K-State Completes 2021 Class with Signing of Two More Players
Feb 03, 2021 | Football
MANHATTAN, Kan. – Kansas State head coach Chris Klieman put together the final pieces of his third signing class in Manhattan on Wednesday as two more student-athletes have agreed to be part of the Wildcat football program.
Officially signing on Wednesday were Manhattan defensive tackle Damian Ilalio and Topeka defensive back Desmond Purnell.
Coupled with the early signing period, K-State's 2021 Signing Class features 16 high school student-athletes.
This year's class includes 10 players on defense and six on offense. The class is comprised of four defensive backs, three linebackers, two apiece of defensive tackles, offensive linemen and wide receivers, a defensive end, one running back and a quarterback. The state of Kansas led the way with six signees, while there were two from Colorado and two from Georgia.
Of the 16 total signees, five are currently on campus and will take part in spring practices, which begin on Wednesday, March 3.
The players from this year's class that are currently enrolled include: wide receiver Brenen Hawkins, linebacker DaVonte Pritchard, quarterback Jake Rubley, offensive lineman Austin Weiner and defensive tackle Brayden Wood. The Wildcats also inked five transfers prior to the start of the spring semester: tight end Daniel Imatorbhebhe, defensive backs Julius Brents and Russ Yeast, defensive tackle Timmy Horne and linebacker Eric Munoz.
Kansas State opens the 2021 season in the Allstate Kickoff Classic against Stanford on Saturday, September 4, inside AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
K-STATE FOOTBALL PRESS CONFERENCE
CHRIS KLIEMAN, HEAD COACH
Opening Statement...
"Good morning everyone. To kind of give you a quick update on what we're doing and where we're at. School started on the 25th, and that first week was discretionary. We had a number of guys in the weight room, but they had to go through protocols, get COVID tested. We had our first workout on Saturday, last Saturday morning, and it was a good workout. Then we started the process of winter conditioning on Monday. We'll have that through about the first week of March, and then we'll get into spring ball. We're excited to have everybody back. We're excited about some of the guys that joined us at semester. We did have two additions today, Damian Ilalio from Manhattan, and Desmond Purnell from Topeka Hayden. We're excited about those two guys to be able to join our program. We've had some other guys who joined us at semester that I'm sure you guys will ask about, but excited to get back started here this winter."
On his philosophy on transfers...
"I think it's going to change everybody a little bit. We need to see how this full cycle goes when it gets put into legislation. We knew with the amount of kids we had lost that we had to fill some roles. I've talked to a lot of coaches across the country that were either in a similar boat as us or even potentially worse off losing more guys. We hope it's not a sign of the new times, because you want to have guys retained and want to have guys remain in your program. The reality is that it's out there. Kids are going to explore. We made sure we had enough scholarships left and available that we could fill some immediate needs and immediate roles, so we'll see how this transpires over the next year and see if it's kind of a thing that's going to stay."
On not counting all transfers against the maximum 25 of scholarships...
"There's a million things going on out there. There's a lot I agree with and some I disagree with. We've had a lot of conversations as head coaches about upping that number from 25. We have to be careful that it's not such a big number that people oversign and just sign people to sign people. There's so much more work that's going to be done on this. We still have to wait. Let's get through a full year of this and kind of reevaluate. All those things are being talked about on a daily basis. Really for us coaches, when we're getting together with our meetings, we're talking all the time."
On transfer tight end Daniel Imatorbhebhe...
"Coach Tui (Mike Tuiasosopo) was with him at USC, so that started it out. Tui knew of Daniel and knew of the family. We had good success with Briley (Moore). Briley had good success within our system. We have a couple of tight ends coming back that had some winter surgery, so we weren't going to have those guys. We're always looking to continue to improve the football team. That was one of the areas we were looking to add someone. Daniel was able to come here, and we'll see what we can do. Big kid that can run really well. Once again, we're just in the first week, but we're excited about what he can add."
On Daniel Imatorbhebhe contributing despite his injury history...
"Well, that's the hope and plan. Getting him in the training room and getting him running around. There's a history of an injury there that we're well aware of and our training staff is aware of as well. We feel confident with our visits with the doctors that he'll be a guy that can get through it and be an impact player for us."
On how important fit is for the transfers...
"That was the number one thing for us as a staff was to get to know these guys as individuals. Get to know them as people. Could they help our locker room? Could they fit what we're asking the guys to do? We felt we had a home run on each guy as far as the maturity level, the hunger so to speak, the chip on their shoulder to come in here and be a part of Kansas State. Not play a year, then transfer and see where I land at the next level of draft. Come in here and make an impact on the field, off the field, make an impact in the locker room, make an impact with the younger players. Be leaders, whether that's leadership by example or we have a couple guys who are pretty good vocal guys. It was a huge piece to us bringing guys in that we knew would be a fit with us. That's where all of us coaches were involved. It wasn't just the position coach and myself. We had a lot of Zoom sessions with families and multiple staff members to make sure they were going to fit the profile that was so important to us."
On the additions of Julius Brents and Russ Yeast to the secondary...
"Well, Julius has great length, exceptional size and has played a number of games at the Big Ten level. He gives us that big corner that we're so excited about. He's 6-foot-3 and 200 pounds and can really run and change direction. He uses his hands well, which is going to help us. I'm excited about Russ. He played a ton of games at Louisville. Really, really smart guy. He understands everything about the game of football. He had a dad that taught him an awful lot, a college coach that was a phenomenal NFL and college player. He has a great pedigree there. Russ can play multiple spots. He can play either safety, play the nickel, so we like his versatility."
On scholarships that are still available...
"We'll kind of play it out this spring. We wouldn't be adding anyone for the second semester. I think that's important for us as a staff to see where we're at with some of the young guys through spring ball. Where we're at positionally, offensively and defensively. Then reevaluate it at the end of spring, whether it's high school guys or transfers. We're kind of open either way. If we're able to get out in April, that might be able to help eyeball some guys or whatever you want to say to maybe get around some guys, because that's the hardest thing right now. You're just Zooming guys, and there isn't a lot of film out there. We know we have a few extra spots, but they're not earmarked for any position."
On the plans for spring football...
"We've talked about all that stuff. I wish I could say we were going to push it based on COVID. That would be crazy to think you pushed it into another bad spell. We have a pretty good plan, talking with Coach (Chris) Dawson and the strength staff on what we want to do as far as a period of time that we're going to work out the guys prior to spring ball. We're going to roll through spring ball for most of March and into April, and that still gives Coach Dawson and his staff some time before the second semester ends to get another four- to five-week period with the guys. That's the plan right now. You don't want to push it. I'm not a fan of pushing it to late April. If you get an injury or something, it's just that much more time you're taking away from summer."
On the rehab process of TJ Smith, Chabastin Taylor and Skylar Thompson…
"TJ is pretty far along with his knee injury. He's running around, doing a lot of exercises. He won't be available for spring. He might be able to do some individual. C-Bas, because it was a lot later in the season, will miss all of spring, but I know his rehabilitation is going well. I know Skylar is beginning to soft toss a football, not a nerf ball but a football. I know he's ahead of schedule from what the doctors have told him and told me. He has a great mindset right now, doing a great job of leading for us with the wide receivers and quarterbacks. I fully believe he'll be cutting it loose with whatever he wants to do by mid-April or early-May and have a full summer."
On decision of Skylar Thompson to return...
"He and I have a really good relationship. I think him getting involved and staying involved through the whole season was really important for him to see a different side of it with being in the press box, helping out Coach Mess (Courtney Messingham) and helping out Coach (Collin) Klein. He has aspirations of playing at the next level, and he should. He's a talented player, but he needed another year if that's the case. He couldn't throw for a pro day and all those things. I think deep down, I knew he wanted to come back. Deep down, I think he knew we wanted him to come back. I wasn't going to do anything until our season was over. I didn't think that was fair to any of the guys to say, 'Hey, you've talked to this guy but not me.' I waited until the end of the season to talk to all those guys. I was pretty confident that Skylar wanted to come back, and he knew that we wanted to have him back."
On the importance of Skylar Thompson coming back...
"It's huge in the fact that you have a guy who has started an awful lot of games, that has started a lot of big games and has won a lot of big games. A guy who's been through the fire. He knows our system. He's a great leader. The kids look up to him. He works hard. It's good to have a quarterback coming back. It's good to have two quarterbacks coming back. That's the great thing. It's going to make Will (Howard) so much better, also."
On Skylar changing his number to 7...
"I just saw it today, and it's pretty cool. His reasoning behind it, I thought, was even better. Everything happens for a reason. Him playing at Kansas State next year happened for a reason. Anything with Skylar is going to be well thought out, something he's going to evaluate, something he's going to share with his family to see what the best decision is. I was happy for him."
On quarterback Jake Rubley possibly redshirting...
"Who knows? We could've said probably last year at this time that we're redshirting Will Howard. Somebody could've said yes and look what happened. Everybody has an opportunity to help us out. Everybody has an opportunity to compete, and we need more guys to find a role, whatever that role may be. I'm excited for Jake and for him to learn, and when his time comes to take advantage of the opportunity."
On how eager he is for spring ball after the past year...
"All of us are eager for spring ball. I've talked to an awful lot of coaches around the country. Everybody shares the same sentiment that I did. It was the most difficult fall they've ever gone through and had to handle. Although we don't know where the spring is going to be in terms of missing guys because of the virus and close contact, guys have a better handle on it, but you hope it's a little less than we had in the fall. I think all of us are excited to be back. Getting around those guys for winter workouts and watching those guys grow and develop, that's the thing we missed quite a bit of last year from March 1 on was all this development and growth in the weight room, on the practice field, in the meeting room. Once our guys came back and started their workouts, they're hungry and excited to be back with their teammates and brothers and just playing and working out. It's something that you take for granted, but I don't think people will take for granted the opportunity to be around coaches or players anymore."
On the young quarterbacks getting all the work in the spring...
"It would be great to have Skylar (Thompson) back so he can develop that confidence and get that rust off of him, but that won't happen. We have a number of guys who are out for the spring for the same reason that have played a lot of football here. Those quarterbacks are going to have the opportunity to take rep after rep. We're going to find a way to do two ends and do our double reps, even if we have to be really creative. We just need to practice. We have a lot of guys that need reps. We challenged the guys when they came back and said it's going to be a really uncomfortable winter and uncomfortable spring. Too many guys, coaches included, have to get out of a comfort zone. We need to be uncomfortable. It's going to be hard. It's going to be challenging, but that's what our guys want. That's what our guys are looking forward to, so we're going to have competitive matchups at every spot. It's going to be a lot of fun this spring."
On the challenges of the current transfer portal...
"I think a lot of guys are getting a lot of poor advice. That's where we, as coaches, talked a lot over Christmas break about building trust, building relationships. It's hard to play as a young player. Carson Wentz sat for three years, and never once did he think about transferring. He thought about the opportunity of when he got his time, he was going to make the most of that opportunity. That's hard anymore. There aren't a lot of guys that are going to do what Carson did. You hope there are, but it's difficult. I don't know if it's going to get a whole lot better. I think for the next few years, people are going to continue to get poor advice, enter the portal and then realize that maybe it's not what they're looking for as far as opportunities. Or, they leave and go somewhere else and, boy, it wasn't as bad at school x or school y, not just Kansas State, but anywhere you look. Maybe I didn't have it as bad as someone told me I had it. That's the challenge for all of us as coaches is to build relationships with these kids, build the trust with these guys. Be honest with them, but also help those guys. You can't just leave and quit something in a job when you have to take care of a family when you're 25 or 35 years old. Life is difficult. You have to be able to persevere through tough times."
On if there are any changes to the primary coaching staff...
"No, not at this time. I'm happy for Drew Liddle and Stanton Weber, the quality control guys for us got jobs, and I'm always trying to help guys in the profession, as others have helped me when I was younger and growing up. We did make one switch. We moved Coach (Courtney) Messingham from tight ends and fullbacks to wide receivers and J-Ray (Jason Ray) to tight ends and fullbacks. The main reason I did that I want the play caller, who is Coach Mess obviously, to be more actively involved in the passing game. That's something we talked about before Christmas as an offensive staff. We sat on it and after Christmas had more lengthy conversations. It had nothing to do with personnel or anything like that. Everything, for me to say, I want the play caller to be more involved on a daily basis with the passing game."
On how much COVID testing is being done now...
"We're now down to one time a week. It's a PCR test, so it's an accurate test that we do over at Lafene. We're still at one time a week, and we're still getting a couple of positives, and then the close contacts. We're not out of the woods, by any means."
On if there are any thoughts on when things might get back to normal...
"No. I'm not a doctor on that one. When they do, they do. We just have to keep moving forward with whoever is available and realize and not get frustrated. It can easily frustrate you in the fall when you're losing kids for game after game. Now we're missing kids for development after development with practice and workouts. It's not over with and we have to be cognizant of that. We have to do a great job with those kids that are missing time, because I know the mental health part of that is really difficult on these guys to start a workout and then be down for 14 days."
On the draw to Damian Ilalio...
"That's a fortunate thing for me because my son plays with him at Manhattan High. I was able to watch an awful lot of those football games. That was the benefit of being a dad and not a coach. I got to see a kid dominate the line of scrimmage, have an unbelievable motor. You can tell he loved the game. You can tell that his teammates really enjoyed him. He was happy for teammates. That kid's a winner, a flat out winner. With his work ethic and motor and those things, I know he'll be a great fit here and have tremendous success. I look at Desmond Purnell, I was able to go and watch him play those guys. I thought he was the best kid on the field that day. He really piqued my interest, and I kept watching clips that were sent to me. When I saw him live, I thought there was a kid that will have an impact on our program. It's the great thing about being a dad with high school players with those opportunities."
On transfers Eric Munoz and Timmy Horne...
"Eric is a really mature guy, a guy that's had a lot of adversity in his life. He's bounced around to a couple of different schools. I know the respect that the coaches and players had for him at Utah State. I can see it already as he's been here how mature he is. He's a really physical kid that can run. With Tim Horne, we lost Drew Wiley who was a big force in there. We needed another big, long body that's a 6-foot-5 kid that has really good range and uses his hands well and is a physical player. All those guys we've talked about fill a need for us that we hope they're going to be able to come in and contribute right away."
On what has impressed him about Jake Rubley...
"He's a great team guy, wants to get to know all the freshmen and all the older guys. He's humble, knows he has a long way to go. Really good work ethic, smile on his face with great body language. Works hard, encourages his teammates, that's what you're looking for out of everybody. When you have that at the quarterback position, it's a pretty unique trait for a freshman."
On the players taking more accountability in the program...
"It's hard to say. We're challenging them again since we just got back here in January. Everybody needed a four- to five-week break to clear their mind and recharge their batteries. I know this – I'm excited about the crew that showed back up on January 25, because they're hungry and ready to compete. They know what the standard is, and they need to hold each other to the standard. They cannot be afraid to hold a teammate accountable. We've done a nice job in the first week of maybe some of the things we had issues with in the fall of missing some things. We haven't missed those things right now, which tells me we have guys who are hungry to be successful, not only on the field, but what you do off the field. I've never been around a team that does silly stuff off the field, whether it's class work or nutrition, strength and conditioning, and have been lights out on the field. It just doesn't work that way. The way you do one thing is the way you do everything. If you do things well off the field, it usually translates into success on the field."
Officially signing on Wednesday were Manhattan defensive tackle Damian Ilalio and Topeka defensive back Desmond Purnell.
Coupled with the early signing period, K-State's 2021 Signing Class features 16 high school student-athletes.
This year's class includes 10 players on defense and six on offense. The class is comprised of four defensive backs, three linebackers, two apiece of defensive tackles, offensive linemen and wide receivers, a defensive end, one running back and a quarterback. The state of Kansas led the way with six signees, while there were two from Colorado and two from Georgia.
Of the 16 total signees, five are currently on campus and will take part in spring practices, which begin on Wednesday, March 3.
The players from this year's class that are currently enrolled include: wide receiver Brenen Hawkins, linebacker DaVonte Pritchard, quarterback Jake Rubley, offensive lineman Austin Weiner and defensive tackle Brayden Wood. The Wildcats also inked five transfers prior to the start of the spring semester: tight end Daniel Imatorbhebhe, defensive backs Julius Brents and Russ Yeast, defensive tackle Timmy Horne and linebacker Eric Munoz.
Kansas State opens the 2021 season in the Allstate Kickoff Classic against Stanford on Saturday, September 4, inside AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
K-STATE FOOTBALL PRESS CONFERENCE
CHRIS KLIEMAN, HEAD COACH
Opening Statement...
"Good morning everyone. To kind of give you a quick update on what we're doing and where we're at. School started on the 25th, and that first week was discretionary. We had a number of guys in the weight room, but they had to go through protocols, get COVID tested. We had our first workout on Saturday, last Saturday morning, and it was a good workout. Then we started the process of winter conditioning on Monday. We'll have that through about the first week of March, and then we'll get into spring ball. We're excited to have everybody back. We're excited about some of the guys that joined us at semester. We did have two additions today, Damian Ilalio from Manhattan, and Desmond Purnell from Topeka Hayden. We're excited about those two guys to be able to join our program. We've had some other guys who joined us at semester that I'm sure you guys will ask about, but excited to get back started here this winter."
On his philosophy on transfers...
"I think it's going to change everybody a little bit. We need to see how this full cycle goes when it gets put into legislation. We knew with the amount of kids we had lost that we had to fill some roles. I've talked to a lot of coaches across the country that were either in a similar boat as us or even potentially worse off losing more guys. We hope it's not a sign of the new times, because you want to have guys retained and want to have guys remain in your program. The reality is that it's out there. Kids are going to explore. We made sure we had enough scholarships left and available that we could fill some immediate needs and immediate roles, so we'll see how this transpires over the next year and see if it's kind of a thing that's going to stay."
On not counting all transfers against the maximum 25 of scholarships...
"There's a million things going on out there. There's a lot I agree with and some I disagree with. We've had a lot of conversations as head coaches about upping that number from 25. We have to be careful that it's not such a big number that people oversign and just sign people to sign people. There's so much more work that's going to be done on this. We still have to wait. Let's get through a full year of this and kind of reevaluate. All those things are being talked about on a daily basis. Really for us coaches, when we're getting together with our meetings, we're talking all the time."
On transfer tight end Daniel Imatorbhebhe...
"Coach Tui (Mike Tuiasosopo) was with him at USC, so that started it out. Tui knew of Daniel and knew of the family. We had good success with Briley (Moore). Briley had good success within our system. We have a couple of tight ends coming back that had some winter surgery, so we weren't going to have those guys. We're always looking to continue to improve the football team. That was one of the areas we were looking to add someone. Daniel was able to come here, and we'll see what we can do. Big kid that can run really well. Once again, we're just in the first week, but we're excited about what he can add."
On Daniel Imatorbhebhe contributing despite his injury history...
"Well, that's the hope and plan. Getting him in the training room and getting him running around. There's a history of an injury there that we're well aware of and our training staff is aware of as well. We feel confident with our visits with the doctors that he'll be a guy that can get through it and be an impact player for us."
On how important fit is for the transfers...
"That was the number one thing for us as a staff was to get to know these guys as individuals. Get to know them as people. Could they help our locker room? Could they fit what we're asking the guys to do? We felt we had a home run on each guy as far as the maturity level, the hunger so to speak, the chip on their shoulder to come in here and be a part of Kansas State. Not play a year, then transfer and see where I land at the next level of draft. Come in here and make an impact on the field, off the field, make an impact in the locker room, make an impact with the younger players. Be leaders, whether that's leadership by example or we have a couple guys who are pretty good vocal guys. It was a huge piece to us bringing guys in that we knew would be a fit with us. That's where all of us coaches were involved. It wasn't just the position coach and myself. We had a lot of Zoom sessions with families and multiple staff members to make sure they were going to fit the profile that was so important to us."
On the additions of Julius Brents and Russ Yeast to the secondary...
"Well, Julius has great length, exceptional size and has played a number of games at the Big Ten level. He gives us that big corner that we're so excited about. He's 6-foot-3 and 200 pounds and can really run and change direction. He uses his hands well, which is going to help us. I'm excited about Russ. He played a ton of games at Louisville. Really, really smart guy. He understands everything about the game of football. He had a dad that taught him an awful lot, a college coach that was a phenomenal NFL and college player. He has a great pedigree there. Russ can play multiple spots. He can play either safety, play the nickel, so we like his versatility."
On scholarships that are still available...
"We'll kind of play it out this spring. We wouldn't be adding anyone for the second semester. I think that's important for us as a staff to see where we're at with some of the young guys through spring ball. Where we're at positionally, offensively and defensively. Then reevaluate it at the end of spring, whether it's high school guys or transfers. We're kind of open either way. If we're able to get out in April, that might be able to help eyeball some guys or whatever you want to say to maybe get around some guys, because that's the hardest thing right now. You're just Zooming guys, and there isn't a lot of film out there. We know we have a few extra spots, but they're not earmarked for any position."
On the plans for spring football...
"We've talked about all that stuff. I wish I could say we were going to push it based on COVID. That would be crazy to think you pushed it into another bad spell. We have a pretty good plan, talking with Coach (Chris) Dawson and the strength staff on what we want to do as far as a period of time that we're going to work out the guys prior to spring ball. We're going to roll through spring ball for most of March and into April, and that still gives Coach Dawson and his staff some time before the second semester ends to get another four- to five-week period with the guys. That's the plan right now. You don't want to push it. I'm not a fan of pushing it to late April. If you get an injury or something, it's just that much more time you're taking away from summer."
On the rehab process of TJ Smith, Chabastin Taylor and Skylar Thompson…
"TJ is pretty far along with his knee injury. He's running around, doing a lot of exercises. He won't be available for spring. He might be able to do some individual. C-Bas, because it was a lot later in the season, will miss all of spring, but I know his rehabilitation is going well. I know Skylar is beginning to soft toss a football, not a nerf ball but a football. I know he's ahead of schedule from what the doctors have told him and told me. He has a great mindset right now, doing a great job of leading for us with the wide receivers and quarterbacks. I fully believe he'll be cutting it loose with whatever he wants to do by mid-April or early-May and have a full summer."
On decision of Skylar Thompson to return...
"He and I have a really good relationship. I think him getting involved and staying involved through the whole season was really important for him to see a different side of it with being in the press box, helping out Coach Mess (Courtney Messingham) and helping out Coach (Collin) Klein. He has aspirations of playing at the next level, and he should. He's a talented player, but he needed another year if that's the case. He couldn't throw for a pro day and all those things. I think deep down, I knew he wanted to come back. Deep down, I think he knew we wanted him to come back. I wasn't going to do anything until our season was over. I didn't think that was fair to any of the guys to say, 'Hey, you've talked to this guy but not me.' I waited until the end of the season to talk to all those guys. I was pretty confident that Skylar wanted to come back, and he knew that we wanted to have him back."
On the importance of Skylar Thompson coming back...
"It's huge in the fact that you have a guy who has started an awful lot of games, that has started a lot of big games and has won a lot of big games. A guy who's been through the fire. He knows our system. He's a great leader. The kids look up to him. He works hard. It's good to have a quarterback coming back. It's good to have two quarterbacks coming back. That's the great thing. It's going to make Will (Howard) so much better, also."
On Skylar changing his number to 7...
"I just saw it today, and it's pretty cool. His reasoning behind it, I thought, was even better. Everything happens for a reason. Him playing at Kansas State next year happened for a reason. Anything with Skylar is going to be well thought out, something he's going to evaluate, something he's going to share with his family to see what the best decision is. I was happy for him."
On quarterback Jake Rubley possibly redshirting...
"Who knows? We could've said probably last year at this time that we're redshirting Will Howard. Somebody could've said yes and look what happened. Everybody has an opportunity to help us out. Everybody has an opportunity to compete, and we need more guys to find a role, whatever that role may be. I'm excited for Jake and for him to learn, and when his time comes to take advantage of the opportunity."
On how eager he is for spring ball after the past year...
"All of us are eager for spring ball. I've talked to an awful lot of coaches around the country. Everybody shares the same sentiment that I did. It was the most difficult fall they've ever gone through and had to handle. Although we don't know where the spring is going to be in terms of missing guys because of the virus and close contact, guys have a better handle on it, but you hope it's a little less than we had in the fall. I think all of us are excited to be back. Getting around those guys for winter workouts and watching those guys grow and develop, that's the thing we missed quite a bit of last year from March 1 on was all this development and growth in the weight room, on the practice field, in the meeting room. Once our guys came back and started their workouts, they're hungry and excited to be back with their teammates and brothers and just playing and working out. It's something that you take for granted, but I don't think people will take for granted the opportunity to be around coaches or players anymore."
On the young quarterbacks getting all the work in the spring...
"It would be great to have Skylar (Thompson) back so he can develop that confidence and get that rust off of him, but that won't happen. We have a number of guys who are out for the spring for the same reason that have played a lot of football here. Those quarterbacks are going to have the opportunity to take rep after rep. We're going to find a way to do two ends and do our double reps, even if we have to be really creative. We just need to practice. We have a lot of guys that need reps. We challenged the guys when they came back and said it's going to be a really uncomfortable winter and uncomfortable spring. Too many guys, coaches included, have to get out of a comfort zone. We need to be uncomfortable. It's going to be hard. It's going to be challenging, but that's what our guys want. That's what our guys are looking forward to, so we're going to have competitive matchups at every spot. It's going to be a lot of fun this spring."
On the challenges of the current transfer portal...
"I think a lot of guys are getting a lot of poor advice. That's where we, as coaches, talked a lot over Christmas break about building trust, building relationships. It's hard to play as a young player. Carson Wentz sat for three years, and never once did he think about transferring. He thought about the opportunity of when he got his time, he was going to make the most of that opportunity. That's hard anymore. There aren't a lot of guys that are going to do what Carson did. You hope there are, but it's difficult. I don't know if it's going to get a whole lot better. I think for the next few years, people are going to continue to get poor advice, enter the portal and then realize that maybe it's not what they're looking for as far as opportunities. Or, they leave and go somewhere else and, boy, it wasn't as bad at school x or school y, not just Kansas State, but anywhere you look. Maybe I didn't have it as bad as someone told me I had it. That's the challenge for all of us as coaches is to build relationships with these kids, build the trust with these guys. Be honest with them, but also help those guys. You can't just leave and quit something in a job when you have to take care of a family when you're 25 or 35 years old. Life is difficult. You have to be able to persevere through tough times."
On if there are any changes to the primary coaching staff...
"No, not at this time. I'm happy for Drew Liddle and Stanton Weber, the quality control guys for us got jobs, and I'm always trying to help guys in the profession, as others have helped me when I was younger and growing up. We did make one switch. We moved Coach (Courtney) Messingham from tight ends and fullbacks to wide receivers and J-Ray (Jason Ray) to tight ends and fullbacks. The main reason I did that I want the play caller, who is Coach Mess obviously, to be more actively involved in the passing game. That's something we talked about before Christmas as an offensive staff. We sat on it and after Christmas had more lengthy conversations. It had nothing to do with personnel or anything like that. Everything, for me to say, I want the play caller to be more involved on a daily basis with the passing game."
On how much COVID testing is being done now...
"We're now down to one time a week. It's a PCR test, so it's an accurate test that we do over at Lafene. We're still at one time a week, and we're still getting a couple of positives, and then the close contacts. We're not out of the woods, by any means."
On if there are any thoughts on when things might get back to normal...
"No. I'm not a doctor on that one. When they do, they do. We just have to keep moving forward with whoever is available and realize and not get frustrated. It can easily frustrate you in the fall when you're losing kids for game after game. Now we're missing kids for development after development with practice and workouts. It's not over with and we have to be cognizant of that. We have to do a great job with those kids that are missing time, because I know the mental health part of that is really difficult on these guys to start a workout and then be down for 14 days."
On the draw to Damian Ilalio...
"That's a fortunate thing for me because my son plays with him at Manhattan High. I was able to watch an awful lot of those football games. That was the benefit of being a dad and not a coach. I got to see a kid dominate the line of scrimmage, have an unbelievable motor. You can tell he loved the game. You can tell that his teammates really enjoyed him. He was happy for teammates. That kid's a winner, a flat out winner. With his work ethic and motor and those things, I know he'll be a great fit here and have tremendous success. I look at Desmond Purnell, I was able to go and watch him play those guys. I thought he was the best kid on the field that day. He really piqued my interest, and I kept watching clips that were sent to me. When I saw him live, I thought there was a kid that will have an impact on our program. It's the great thing about being a dad with high school players with those opportunities."
On transfers Eric Munoz and Timmy Horne...
"Eric is a really mature guy, a guy that's had a lot of adversity in his life. He's bounced around to a couple of different schools. I know the respect that the coaches and players had for him at Utah State. I can see it already as he's been here how mature he is. He's a really physical kid that can run. With Tim Horne, we lost Drew Wiley who was a big force in there. We needed another big, long body that's a 6-foot-5 kid that has really good range and uses his hands well and is a physical player. All those guys we've talked about fill a need for us that we hope they're going to be able to come in and contribute right away."
On what has impressed him about Jake Rubley...
"He's a great team guy, wants to get to know all the freshmen and all the older guys. He's humble, knows he has a long way to go. Really good work ethic, smile on his face with great body language. Works hard, encourages his teammates, that's what you're looking for out of everybody. When you have that at the quarterback position, it's a pretty unique trait for a freshman."
On the players taking more accountability in the program...
"It's hard to say. We're challenging them again since we just got back here in January. Everybody needed a four- to five-week break to clear their mind and recharge their batteries. I know this – I'm excited about the crew that showed back up on January 25, because they're hungry and ready to compete. They know what the standard is, and they need to hold each other to the standard. They cannot be afraid to hold a teammate accountable. We've done a nice job in the first week of maybe some of the things we had issues with in the fall of missing some things. We haven't missed those things right now, which tells me we have guys who are hungry to be successful, not only on the field, but what you do off the field. I've never been around a team that does silly stuff off the field, whether it's class work or nutrition, strength and conditioning, and have been lights out on the field. It just doesn't work that way. The way you do one thing is the way you do everything. If you do things well off the field, it usually translates into success on the field."
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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
