K-State Coordinators Meet with Media Prior to Iowa State Game
Oct 14, 2021 | Football
MANHATTAN, Kan. – Kansas State offensive coordinator Courtney Messingham and defensive coordinator Joe Klanderman met with members of the media on Thursday at the Vanier Family Football Complex prior to the Wildcats hosting Iowa State. Links to video of both press conferences are above, and a complete transcript is below.
COURTNEY MESSINGHAM, OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR
On what concerns him most about the Iowa State defense...
"Really just the number of snaps they've all played. When you start looking at all their starters, shoot, some of them being three-year starters, or even more. You start looking at (Mike) Rose and how many games he's played, you start looking at their back end as a whole, they have really five DBs that all have got a lot of playing time."
On Iowa State's linebackers…
"Well, it's two things. One, they really understand where they fit in the run game stuff, so that's why they're so good at playing the run, but just disrupting routes. They don't make them play a whole bunch of man coverage, but they do a great job disrupting and trying to knock people off. Then, let the five DBs cover everybody on down the field. But, they're going to try to disrupt them and knock them off their path."
On Skylar Thompson in the pocket…
"I thought the best thing he did was buying time by sliding up in the pocket rather than buying time by breaking the pocket. I'm all in for that because he was able to really find check downs. Now, it happened to be Deuce (Vaughn) a bunch, but he also was able to come off to his next wide out. At least one of his throws to Landry (Weber) was really coming down to a second and third option. He's got a strong enough arm that if we can give him a little bit of time and if he can slide in the pocket and throw it, throw it around, I'm fired up about that."
On the ideal number of rushes for Skylar Thompson…
"I think it'll depend a little bit on how the defense is going to try to stop some of the read game stuff that we do. Meaning, we're generally not going to run a whole bunch of stuff where Skylar is just specifically keeping it, unless we're on the goal line and maybe we run an option play. But, for the most part, it depends a little bit more on if we're running kind of the fly sweep stuff, he's going to keep it depending on how they defend it. So, it's hard for me to know going into each week whether or not he's going to keep it five times or he's going to keep it one or 10."
On breaking Skylar Thompson's habit of rolling to his right...
"I think it was more out of necessity that he decided on his own. We've always talked about letting the O-line and how they're blocking the front dictate where you slide in the pocket and whether you're breaking left or breaking right. A lot of right-handed quarterbacks have a tendency to break to their right all the time. The guy that we just played two weeks ago, it's very well known that he generally scrambles to his right. From my standpoint, if we can keep him in the pocket and get it out of his hands, that's what we really want to do."
On if this game has extra significance because of his coaching history with Iowa State...
"I would've said two, three games ago, yes. But now it's just that they're a very, very good football program and a good team, and then everybody in this league is. So, our need to make sure we're prepared is really the same every week."
On getting Malik Knowles open downfield...
"I think he's got to be able to win in some of the one-on-one opportunities he's going to have. Everybody knows that they stopped the run pretty darn well, partly because they're going to have seven or eight or nine guys in the box. That means some of the DB's, so he's going to have some one-on-one opportunities. He just needs to be able to win one-on-one against their corners. One of their corners I think has had upwards of 30 starts or something of that nature. They've played a lot of football."
On Daniel Imatorbhebhe's status...
"Yeah, I think he'll play. We still always try to use our personnel the best way that we can, but he won't be limited as far as the number of snaps. If he ended up playing 35-40 snaps, I wouldn't be saying, 'Well wait a minute, he's at 15 we need to watch him.' It will be much more now he's full go."
On Tyrone Howell's progress during the bye week...
"Well, I thought, two things, his ability to get in and out of the huddle, and truly be now worrying about the defense got much better. Obviously, you had fall camp but his true understanding of hearing the huddle call and getting into that line of scrimmage and being able to play fast, without having to think about what our offense is. Now just worry about the defense. That's really what was the best that I saw from the bye week."
On younger players who improved in the bye-week…
"I always feel like the younger guys, using Ben Sinnott as an example, it's going to help them. I feel like from the O-line standpoint, even though you'd say Cooper Beebe is an old guy now and he's played a lot of football, but him getting, one, a little bit of downtime, but then two, some live reps against our defense helps him. All those guys would be in that same boat, all of those younger – even though they're starters – those younger guys that haven't played a ton."
On what makes Iowa State good defensively…
"As I said, the total number of snaps that they've all played and played together. As an example, the safeties and the outside linebackers, their ability to verbally and or non-verbally communicate and know where one is going to be, where one is going to fit a pass concept, is really good when you watch it. Now that being said, we've got to make sure we take advantage of some of the times where we know they're going to flat foot. In other words, we know the safety's maybe not going to back up as much, because he feels like they're going to get pressure, they're going to make it get out of our hand, it's third and four. So, when can we try to take advantage of somebody squatting at eight, nine, 10 yards and try to go get a shot play. Just as we have in Stanford, as an example, the first couple of drives, the ability to get big plays off play action. We've got to be able to do that."
On how the coaching staff handles fumbling…
"Well, each individual player is different. But for the most part, we don't want to harp on that the fumble happened, we want to harp on back to our fundamentals, back on how we grip it. When you're evaluating the person carrying the ball, is it high and tight? Are they doing everything they can to get it in the correct arm, and then carrying it the correct way? But harping on a fumble or harping on interceptions, it's more harping on the nuances of how you do things correctly more than the specific that it was a fumble or it was a turnover in general."
On his takeaways from last year's game against Iowa State…
"Throw the score out. We still have to go back and just look defensively, or how they played defensively. How they played as individuals, and then conceptually how they played. They're basically going to play the same style of defense, whether it's this year or three years ago when you watch them."
On Skylar Thompson's health…
"I think he's more and more comfortable with his injury and being able to play with it. I think every day he gets more and more as though nothing ever happened to him, and that's great for us, the more he can play without thinking about whether or not he feels good, doesn't feel good. Every day that he's back and feeling like, 'Hey, it's just a normal day,' it's that much better for us. I think he's closer to that."
On finding run packages for Will Howard…
"We always will have the mindset of if it becomes a big quarterback run game. Use an easy example of, you're down in the red zone and you feel like you have to have that 11th element, that 11th guy, then Will's always going to be on the up and ready and be ready to go."
JOE KLANDERMAN, DEFENSIVE COORDINATOR
On Iowa State running back Breece Hall...
"Strong, tough to bring down. Just gets strong as seasons go on, it seems. You see so many glancing blows on him, that people fall off and he falls forward. Tremendous football player. He's the guy that they're trying to get going all the time."
On Breece Hall's running ability playing into Iowa State's play-action pass…
"And their boot game, all that stuff, absolutely right. That's the catch 22 – you're going to leave a lot of one-on-ones with some talented players on the outside if you're going to do a lot of things to try and stop them inside. That's the delicate balance that we're going to try to try to walk."
On Iowa State's tight ends…
"I think they, traditionally, have used tight ends as good as anybody, probably, in the country, just in terms of different things and formations that they'll get into with those guys. For example, they could be in third down and be in three tight end sets and come out in four wide receiver formations and run the same offense that they would run with talent that's probably comparable to most receivers. So, they're just talented kids. They can run, they can block. They've done a good job of recruiting those kids and using them."
On the biggest issues defensively last game against Oklahoma...
"We had a difficult time finishing plays. They say close only counts with horseshoes and hand grenades, and we just let some opportunities slip away. Sometimes opportunities, maybe that don't show up on the stat sheet, maybe they're not massive things but things that could have been tackles for loss that ended up second and four. Plays that maybe should have been covered that a ball got caught in some traffic because we didn't have good body control. We're learning as we develop in this system some of the quirks, and we've got to do better job as coaches getting those guys in spots where they can have control and make those plays."
On if there has been an adjustment period playing without defensive end Khalid Duke...
"We're finding that out, for sure. Yeah, that hurts, and then when you lose him and Bronson Massie, those are two pass rushing guys that are irreplaceable, honestly. Everybody in the country would love to have those two guys coming off the edge on third down. So, we're finding some new guys, which is phenomenal. We're trying to work around it a little bit schematically."
On playing multiple fronts to confusing Big 12 teams that go against 3-3-5 defenses in practice...
"Iowa State is certainly going to know the ins and the outs. I don't think we're quite the same in what we do, but they they're certainly going to have the answers for some of the things that we're going to present, just like I think maybe we'll have some answers for some of the things they present, hopefully. So, having a week off has certainly made us reevaluate some things, and we'll see how it plays out."
On getting pressure on Iowa State quarterback Brock Purdy...
"Yeah, we did a poor job early in that game (last year at Iowa State) of getting off the field on third down. I just think of how that game flow went. I know the first series, I think we were third and long on the third play the game, and they converted on something that they had doctored up nicely. They just went down the field and scored. Then, on the second series, we had them backed up, and I think it was again a third and medium, and we got a pass interference penalty on a slant that they went down the field, again. So, it changed the field position. I think we have to get going early. I think our guys are going to be jazzed up and ready to roll. So, I've just got to do a job getting those guys in positions where they can be themselves and go play fast."
On if any younger players caught his eye during the bye week…
"Absolutely. I would say three guys in particular. I thought Krew Jackson was phenomenal this week as a linebacker. He still has things to learn, but I think, physically, he's bringing some things to the table that maybe we don't have at that position. He's tall as I am, and he runs maybe just a hair better than I do. Then, I thought Aamaris Brown had a really good week. He's played a little bit, but we just tried to expand his role a little bit. Cartez Crook-Jones would be another one that, upfront, with the injury situation that we have, we're looking for more depth and more guys. He's always been a solid guy, but I think he's starting to step into his body a little bit more and be more confident what he does. So, those would be the three that just jumped out at me immediately."
On what Baylor did against Iowa State on third downs…
"I thought Baylor brought a variety of pressures that were interesting. They moved their targets around a little bit. They were dropping eight, they were bringing the house, they were bringing in simulated pressures. I thought they did a nice job of just staying unpredictable on third down and kind of stayed a step ahead."
On trying to balance playing unpredictable and not giving up the explosive plays...
"That's it. When your years into something, you have just base things that you fall back on. We're struggling a little bit is just falling back, 'Hey man, it's just rules and principles, guys. We're going to make this adjustment, and it's just like this,' and we haven't had enough seasoning right now to do some of those things. So, for us to make massive changes is more difficult than maybe somebody that's been doing things like this for a time as players, for sure, but as coaches also. We have some answers, we just sometimes have difficulty maybe expressing how to get those answers through to the players, if that makes any sense."
On the progress of linebacker Wayne Jones…
"He had a really good couple of weeks, too. He was a guy that I think the bye week did some good for his body and his mental state needed a couple days as did a lot of our guys. He's been rock solid, and you'll see a lot of him (Saturday)."
COURTNEY MESSINGHAM, OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR
On what concerns him most about the Iowa State defense...
"Really just the number of snaps they've all played. When you start looking at all their starters, shoot, some of them being three-year starters, or even more. You start looking at (Mike) Rose and how many games he's played, you start looking at their back end as a whole, they have really five DBs that all have got a lot of playing time."
On Iowa State's linebackers…
"Well, it's two things. One, they really understand where they fit in the run game stuff, so that's why they're so good at playing the run, but just disrupting routes. They don't make them play a whole bunch of man coverage, but they do a great job disrupting and trying to knock people off. Then, let the five DBs cover everybody on down the field. But, they're going to try to disrupt them and knock them off their path."
On Skylar Thompson in the pocket…
"I thought the best thing he did was buying time by sliding up in the pocket rather than buying time by breaking the pocket. I'm all in for that because he was able to really find check downs. Now, it happened to be Deuce (Vaughn) a bunch, but he also was able to come off to his next wide out. At least one of his throws to Landry (Weber) was really coming down to a second and third option. He's got a strong enough arm that if we can give him a little bit of time and if he can slide in the pocket and throw it, throw it around, I'm fired up about that."
On the ideal number of rushes for Skylar Thompson…
"I think it'll depend a little bit on how the defense is going to try to stop some of the read game stuff that we do. Meaning, we're generally not going to run a whole bunch of stuff where Skylar is just specifically keeping it, unless we're on the goal line and maybe we run an option play. But, for the most part, it depends a little bit more on if we're running kind of the fly sweep stuff, he's going to keep it depending on how they defend it. So, it's hard for me to know going into each week whether or not he's going to keep it five times or he's going to keep it one or 10."
On breaking Skylar Thompson's habit of rolling to his right...
"I think it was more out of necessity that he decided on his own. We've always talked about letting the O-line and how they're blocking the front dictate where you slide in the pocket and whether you're breaking left or breaking right. A lot of right-handed quarterbacks have a tendency to break to their right all the time. The guy that we just played two weeks ago, it's very well known that he generally scrambles to his right. From my standpoint, if we can keep him in the pocket and get it out of his hands, that's what we really want to do."
On if this game has extra significance because of his coaching history with Iowa State...
"I would've said two, three games ago, yes. But now it's just that they're a very, very good football program and a good team, and then everybody in this league is. So, our need to make sure we're prepared is really the same every week."
On getting Malik Knowles open downfield...
"I think he's got to be able to win in some of the one-on-one opportunities he's going to have. Everybody knows that they stopped the run pretty darn well, partly because they're going to have seven or eight or nine guys in the box. That means some of the DB's, so he's going to have some one-on-one opportunities. He just needs to be able to win one-on-one against their corners. One of their corners I think has had upwards of 30 starts or something of that nature. They've played a lot of football."
On Daniel Imatorbhebhe's status...
"Yeah, I think he'll play. We still always try to use our personnel the best way that we can, but he won't be limited as far as the number of snaps. If he ended up playing 35-40 snaps, I wouldn't be saying, 'Well wait a minute, he's at 15 we need to watch him.' It will be much more now he's full go."
On Tyrone Howell's progress during the bye week...
"Well, I thought, two things, his ability to get in and out of the huddle, and truly be now worrying about the defense got much better. Obviously, you had fall camp but his true understanding of hearing the huddle call and getting into that line of scrimmage and being able to play fast, without having to think about what our offense is. Now just worry about the defense. That's really what was the best that I saw from the bye week."
On younger players who improved in the bye-week…
"I always feel like the younger guys, using Ben Sinnott as an example, it's going to help them. I feel like from the O-line standpoint, even though you'd say Cooper Beebe is an old guy now and he's played a lot of football, but him getting, one, a little bit of downtime, but then two, some live reps against our defense helps him. All those guys would be in that same boat, all of those younger – even though they're starters – those younger guys that haven't played a ton."
On what makes Iowa State good defensively…
"As I said, the total number of snaps that they've all played and played together. As an example, the safeties and the outside linebackers, their ability to verbally and or non-verbally communicate and know where one is going to be, where one is going to fit a pass concept, is really good when you watch it. Now that being said, we've got to make sure we take advantage of some of the times where we know they're going to flat foot. In other words, we know the safety's maybe not going to back up as much, because he feels like they're going to get pressure, they're going to make it get out of our hand, it's third and four. So, when can we try to take advantage of somebody squatting at eight, nine, 10 yards and try to go get a shot play. Just as we have in Stanford, as an example, the first couple of drives, the ability to get big plays off play action. We've got to be able to do that."
On how the coaching staff handles fumbling…
"Well, each individual player is different. But for the most part, we don't want to harp on that the fumble happened, we want to harp on back to our fundamentals, back on how we grip it. When you're evaluating the person carrying the ball, is it high and tight? Are they doing everything they can to get it in the correct arm, and then carrying it the correct way? But harping on a fumble or harping on interceptions, it's more harping on the nuances of how you do things correctly more than the specific that it was a fumble or it was a turnover in general."
On his takeaways from last year's game against Iowa State…
"Throw the score out. We still have to go back and just look defensively, or how they played defensively. How they played as individuals, and then conceptually how they played. They're basically going to play the same style of defense, whether it's this year or three years ago when you watch them."
On Skylar Thompson's health…
"I think he's more and more comfortable with his injury and being able to play with it. I think every day he gets more and more as though nothing ever happened to him, and that's great for us, the more he can play without thinking about whether or not he feels good, doesn't feel good. Every day that he's back and feeling like, 'Hey, it's just a normal day,' it's that much better for us. I think he's closer to that."
On finding run packages for Will Howard…
"We always will have the mindset of if it becomes a big quarterback run game. Use an easy example of, you're down in the red zone and you feel like you have to have that 11th element, that 11th guy, then Will's always going to be on the up and ready and be ready to go."
JOE KLANDERMAN, DEFENSIVE COORDINATOR
On Iowa State running back Breece Hall...
"Strong, tough to bring down. Just gets strong as seasons go on, it seems. You see so many glancing blows on him, that people fall off and he falls forward. Tremendous football player. He's the guy that they're trying to get going all the time."
On Breece Hall's running ability playing into Iowa State's play-action pass…
"And their boot game, all that stuff, absolutely right. That's the catch 22 – you're going to leave a lot of one-on-ones with some talented players on the outside if you're going to do a lot of things to try and stop them inside. That's the delicate balance that we're going to try to try to walk."
On Iowa State's tight ends…
"I think they, traditionally, have used tight ends as good as anybody, probably, in the country, just in terms of different things and formations that they'll get into with those guys. For example, they could be in third down and be in three tight end sets and come out in four wide receiver formations and run the same offense that they would run with talent that's probably comparable to most receivers. So, they're just talented kids. They can run, they can block. They've done a good job of recruiting those kids and using them."
On the biggest issues defensively last game against Oklahoma...
"We had a difficult time finishing plays. They say close only counts with horseshoes and hand grenades, and we just let some opportunities slip away. Sometimes opportunities, maybe that don't show up on the stat sheet, maybe they're not massive things but things that could have been tackles for loss that ended up second and four. Plays that maybe should have been covered that a ball got caught in some traffic because we didn't have good body control. We're learning as we develop in this system some of the quirks, and we've got to do better job as coaches getting those guys in spots where they can have control and make those plays."
On if there has been an adjustment period playing without defensive end Khalid Duke...
"We're finding that out, for sure. Yeah, that hurts, and then when you lose him and Bronson Massie, those are two pass rushing guys that are irreplaceable, honestly. Everybody in the country would love to have those two guys coming off the edge on third down. So, we're finding some new guys, which is phenomenal. We're trying to work around it a little bit schematically."
On playing multiple fronts to confusing Big 12 teams that go against 3-3-5 defenses in practice...
"Iowa State is certainly going to know the ins and the outs. I don't think we're quite the same in what we do, but they they're certainly going to have the answers for some of the things that we're going to present, just like I think maybe we'll have some answers for some of the things they present, hopefully. So, having a week off has certainly made us reevaluate some things, and we'll see how it plays out."
On getting pressure on Iowa State quarterback Brock Purdy...
"Yeah, we did a poor job early in that game (last year at Iowa State) of getting off the field on third down. I just think of how that game flow went. I know the first series, I think we were third and long on the third play the game, and they converted on something that they had doctored up nicely. They just went down the field and scored. Then, on the second series, we had them backed up, and I think it was again a third and medium, and we got a pass interference penalty on a slant that they went down the field, again. So, it changed the field position. I think we have to get going early. I think our guys are going to be jazzed up and ready to roll. So, I've just got to do a job getting those guys in positions where they can be themselves and go play fast."
On if any younger players caught his eye during the bye week…
"Absolutely. I would say three guys in particular. I thought Krew Jackson was phenomenal this week as a linebacker. He still has things to learn, but I think, physically, he's bringing some things to the table that maybe we don't have at that position. He's tall as I am, and he runs maybe just a hair better than I do. Then, I thought Aamaris Brown had a really good week. He's played a little bit, but we just tried to expand his role a little bit. Cartez Crook-Jones would be another one that, upfront, with the injury situation that we have, we're looking for more depth and more guys. He's always been a solid guy, but I think he's starting to step into his body a little bit more and be more confident what he does. So, those would be the three that just jumped out at me immediately."
On what Baylor did against Iowa State on third downs…
"I thought Baylor brought a variety of pressures that were interesting. They moved their targets around a little bit. They were dropping eight, they were bringing the house, they were bringing in simulated pressures. I thought they did a nice job of just staying unpredictable on third down and kind of stayed a step ahead."
On trying to balance playing unpredictable and not giving up the explosive plays...
"That's it. When your years into something, you have just base things that you fall back on. We're struggling a little bit is just falling back, 'Hey man, it's just rules and principles, guys. We're going to make this adjustment, and it's just like this,' and we haven't had enough seasoning right now to do some of those things. So, for us to make massive changes is more difficult than maybe somebody that's been doing things like this for a time as players, for sure, but as coaches also. We have some answers, we just sometimes have difficulty maybe expressing how to get those answers through to the players, if that makes any sense."
On the progress of linebacker Wayne Jones…
"He had a really good couple of weeks, too. He was a guy that I think the bye week did some good for his body and his mental state needed a couple days as did a lot of our guys. He's been rock solid, and you'll see a lot of him (Saturday)."
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