone anywhere and it would be a foreign language. I knew that would be a process. The key now on these terms that we're using, the guys are understanding. Now our offense shifts, motions and trades an awful lot and to know when to say the right thing and know how to align correctly, those are the things that we spent most of our time on, both offensively and defensively is alignment stuff. Now the last three practices, all the installations has been in, now we have another just day of football where there was no installation offensively and defensively. We'll still have the same thing for two more practices, so we will have a better feel for where we are at. But, absolutely it has gone about what I thought."
On quarterback Skylar Thompson…
"I'm really pleased with where Skylar has come from day one to where we're at now of continuing to feel more comfortable in the system to being able to make to make some calls on his own - to be able to change to protection, to be able to change a play, to be able to get out of something that he knows probably isn't going to be the best play and put us in a better opportunity to be successful. Obviously, from a physical standpoint, he has loads of ability, to be able to run the football and throw it from different platforms; in the pocket and out of the pocket. Just the mental side of the game, him visiting with Coach (Courtney) Mess (Messingham) and Coach (Collin) Klein, I have been really impressed with because it is started to slow down. That's what you hope for as we finish up spring is that it is slowing down, but it can't just stop at the end of the spring. All these guys have to continue to work on their own, not just getting bigger, stronger and faster, but looking at install notes and looking at film from the spring so they stay on top of their game."
On quarterback John Holcombe II…
"He's done a nice job. He's improved quite a bit, especially I have seen a ton of growth with John over the last three practices. The game is starting to slow down for him. He is making some really good decisions. He has great arm talent as everybody knows and an ability to run the football. Now, it's just him seeing the pictures pre-snap and trusting what he sees pre-snap that, 'Yeah, that is right. That's the right picture I saw. Now let's make quick decisions and be able to deliver the football where it is supposed to be.' So in the last three practices, in particular, I have been really impressed with John."
On balancing offensive style with what the defense sees in the season…
"We have to do a good job of balancing both sides because, no matter what, our offense, if we are in a two tight end set, has to be able to go against the one defense and see the right pictures. We've helped each other out by, 'Hey, can you get into this front for these five to six plays,' and, 'Can you play this coverage for this period,' whatever it may be. Then on the flip side, defensively, we have been doing some no-huddle periods, which our offense can always continue to work on just because of tempo. Those have been really good for our defense so say, 'Alright, it's going fast for six plays in a row. We have to get lined up and get the call. And our offense, can you give us this formation? Can you give us these plays?' I think that's part of the balance of winning and playing together offensively and defensively. I've been impressed with the coaches sharing information back and forth of, 'Hey, we see more of this in this league, can you give us this?' It has been good. It is a balancing act and that's something, as we get in to fall camp, I will sit down with Mess (Courtney Messingham) and Haze (Scottie Hazelton) and say, 'Okay, what days do we want to designate for more of a defensive emphasis? What days do we want for offense emphasis? With is still getting good? Hey, let's just go play football.'"
On which position groups have improved the most...
"I think all of them are in a sense-of-urgency mode just to see how much more information we can hold on to and understand as we finish up spring ball. Depth issues obviously, running back is a concern, we have some depth issues. We will have to count on some young players, probably coming in here to at least to give us an opportunity to see if they can compete. I have been really pleased with the depth we have on the defensive line, which we thought was going to be a strength. Depth that we probably have at the safety position, we have some guys that are injured and have limited action playing like (Jahron) McPherson and (Brock) Monty that we think will be in the mix, but they are not out there yet. You throughout Jonathan Alexander, which makes our safety positions better, Marcus Hayes makes our safety position better. So, we have some depth there, which we weren't sure of. Probably running back, still, is a thin position for us. I still think the corner position is a little thin for us. If you get an injury, then all the sudden you are thin somewhere else. We have to continue to push the guys that are in the mix to make sure they're understanding where they fit, offensively and defensively, because you can't go into a season with just two guys and a linebacker, two guys and a left tackle. You have to continue to develop all the time."
On running backs James Gilbert and Harry Trotter…
"James has probably been the most consistent, but he's the one that's made every practice. Harry has been nicked up and little bit, Tyler Burns has been nicked up a little up. James came in really not knowing a lot about our system and has picked up things really well. He's an extremely coachable guy. He sees the hole and hits it. He has to continue to work on pass protection, running the routes and those things, but I've been really pleased with James right now. Learning how to finish runs, finish plays and understand through Coach (Brian) Anderson just where he fits within our offense, and whether it is in a one-back set or in with a fullback. He is still learning our terminology, our footwork and those things, but he works at it hard."
On sharing of ideas about defense with the other coaches…
"It's fun. That's the thing I appreciate about Coach Haze (Hazelton) is that he's not an ego guy. He wants everyone's opinion. That's when you get the most out of guys, when they're not afraid to say something knowing that they're going to have a valued opinion and they're not going to be just lip speak, it's more, 'Hey, what's the best thing for us.' A lot of that stuff happens, in my opinion, on third down. Where's our skill set? Do we have really good cover guys? Do we have better zone eyes guys? Who's our best rush guys? What are some things to beat this protection? Because, you know, we're going against our offense, and we understand how they're protecting things. Ok, how do we beat that protection? You want to find out what the best things are to beat the protection with a bunch of different voices in the room because that's what every Wednesday and Thursday is like in the fall because people and offenses protect things differently. So it's fun to just have everybody's input. I think that we've got a bunch of veteran coaches in that defensive room, and everybody has had coordinator experiences and has been in Power Five football for an awful long time that their opinion is really valued."
On who is coaching the specialists…
"It's Stanton (Weber) right now. Stanton's helping them right now as a graduate assistant. I go over there and spend some time with them as well. Coach (Conor) Riley helps them when we get to PAT/field goal. But when he's talking about scheme with our kickoff, our kicker is a part of the scheme. Not only is he kicking it, but he's has his third of the field and he's got to understand where he's sending the play back to. Our kickoff team is no different than our punt team - it's another defensive snap. You have to know where you fit. You just can't run aimlessly down the field and say, 'I'm a part of the kickoff team or a part of the punt team.' It's no different than defensive football, just like kick return and punt return are more offensive football, you have to make sure and detail the scheme. And that's what he's probably talking about. We're probably a little ways away because we've spent so much time implementing the offense and defense that we know we've done a nice job on special teams - and Stanton's done a really good job of kind of taking ownership there - but we know we have a long ways to go once we get into fall camp."
On who has impressed on kickoff and punt returns...
"Well, because we're not going live on kickoff and punt returns, we're just putting guys back there to catch the football. Obviously Marcus Hayes was exceptional at New Mexico, and we still haven't heard on his eligibility. Phillip Brooks is another candidate back there. We're trying a lot of guys just in catching the football. We'll get into more of the schematics but we're obviously hoping Zubes (Isaiah Zuber) is back 100-percent ready to go. I know that he's moving better, but he's not going to be ready until the summer, which we anticipated him having a full June and full July to get himself ready."
On Coach Conor Riley…
"Riles and I have known each other for a long time. I think he's the best offensive line coach in the country. I've been around an awful lot of them. I say that two-fold - one, schematically, technique wise, all of those things. There is a lot of great offensive line coaches out there. But the ability to connect with players, I have never seen anyone do it better than Conor, as far as challenging the heck out of those guys - and that's a position where you are going to challenge those guys. It is the most fun guys to be around. They're the guys that can take being challenged as long as they know they are loved and they know that they're cared about. That is something that I have seen Riles in operation for six years, seven years now, and every one of those kids would run through a wall for Coach Riley, and they know he has their back. He is a great technician, but more than that he is a great mentor to those guys. It's fun because I went and sat in on the offensive line meeting on Saturday and their locked in and he is challenging guys. It is so true, you're offensive line is five guys, but if they are not playing as one, you are in trouble. So the communication that those guys have to rely on on a play-to-play basis is pretty impressive for Riles to orchestrate."
On depth at nickelback…
"Walter Neil's experience is a playmaker. I think AJ Parker is a really good player. The issue that we're having at corner is that everyone else out there is typically in a red jersey, so they can't do anything full go. We stuck Walter out there yesterday, in fact. We stuck Walter out there and said, 'You're going to be a corner today,' because he's played so much nickel. It's still a position where there are similarities; if you can play corner, then you need to play nickel. Now there are some different fits, there are some different call that you're going to have to learn at nickel. Jonathan Durham is playing some nickel for us, but he has a red jersey on too so we can't have him go in a live situation. That's where we're working Marcus Hayes, yesterday I was working with Marcus. But he has a red jersey on so we're not allowed to go live with him. So we're just trying to, right now, move around as many guys that have the skillset to be able to tackle at nickel, to be able to play really good man coverage and to be able to blitz. Those are three complements that you can't just throw a 165-pound corner in there, but you also have to have a skillset that you're going to be able to cover a Wykeen Gill or Phillip Brooks in the slot, and sometimes that's not a bigger safety. So, all of our corners, we're going to try at nickel at some point because there's so much similarity between the two positions"
On defensive back Lance Robinson moving from nickelback to cornerback…
"We have right now. We wanted to give Lance something to just hang his hat on, because we were tying him at nickel for half a practice, we were trying him at corner for half a practice. I don't think that was very fair to Lance in the fact that he was staying pretty average at both. I have great respect for Lance because he's a tremendous competitor. We wanted to, for the last seven or eight practices, learn one position. Lance is going to be a really, really good football player here. He just needs a lot of repetitions, and he needs to find one spot that he can take ownership in. So that's what we're doing right now with him."
On using analytics…
"It's big, obviously. We didn't have as many resources at North Dakota State as we'll have here. It's something we're going to look at more in the summer as far as companies that actually deal with those things. A lot of that is our own information as well. Some of that is still gut, some of it is still how the game flow is going, what the situation of it is, all of those things play into it. But, without question, it's become a big part of, not just football, but all sports. It's something that I know this summer we are visiting with some people about."
On what to expect out of the Spring Showcase…
"More of a practice. Simply this, and we've talked about it, we only have two active corners are not in red jerseys so we can't have a full scrimmage. We only have a couple of active defensive ends that are not in a red jersey. K-State's not on the schedule for us next year, so we want to make sure that we get our work done. So, you're going to see a practice. You're going to see 7-on-7. You're going to see a red zone period or a third down period. You're going to see some of our double-rep period where we get young guys at one end and older guys at the other end to try to still get our work in. We're still improving every day, technique-wise, fundamentals, schematics, all those things. And then, based on how much time we have left, if we are in good shape, we'll scrimmage some young guys a handful of plays. If we feel pretty good, we may have the older guys do what we would call a 'thud' period where everybody stays up and the younger guys scrimmage a little bit. If we get somebody nicked up during that time, like what's happened in practice, then you have to eliminate the scrimmage part. So you still have to get your horses to the fall, and that's something we still have to keep an eye on."
On Samuel Wheeler's transition from quarterback to tight end…
"I've been really impressed with Sammy. He gives us an element of speed there, he's faster than the other tight ends that are playing. Obviously, we've got to work on his run blocking; he's not afraid to do it. He has no habits to break because he's brand new at the position. So it's fun for Coach Mess (Messingham) because he gets to teach him from square one, from scratch. Go out and try to block Wyatt Hubert, that's not easy to do. So we're putting him in some positions to continue to push him on the run game, but he's a big weapon in the pass game if he continues to progress. He can run and he's got really good hands and now, like everyone else, he just need to understand the system."
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/ FootballK-State FB | Welcome back Collin Klein
Monday, December 08
K-State FB | Head Coach Collin Klein Radio Interview
Friday, December 05
K-State FB | Head Coach Collin Klein Official Introductory Event
Friday, December 05
K-State FB | Thank You Coach Klieman
Wednesday, December 03
