SE: Five Takeaways from Coach Klieman’s First Season

SE: Five Takeaways from Coach Klieman’s First Season

Jan 06, 2020 | Football, Sports Extra

By Corbin McGuire

It's been less than a week since Chris Klieman's first season as K-State football's head coach ended. And, while it did not end how he or any of his players hoped, with a heartbreaking 20-17 loss to No. 21 Navy in the AutoZone Liberty Bowl on December 31, the season as a whole painted a picture of progress.

There were ups and downs. K-State twice won three games in a row, followed by back-to-back losses. The Wildcats (8-5, 5-4) finished the regular season with consecutive wins and in a tie for third place in the Big 12 standings, six spots higher than they were picked in the preseason.

Through it all, Klieman said he "firmly" believed his team made steady improvement throughout the season. A number of statistics back up his belief, too, in all three phases of the game.

Here's five takeaways from the 2019 campaign going into the 2020 offseason and why, while losing 27 seniors will be difficult to replace, the program's outlook remains bright.

1. Dependable Defense

Statistically, K-State's defense under first-year coordinator Scottie Hazelton was as stout as it's been in at least a decade. The Wildcats finished the year with the program's best third-down defense since 2003, scoring defensive mark since 2003, first down defense since 2004, fourth down defense since 2005, pass defense since 2006 and total defense since 2013.

Hazelton summed up the progress in three phases: Playing hard, fast and tackling better.

"I think those are our three goals all the time," Hazelton said. "As you get farther and farther in the system, that becomes better and better and more apparent. Then, they hold themselves to that level and you get better and, really, all the numbers handle themselves. Because when you get better at those things — you get better at doing the fundamentals, you get better at knowing what my job is and understanding what my keys are and understanding what cheats I can use — then the stats start to figure out and be really good in your favor without even looking at it."

Even more, the Wildcats return a bulk of experience on that side of the ball.

Almost all of K-State's secondary, with the exception of safety Denzel Goolsby and Kevion McGee, will be back. The same applies to the linebacker core, minus Da'Quan Patton. Redshirt senior linebacker Justin Hughes, who missed the 2019 season with a knee injury after finishing third on the team with 56 tackles in 2018, will also return. He will add to the K-State's returning linebackers that includes Elijah Sullivan and Daniel Green, who combined for nearly 100 tackles this season. On the defensive line, Wyatt Hubert will anchor K-State's front four following a First Team All-Big 12 sophomore season.

2. Thompson Back in 'Huge' Spring for Wildcat QBs

Klieman said he knows at least two things going into 2020. Both revolve around starting quarterback Skylar Thompson.

"We have Skylar Thompson; I promise you we always have a chance to win. That kid has played great football for us. He's a servant leader, which makes everybody that he comes in contact with better," Klieman said of Thompson, who threw for 2,315 yards with a 135.04 quarterback rating and rushed for the second-most yards (405) on the team in 2019. "We have a couple of young players that are doing a nice job. We recruited a young player that we think is going to be a special player. So, to have Skylar around those guys, it's going to make them better."

With 27 starts under his belt, Thompson will again lead K-State's quarterback room that otherwise will have little on-field experience.

Nick Ast threw three passes — and completed all three — in 2019. Jaren Lewis, who redshirted this season, will also be in the battle for the No. 2 spot. Will Howard, a signee in December out of Pennsylvania, will join the quarterback room this semester as well.

"This spring will be a huge spring for us," offensive coordinator Courtney Messingham said. "Obviously, Nick and Jaren need to have really, really good springs. Skylar can still grow, especially mentally, on who we are offensively. Then we're going to, obviously, have (Howard) here this spring; that'll give him a jump ahead as far as trying to learn the offense and trying to feel comfortable in his skin when he's making calls. It'll be an important spring for us, from a quarterback standpoint."

3. Skill Positions Stocked with Experience, Potential

Gone are Dalton Schoen, K-State's top receiver, along with James Gilbert and Jordon Brown, the team's top two running backs from 2019. The Wildcats bring back plenty of explosive players, however.

Malik Knowles, for instance, was the team's top deep threat when healthy. As a redshirt freshman, he finished second on the team in catches and yards, despite missing two games and being limited in a few others.

Joshua Youngblood, a Freshman All-American for his work on special teams, would have led the nation and broke the school record of Tyler Lockett for kickoff return average (35.9) had he returned two more kicks to meet the required NCAA minimum of attempts. The Tampa, Florida native looks to bring more of his big-play ability to the offense.

"I'm excited to see what that room has in store, just because they have so many young guys who are so good," Schoen said. "That room is going to be so deep with so many great guys that I think there's going to be a lot of competition. That's just going to make them better."

That competition includes Phillip Brooks, a redshirt freshman in 2019 who became the third different Wildcat with a special teams score in 2019 — the first time three different players scored on kick or punt returns since doing so in four-straight seasons from 2005 to 2008 — with his 66-yard punt return score against Navy. Wykeen Gill, a rising senior who recorded a team-leading 17.1 yards per catch last season, will help in the passing game as well. Messingham also complimented the progress from 6-foot-4 receiver Chabastin Taylor, who will be a junior in 2020.

"I really feel like we're going to have some wide receivers that can create issues for people," Messingham said.

In the backfield, K-State's staff strategically used Joe Ervin and Jacardia Wright in 2019. The freshmen running backs played in only four and three games, respectively, to keep their ability to redshirt intact. Ervin, at 5-foot-8, 177 pounds, and Wright, 6-foot, 205 pounds, should complement each other well, too.

"Joe, obviously, has a little bit more quick-twitch, a little bit more burst right now, but he's not nearly the size of guy that Jacardia is. Jacardia should be able to be a 220-pound tailback by the time it's all said and done. He has good speed and good vision," Messingham said. "We feel good about both of them, but they still have room to grow."

Harry Trotter, a rising senior, will bring the most experience in the room. He will help bring along Ervin and Wright, as well as Deuce Vaughn and Keyon Mozee, who both signed with K-State in December.

Messingham described the newcomers as "home run hitters."

"That was one of the things we were fortunate when we were at North Dakota State is guys finding their role of being able to make big plays even though they wouldn't have 25 carries," Messingham said. "That's one of the things when we watch both of those guys and say, whether it's handing it to them or throwing it to them, their ability to make big explosive plays (stands out). Both of them are very, very good with their top-end speed ability to make a big play for us."

4. Offensive Line Looks to Reset

The Wildcats lost their entire starting offensive line from 2019. Collectively, the five of them made 159 starts at K-State. Josh Rivas, who played in all 13 games in 2019 as a sophomore, holds the most experience, by far, up front.

It's worth noting, however, that when Messingham was asked about young standouts from the developmental portion of bowl prep, he pointed to the offensive line.

"I've been really, really happy with the whole group, especially the offensive line. The offensive line, it's important that they do come along because we (had) five senior starters," Messingham said. "Cooper Beebe is an example of a young man who's a true freshman that we really feel like has a great future ahead. His work ethic has to continue to be a huge part of who he is, but right now he's shown that. He's shown that he wants to get better every day."

Beebe, who redshirted, will be in a large mix of young players battling for playing time. Messingham said he could play guard or tackle. The rest of the group will include names like Ben Adler, Christian Duffie, Noah Johnson and Kaitori Leveston, among many others.

"I'm only using (Beebe) as the example," Messingham said, "but we were happy in general with the entire offensive line and the freshmen group in general."

5. Culture Established, Not Finished

One needed only to hear Thompson's lengthy answer in the Liberty Bowl postgame press conference to understand what this season under Klieman and his staff meant to the players.

After a disappointing 5-7 season in 2018, the Wildcats returned to the postseason for the ninth time in 10 years. But, as Thompson spoke on after the bowl loss, the season's impact went well beyond the scoreboard.

"We get caught up in all the wins and losses all the time but, at the end of the day, that's not what it's about. I'm thankful to have a head coach like Coach Klieman. It's been a tremendous year for me, personally. I truly have felt personal growth, and that's a really good feeling," he said. "But, at the same time, I'm a competitor. Our whole team is very competitive. Losing is not fun. It will light a spark in myself and this whole team. We have a lot of young guys that are going to come back and are going to help us out next year. A loss like this can really set us up and will be sitting in our stomachs the next eight months.

"I'm going to do my best to lead and improve my leadership as much as I can and improve my game as much as I can. I'm very fortunate to have another year to come back and play this game for one more year. I'm going to give it everything I have. I promise you that, at this time next year, I'm going to have no regrets. I'm already looking forward to getting back to it."

It's the type of mentality Klieman wanted to create throughout his program. Process-based, not results-driven. The former, if done well enough, will take care of the latter, he's preached. K-State's players heard it and believed in it.

"They listened to and bought into the new voices at the front of the room. They held each other accountable. They believed in stacking great days upon great days. We're laying a foundation with our staff that we hope the younger guys can latch upon to and continue to build that foundation," Klieman said. "I'm not saying the foundation was poured. This is just our staff. We've got a great, great foundation from what Coach (Bill) Snyder has done for years and years, but this is a new staff and that's all I'm trying to do is make sure our guys buy into what we're trying to do as a staff."

Considering how players spoke after a season-ending loss, mission accomplished.

"I am just happy to be one of the seniors who had a small part to play in laying the foundation," Goolsby said. "I think the program is heading in such a bright direction. I am so happy to be able to say I was one of the first people to play under Klieman here, and I will just continue to believe in this team. If anything, I think this is just going to motivate the younger guys on the team to really work hard in the offseason and attack 2020."

Brooks, one of those younger guys, agreed.

"We're a young team, so we're definitely going to work in the offseason," he said. "We're excited for the offseason, to come back. We did big things this year, we're going to do even bigger things next year."