K-State Assistants Meet with Media on Thursday

Mar 25, 2021 | Football

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MANHATTAN, Kan. – Four Kansas State assistant coaches – Collin Klein, Jason Ray, Steve Stanard and Buddy Wyatt – met with members of the media on Thursday. Above are links to video and audio of each press conference, and below is a complete transcript.

COLLIN KLEIN, QUARTERBACKS COACH
On how healthy Skylar Thompson is…
"He's done a great job, attacking his rehab and taking it one step at a time but getting after it. Throwing wise, he's spinning it really good right now in most things. We're still trying to protect him a little bit just so he doesn't get knocked around or take a weird fall or something like that. But he's doing tremendous and ahead of schedule."

On the battle behind Skylar Thompson…
"I think it's extremely competitive. All those guys have really done a tremendous job of preparing themselves and studying. Each one of them has made improvements in each of their areas. Will (Howard) has been much more consistent than the rest of the group to this point. It's not overly surprising with just the amount of experience and snaps that he had under his belt through last year. I'm really proud of each one of those guys. Each one of them has improved in 10 practices, and it's been good to see."

On if the game has started to slow down for freshman Jake Rubley…
"I think the last three practices. He's made he's made great strides. There's a lot in our offense that is on his plate and he has to handle. Obviously, it's a tempo that is going fast and pieces moving fast around him. So, he's drinking from a fire hydrant, but that's as part of it. You just have to dive in and get after it. He's doing a heck of a job, and I think it's slowing down for him, but you know we got a ways to go."

On where Will Howard has shown the most improvement…
"I think physically, first of all – a training cycle and in his effort in the weight room and strength and conditioning. He's moving around well. He's leaned up and gained muscle mass and strength. That shows up throwing the ball, it shows up in him running the football. I think, too, after going through a grueling season, having some time to even just mentally step away and then engage back in, the game has slowed down for him. He's made good decisions with the football and protected in general. He's making plays. I think all those factors are part of it."

On working on a short-yardage package with Will Howard…
"We'll see. We haven't done too much of that specific game plan. Right now, we're still getting finished up this week as far as going through installs and just getting everything in to the guys. So, I think a lot of that personneling-type stuff will happen as we go, potentially, here to the end of spring and then through the summer."

On if there was any hesitancy with Skylar Thompson coming back from injury…
"I think initially for me at first there was just because I did not really have experience with this. Obviously, it was and is a serious deal. But, again, he's responded so well, and everything is trending in a great direction. So, I think our training staff has done a great job. He's done a great job, and I think everything will continue to trend in a path that we wouldn't foresee any issues."

On if he had any issues with Skylar Thompson switching to No. 7…
"No, I loved it. I absolutely loved it. It was great when he told me. We won a lot of games with that number, so I'm all for it."

On Jaren Lewis having natural arm talent…
"I think there's definitely a natural component to it. He does have a very strong arm. It spins out of his hand really well. I think he's worked and improved his release with getting out of his hand faster and some things that are definitely things that he's worked on. He's gotten stronger as well. He's working hard in the weight room and doing things like that that helps. So, I think it's probably a little both. He's doing a great job."

On the one area of improvement that he wants to see out of Jaren Lewis…
"We've talked about it – it's consistency. There'll be one play that he'll make an unbelievable throw and do something truly special. Then it'll come back, and he'll have a dip. So, it's just in our position, overall, it's what is your bottom line and raising that to a point of consistency that's going to be winning football."

On if there are any receivers that are catching his eye…
"Malik (Knowles) and Philip (Brooks) are doing a great job. Even their command and leadership in that room have been great on top of their playmaking ability. Keenan Garber is shown glimpses of doing some really good things and has improved, as well as Jaelon Travis. So, it's a good group. There are a couple young guys, but Malik and Philip, their leadership and playmaking abilities has been very good."

On who has stood out in the secondary…
"They've been rotating a lot of guys back there. I know they're all working hard and doing a nice job. I know JuJu (Julius Brents) has done a great job and definitely shows up with his length. Tee Denson, he'll fly around, too. So, everybody's getting better and working hard."

On if he's embarrassed on how deep his room is…
"No, not at all. I'm proud of all of them. It's an absolute pleasure and an honor to walk in that room every day. Every single one of them is engaged, they're committed. I was so proud of my room of even, just through the fall, they're just such high character. They want to learn, they're highly competitive on top of being extremely talented, being accountable and not missing anything, knock on wood. Again, it's a special group. I love working with them."

On keeping all the quarterbacks engaged…
"I think it's part of my message to them is – from day one – is it's about us, providing the play at the quarterback position for our team at a championship level. I tell him every day, 'The minute you walk on campus and you wear this logo, you need to prepare like you were the starting quarterback. You need to act like you're the starting quarterback. You need to watch tape on your own time like you're the starting quarterback, regardless if you get one rep, zero reps or 50 reps. You never know when your window of opportunity and when your day is going to come.' At the end of the day, it's about all of us because you never know when an event is going to happen like it did last year when your number is going to be called. It's about being ready when that number is called, and, ultimately, they are at their best individually. It's all going to happen how it's supposed to. Then they can put their head on that pillow every night knowing that they've done everything that they could to be the best that they can be. Fortunately, because of their character, they've bought into that mindset. I don't want to over manipulate the situation either of, 'Hey, the best player is going to play. You're not going to be the best player if you're not at your very best.' When that happens, it'll all be fine and we're going win games which is, which is what it's about anyways."

JASON RAY, TIGHT ENDS/FULLBACKS COACH
On what Sammy Wheeler needs to do to take a step forward…
"Just to make plays consistently. He's obviously transitioning from being a quarterback in his career. He's fitting in, well. He's putting on some weight. He's dropped some fat and gained some muscle, and he's continually doing that and changing his body. Just consistently catching the football and making plays when they come his way is probably the biggest thing that we're looking for as far as his performance."

On what he expects from transfer Daniel Imatorbhebhe…
"First, I'd say just in general depth, but just playmaking ability. I know we were fortunate enough to have Briley (Moore) come in last season, and he was able to fill some depth for us there and, obviously, make some plays for us. He's a guy that's played a lot of college football. Daniel, in the same way and in a lot of different ways, just his journey and his path of having been on a lot of different teams, seen a lot of different schemes, played a lot of football. So, his experience is going to be something that will be a big-time thing for us, and also just the ability to make plays. He's very smart. His football intelligence is off the charts. His movement skills, he's great in the room, he's great at practice. He has great practice habits, and he loves the game of football. So, I think those are some things that are going to provide us a very unique opportunity to have him in our program."

On what the difference is for wide receiver Keenan Garber…
"Just his comfort with our offense. All these kids have to understand that you have to learn the system, you have to get comfortable, and he's doing that. He's playing his speed a lot more consistently, so he looks good. He looks flashy. He's always flashed. You see him run across the field, and he's one of our faster players on the team. But, in terms of playing fast, it's no different than any player that if you're comfortable with this scheme and if you're comfortable with getting lined up and understanding the concepts and the defenses you're seeing, you're going to naturally play better and play faster from a football standpoint. So, his speed on paper is now correlating with his transitional speed playing the game of football."

On his adjustment moving from wide receivers to tight ends and fullbacks…
"It's been a good adjustment. It's been one that when we first talked about these changes, it was one that I really wanted to embrace. It's something that, when Coach asked us some things that we might be interested in, I told him it'd be fullbacks and tight ends, particularly because I've never coached that position and it will get me close to the box, close to the action in terms of the run game. So, the biggest change is just working more closely with the offensive line with Coach (Conor) Riley. You do some things with those guys that you're going to want to do from a day-to-day basis in some blocking schemes. It's fun the things that we do with them in such a multiple way as far as the receiver, split-out type things, those transitional skills have been good because of my background with receivers. So, I like it, it's been fun. It's a cool group, it's a fun group, and it's a group that really enjoys getting better."

On some of the younger players at tight end…
"Guys have kind of stood out right now, I know Konner Fox is a name. He's played a little bit, but I'd still consider him a younger player. He's stood out quite a bit. Cody Stufflebean – because we continue to double rep, as you guys know, a lot of these guys are getting opportunities. That's the plus and one of the positives of how we practice and the structure of our program that I'm able to see Cody getting multiple plays throughout a practice, and he's not just standing there. Ben Sinnot is a kid who is doing a lot of good things for us at both the true F position and then the Y position. I like what Jax Dineen is still doing for us. Christian Moore is doing some things really well and is a physical kid. So, the younger kids are really coming into their own. We, obviously, have some more practicing to do and a lot more time until we get to that first kickoff. But, right now as it stands, I think the group looks really good, and it's fun group to coach."

On the differences between Briley Moore and Daniel Imatorbhebhe…
"I would agree, it's kind of an unfair question because I didn't work directly with Briley. I didn't sit in the room with him. But I think some of the similarities are that they both have played a lot of football. Obviously both completely different, as far as their paths leading to K-State, but I think that they are experienced players, smart players. That's probably the thing that I would say is a similarity, but different body types, different athletic movement skills in that way. So, I'm really, really excited to see Daniel continue to progress in our system. He's very smart, has great football intelligence and his movement skills are really good. He has good range and he's a natural ball catcher. He loves the game. He comes in, he does a good job, takes care of his body, and you can tell that he goes about it in a very professional manner as far as what he does and what he wants out of the game of football."

On how the coaching position change came about…
"Well, if I can remember correctly, the timeline of it, it happened right before Christmas break. We had some over Christmas break to talk about what the changes would mean and how we felt about them. I got to spend time with my family and just get away from ball for a while with what coach had presented to us prior to going on break. Really, it kind of stemmed from a lot of things just as far as just personal growth in the profession, not only for myself but a lot of us. We're all in different periods of our careers from an offensive staff standpoint. Really, it just came about being something about getting different looks and giving fresh perspectives on both position groups that have obviously changed between myself from receivers to tight ends and Mess (Courtney Messingham) from tight ends to receivers. So, it's been really cool. It's been cool bouncing different ideas off of Mess, him talking about some different drill work with me about receivers, and vice versa me to him about tight ends. So, it really came about just Coach asking what we wanted out of our own personal careers - and probably me more particular - to understand the game a little bit more and to get a different look and perspective on the game. Then go into 2021 season with fresh perspectives, which I think help in any organization and in any company and any program. You know we get different fresh eyes on different things, you have a tendency to win some more battles and have more successes in different areas. So, I think it's just part of those deals where we tried to restructure things and really give a fresh look. It's been a really positive change for us."

On coaching different types of athletes going from coaching receivers to tight ends and fullbacks…
"As you study the game, the fullback for the 49ers (Kyle Juszczyk) they call them 'Juice.' That statement you just said, 'the old truck,' he probably would disagree with. What I studied him doing, he probably considers himself a half a Corvette. When I look at any position I've coached, especially with a lot of technology that we have nowadays, we study and watch some of those guys are doing it at a very high, elite level. At the fullback position, he's one of them. So, I'm able to watch film of him, athletically, different things how he gets aligned, how he shifts, how he motions, how they utilize them out of the backfield. So, I like to talk to those guys who would say are your stereotypical fullbacks in the room in terms of still, 'You have to be athletic to play this game and have great movement skills.' What a great example he is to show a college fullback, 'Man, this is what it looks like to play the game at a high level at the fullback position.' It is a unique position, but you try to have guys that can do multiple things. There are going to be guys that are better at doing some things than others. When you can show them examples of the best in the world doing it and see how they can try to emulate or take little things like that to add to their game, I think that you can soup those guys up a little bit. You might have a different engine under that hood. You know might look a little different on the exterior, but they can do some things to make sure that they are giving themselves an athletic advantage as best as possible."

On fullback Jax Dineen…
"Jax is very athletic. He's a kid that has great feet, great movement skills. He's doing really well. Coach Tru (Trumain Carroll) is doing a heck of a job down in the weight room with his staff. These kids have really embraced some of the things that we're doing that may be a little different down in the weight room. For all of us, it had to be an adjustment. We all had to embrace some different things and embrace change, whether it be the stretch or different things that we're doing in pre practice and before we even get to lining up and doing things as far as what the stretch looks like and the commands and all that. So, at the end of the day, Jax is really taking to nutrition. Scott Trausch is doing a heck of a job in nutrition with his staff and his student assistance. Jax is one kid that we want to make sure he continues to take care of his body, and he's embraced that, and he's challenged himself to do that. So, I'm excited about him. Athletically, he's going to continue to get more explosive and quicker and stronger, faster and those things. But he's playing fast, and he looks good."

STEVE STANARD, LINEBACKERS COACH
On what he saw out of Eric Munoz to recruit him to K-State…
"On film, Eric covered lot of ground on the field. He played one of his best games against Wyoming, which was interesting. I felt like Eric played hard, played with a sense of urgency on the tape. Then, showing up here during winter conditioning, he's really done a nice job as far as bringing maturity to the linebacker room. He's one of the hardest workers we have, and he pushed the room, he pushed the other linebackers right away in winter conditioning. I'm really glad we have Eric here."

On if he believes the linebackers are the deepest unit on defense…
"The thing that has been encouraging is the culture and the attitude of that room has been much improved. I've been really pleased with a lot of the guys stepping up and trying to lead in that room. They've been pushing each other. The old proverb is, 'Iron sharpens iron, one man sharpens another,' is really holding true in that room right now. There's great competition going on in that room for playing time. I couldn't be happier with the attitude of the room right now."

On how Wayne Jones has transitioned from linebacker to safety…
"It's the same thing. Wayne brings maturity, Wayne brings experience. I love having the opportunity to coach Wayne. We're hoping to find a place in there for Wayne, definitely as Sam linebacker. He's still trying to learn a little bit about playing in the box as a Will linebacker. Wayne brings depth, certainly, to that position."

On losing guys like Justin Hughes and Elijah Sullivan that played a lot of football…
"No doubt. Both those guys, we appreciate everything they brought to Kansas State football over the last four or five years. Maybe with J-Ball's case six years, seven years. It seems like he was here for so long. No doubt that it's tough to lose that kind of experience. I think you know guys like Cody Fletcher, even though Cody was only out there from a part-time standpoint working on 7-on-7, Cody has really stepped into a leadership role there and is trying to fill that vacuum, along with Daniel Green, who I think has had an outstanding spring. You can't ever just replace guys like those two with that experience, but Deuce (Daniel Green) and Cody played a lot of football for us last year, and that will certainly show on the field this year having those kind of reps. The big challenge is going to be, 'Ok, who's going to give us those extra 20 or 25 reps like Deuce and Cody did?' That's what we're trying to figure out right now. Who are those guys going to be? Is it going to be Nick (Allen) or is it going to be Austin (Moore)? Is it going to be Eric (Munoz)? Is it going to be Wayne (Jones)? Is it going to be Ryan (Henington)? We just have work through that here the remainder of spring. But the competition in their attitude is tremendous."

On what he's seen from Daniel Green to give him optimism for the season…
"The thing about Daniel is he's gone about his business all spring. But, just in the last week, his attention to the detail of finishing every play and grinding out every play has improved dramatically. I'm really encouraged with what I've seen in the last week and a half from Daniel. If he can stay on that trajectory, I think he's going to be a really good linebacker for us."

On the skills that Daniel Green brings to the linebackers…
"Daniel is a smart football player, and he spends time with it. He takes pride in knowing not only his position but what everyone else on the defense is doing. He's a good communicator. He's probably one of our best communicators. He and Wayne Jones are probably two of the better ones. The thing that Daniel has really improved upon is we call it heavy hands. He has heavy hands, and he's really using his hands, separating from blockers and getting off blocks much better than I think he did last year. So, he's not just taking care of his gap. He's using his long levers to take care of his gap, get off blocks and worked other gaps. I think he's put himself around the ball much more this spring than just, 'Hey, I got B gap and I'm in the gap.'"

On the younger linebackers who are showing themselves this spring…
"I know you all know about him, but Austin Moore is a young man is making a strong push. Nick Allen has been around, but Nick doesn't have quite the playing time that some of the other guys may have had. But Nick's making a strong push right now. Ryan Henington, I still consider him young to the position even though he's been here for a while. Every day Ryan is learning the position because he hasn't played defense much in his career. Some of the things that you can't take for granted that a guy would know, he's still a little bit of a sponge and a novice, but he works at it. All three of those guys, Nick, Austin and Ryan. A young man with us, DaVonte (Pritchard), he's a senior in high school we have to keep reminding ourselves of, but I think he's going to have a bright future. He's another young man that has a good football IQ. He's learning to work hard at a young age because right now he's around a bunch of guys that are showing the way of how to practice and how to finish. Beau Palmer, there's young man that leads the team right now in strips and punches. If you watch him out there running around on the practice field, he's always by the football. His cardio base must be tremendous because he does not take a play off, and we compliment him on it all the time. I don't know if Beau has very many loafs spring."

On the knowledge of Ryan Henington moving from quarterback to linebacker…
"It helps him from the standpoint of he sees big picture, especially in pass coverage. He has good vision of the field. Some guys can play like the horses with those blinders on. Ryan has good vision. He sees a lot of the field like a quarterback has to see it, and he understands key progression and those things. His big thing right now is just learning how, when you go into contact, from a leverage standpoint because the fight happens a lot quicker. The guys coming on you happen faster and a little bit bigger. The other thing – and we give Ryan a hard time about just because he's been on the other end of it – but learning to play off cut blocks, which our offense gives us a lot of over the course of the spring. Keeping your eyes on the blocker and not trying to see over the top of things. When you're a quarterback, you're seeing over the top of the o-line. You're seeing over the top of things 30-40 yards down the field. At linebacker, if you start looking over the top of those big guys blocking you and those guys trying to cut you, it doesn't work out very well. So, those are the kinds of things that he's working himself through right now."

On how Ryan Henington handled his first cut block...
"Probably like a lot of guys where his feet went off out from underneath him. But he didn't get hurt, which is always a nice thing. He's had a couple of hard falls this spring, and he gets frustrated with it but goes, 'What else what else can we do drill wise? What else can we do to work on this?' because he does not want it to happen to him day in, day out. Nobody does. That's what makes Ryan a special guy. He going to put forth the effort, physically and mentally to try to correct anything."

On how defensive tackle Timmy Horne has looked…
"We've really done well with some of the young men that we've brought into the program here in January, and same thing with Tim. Tim has brought competition into that room, and it's made the other d-lineman better. Tim is a bigger body with some athleticism and some twitch. It's been really encouraging to see him up there because there's not a lot of guys that are going to climb off of a double team when Tim's in there. They're going to have to keep two offensive linemen on him for a little bit longer at times, which allows us at linebacker to tempo our gaps and do some of the things I was talking about like the Deuce (Daniel Green) being able to take care of a B gap and being able to fall back to the backside D gap, which allows us to get more people to the party. If they're able to single block up front, then we have to fight with those guys. Tim doesn't allow that. It's been fun to see him in there because when Tim showed up here, I don't think he'd had a winter conditioning like we have, and he's certainly not used to double repping. So, he's getting more reps than he probably ever has. He's learned how to work through that. He is going to be a nice addition to the d-line."

BUDDY WYATT, DEFENSIVE ENDS COACH
On the improvement of Felix Anudike…
"Felix has had a good spring so far. He's a young guy, obviously, a young player. Just his technique, his knowledge of the game. He's always been good to play real hard. He works extremely hard. So that hasn't been an issue. He's just really improved his knowledge of the game and his technique. He still has a ways to go, but I think that's been his biggest improvement has been just the knowledge of how to play the game."

On if he thinks the defensive ends could be deeper this year compared to 2020…
"I do. Wyatt (Hubert) has been a good player here for us for a long time. But now that he's not in the room anymore, some other guys have had an opportunity to step up, and they have. Spencer Trussell has probably had the best spring of all my defensive ends to date. He's playing really fast. He's playing with a lot of confidence. He's understanding our scheme. So, I'm really proud of him. Bronson Massie is back for his six year, an extra year, which he is really bringing a lot of experience to our group. So, we're happy with that. Then you still have Khalid (Duke) in the group. We have Kirmari (Gainous) back. Brendan Mott is making some strides. Nate Matlack. Between Spencer, Felix and Nate, they have made the biggest improvement. It really excited about those three guys."

On Nate Matlack filling out his frame…
"Yeah, Nate is still thin, but he's bigger than what he was. Nate is an extremely intelligent football player. He's very coachable. He works extremely hard. He has all the intangibles that you look for in a football player. So, I'm just excited to see him continue to develop. He has a chance to be really, really good here at Kansas State."

On if Nate Matlack can have a role in 2021…
"Most definitely, most definitely. Nate has really improved on his pass rush. Obviously, he has gotten bigger and stronger. So, he's playing the run a whole lot better than he did his freshman year. He's definitely in the mix to do some things for us, whether it's in a pass rush situation or whether it's in an every-down situation. He's really making a bid to get a lot of plant time this year."

On the development of Khalid Duke…
"Khalid made a big jump last year, and he's continuing to grow as far as technique, playing with low pad level, those type of things. Obviously, the thing he does best is rush to quarterback. So, he's continued to work on that. But I guess to answer your question, it'd be in the run game."

On replacing both Wyatt Hubert and Drew Wiley on the defensive line…
"No doubt. They had a lot of experience. They are both very talented football players, a lot of production between the two of them. Their leadership was outstanding because they had been in the room a long time. So other kids looked up to him. Losing that was big, but we're excited. I know, as a coaching staff, we're excited about those younger guys coming on. Now their personality is starting to come out a little bit, and it is exciting to see."

On balancing playing time between the defensive ends…
"As you and I both know, competition makes everybody better. So, in my opinion, that's going to just help that room continue to get better and better. Obviously, we have to be careful. Some guys can play more plays without getting tired and some guys get tired a little faster. So, I have to make sure that when they're out there that they're fresh, and that they can give us great effort. That's what we're going to pride ourselves on this year is giving maximum effort on every play. We have enough guys that, 'Hey, if you get a little tired, just let us know. We'll get somebody else in there.' So, we're going to do it by committee. I guess that's the best way to put it. These guys will know their role. We're still developing those roles right now as we go through spring ball, and through the summer and into fall camp. We will continue to develop everybody's role. Obviously, the more the merrier in my opinion because I love to play a lot of guys, period. The more I can play, I think the better we will be."

On guys playing hard in spring practice due to competition…
"I think that's happening with a lot of positions, but especially a defense end. 'If you want more snaps, then you have to show me that you are going to earn those snaps.' We're not going to let anybody slack on the field. We want to make sure everybody's running to the ball, everybody's giving their best on every play and playing for each other. That's what I like about my room. They really like each other. They're really playing for each other, and it's a fun room. A very fun room."

On if it's hard for him to determine who to put on the field due to depth…
"Right now it is. There are a lot of guys that are fighting for those positions. We don't have a dominant guy like Wyatt (Hubert) at that position, but I do think that we have three or four guys, even five guys that we can go to that can give us some production at some time. At least we were hoping that's the case. In the spring, so far, it's been good to see."

On how Strength Coach Trumain Carroll has fit into the program…
"Yeah, I knew Tru when I was coaching at SMU. He was the head strength coach there. The one thing you learn really fast about Tru is what you see is what you get. There's only one way with him, and that's straight. There's no left or right, there's one way. He's very loyal. He believes a lot in the culture of your program is established in the weight room. Whatever Coach Klieman sets that culture to be, that's the way it's going be in that weight room. Our players, I think, are really excited about that. Initially they might have been a little scared, afraid, or apprehensive, but they are buying into it. They're really enjoying how hard they're working and just the discipline part that we need for this football program. That's one of the big things that we've identified as being something that we need to improve. So, I think that starts in that weight room, and I think Tru is doing a really good job when it comes to that."