SE: K-State RBs Embracing Each Other in Battle for Playing Time
Aug 20, 2019 | Football, Sports Extra
By Corbin McGuire
When Brian Anderson was hired as K-State's running backs coach last December, there wasn't a whole lot for him to coach.
All-Big 12 running back Alex Barnes had declared for the NFL Draft. Justin Silmon and Dalvin Warmack both finished their eligibility. Mike McCoy, an imposing force with the ball, was a few months away from medically retiring.
Harry Trotter was the lone back left. And even he sat out last season after transferring from Louisville. For the first time since 1949, the Wildcats returned zero rushing yardage from running backs.
"That was the number one goal in recruiting," Anderson said. "I think we've done well for ourselves at that position."
This offseason, K-State added eight more running backs to the room.
K-State's influx of new backs include two experienced graduate transfers in James Gilbert (Ball State) and Jordon Brown (North Carolina). The freshmen newcomers are Joe Ervin, Thomas Grayson, Clyde Price, Jacardia Wright (recruited as an athlete and currently working as a running back) and Willie Garrison III. Tyler Burns returned to K-State's roster after a year away from the team.
Completely new to each other, the coaching staff and the program, this group shared an uphill battle to fill the large void in the Wildcat offense. They found the quickest path to preparation was through each other.
"I feel like we're handling it well," Brown, who accumulated more than 1,000 yards on 4.20 yards per carry at North Carolina, said of the competition. "We're competing against each other, but we're really just trying to push each other to be the best we can because that will help the team in the long run."
Anderson described the competition in much the same way. While the group is in its first fall camp together, it looks anything but that.
"They're getting along great. There's no animosity in that room at all," he said.
"That's the biggest thing I'll always preach to any position I'm coaching. I want my guys to be the tightest knit group on the team."
How did Anderson go about accelerating that process with this group? Sometimes, it was a position group dinner at his house. Other times, it was in a football setting. Every time, he said it's been about growing together.
"The biggest thing I try to talk to them about is just getting to know each other," he said. "So, one day in the meeting room, I might get up and say, 'Hey, Joe Ervin, tell me something about your family that no one in the room knows.' Just things like that to make sure they all know that we're here for each other's help. That's the key to having a tightknit football team, is those guys getting to know each other, not just on the field but off the field."
On the field, Anderson's group has embraced a "running back friendly" offensive system brought from North Dakota State by head coach Chris Klieman and offensive coordinator Courtney Messingham.
In last season's undefeated, FCS Championship run, four Bison running backs totaled 500 or more rushing yards. The lowest carry total among that group was 82. The highest was 160.
"Coach Anderson always says our offense is running back friendly. They're going to have us doing a lot of things. We have packages where three running backs are in the game," Gilbert, a 2019 Maxwell Award watch list nominee who recorded 2,806 yards and 30 touchdowns at Ball State, said. "It's not going to be, like, 'Who's the starter?' It's going to be running back by committee. Anybody can start in this offense because everybody's good enough to play. I feel like we're just going to keep competing, keep making each other better."
Last week, Messingham said he felt good about playing at least four running backs when K-State opens its season against Nicholls on August 31. Each day of fall camp, he said it seems a different running back has impressed him, however.
"There's been days when you said, 'Man, Harry (Trotter) had three rip plays where he probably went 35 or 40 yards on one.' Jordon Brown had one where the first cut he made was just phenomenal, and you said, 'Wow, that guy has played before,'" Messingham said. "Obviously, some of the other guys have had the same thing. James Gilbert, from spring ball to now, he can basically coach it already, which is phenomenal. You wouldn't think it, except that he's been through a lot of football already. He's an older guy that's played a ton. His knowledge has really been impressive. So, I feel good with our group of backs."
K-State quarterback Skylar Thompson echoed his offensive coordinator, circling back to the group's character as a starting point.
"What's so special about them is none of them are selfish," he said. "They understand that we're going to rotate running backs and everybody's going to get their touches, but whenever you get a touch, you have to make the most of your opportunity. They do a great job of that. It's just focusing on getting one day better every single day and not being complacent, and those guys do a great job of that."
When Brian Anderson was hired as K-State's running backs coach last December, there wasn't a whole lot for him to coach.
All-Big 12 running back Alex Barnes had declared for the NFL Draft. Justin Silmon and Dalvin Warmack both finished their eligibility. Mike McCoy, an imposing force with the ball, was a few months away from medically retiring.
Harry Trotter was the lone back left. And even he sat out last season after transferring from Louisville. For the first time since 1949, the Wildcats returned zero rushing yardage from running backs.
"That was the number one goal in recruiting," Anderson said. "I think we've done well for ourselves at that position."
This offseason, K-State added eight more running backs to the room.
K-State's influx of new backs include two experienced graduate transfers in James Gilbert (Ball State) and Jordon Brown (North Carolina). The freshmen newcomers are Joe Ervin, Thomas Grayson, Clyde Price, Jacardia Wright (recruited as an athlete and currently working as a running back) and Willie Garrison III. Tyler Burns returned to K-State's roster after a year away from the team.
Completely new to each other, the coaching staff and the program, this group shared an uphill battle to fill the large void in the Wildcat offense. They found the quickest path to preparation was through each other.
"I feel like we're handling it well," Brown, who accumulated more than 1,000 yards on 4.20 yards per carry at North Carolina, said of the competition. "We're competing against each other, but we're really just trying to push each other to be the best we can because that will help the team in the long run."
Anderson described the competition in much the same way. While the group is in its first fall camp together, it looks anything but that.
"They're getting along great. There's no animosity in that room at all," he said.
"That's the biggest thing I'll always preach to any position I'm coaching. I want my guys to be the tightest knit group on the team."
How did Anderson go about accelerating that process with this group? Sometimes, it was a position group dinner at his house. Other times, it was in a football setting. Every time, he said it's been about growing together.
"The biggest thing I try to talk to them about is just getting to know each other," he said. "So, one day in the meeting room, I might get up and say, 'Hey, Joe Ervin, tell me something about your family that no one in the room knows.' Just things like that to make sure they all know that we're here for each other's help. That's the key to having a tightknit football team, is those guys getting to know each other, not just on the field but off the field."
On the field, Anderson's group has embraced a "running back friendly" offensive system brought from North Dakota State by head coach Chris Klieman and offensive coordinator Courtney Messingham.
In last season's undefeated, FCS Championship run, four Bison running backs totaled 500 or more rushing yards. The lowest carry total among that group was 82. The highest was 160.
"Coach Anderson always says our offense is running back friendly. They're going to have us doing a lot of things. We have packages where three running backs are in the game," Gilbert, a 2019 Maxwell Award watch list nominee who recorded 2,806 yards and 30 touchdowns at Ball State, said. "It's not going to be, like, 'Who's the starter?' It's going to be running back by committee. Anybody can start in this offense because everybody's good enough to play. I feel like we're just going to keep competing, keep making each other better."
Last week, Messingham said he felt good about playing at least four running backs when K-State opens its season against Nicholls on August 31. Each day of fall camp, he said it seems a different running back has impressed him, however.
"There's been days when you said, 'Man, Harry (Trotter) had three rip plays where he probably went 35 or 40 yards on one.' Jordon Brown had one where the first cut he made was just phenomenal, and you said, 'Wow, that guy has played before,'" Messingham said. "Obviously, some of the other guys have had the same thing. James Gilbert, from spring ball to now, he can basically coach it already, which is phenomenal. You wouldn't think it, except that he's been through a lot of football already. He's an older guy that's played a ton. His knowledge has really been impressive. So, I feel good with our group of backs."
K-State quarterback Skylar Thompson echoed his offensive coordinator, circling back to the group's character as a starting point.
"What's so special about them is none of them are selfish," he said. "They understand that we're going to rotate running backs and everybody's going to get their touches, but whenever you get a touch, you have to make the most of your opportunity. They do a great job of that. It's just focusing on getting one day better every single day and not being complacent, and those guys do a great job of that."
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