K-State Holds Initial Spring Football Press Conference
Mar 05, 2021 | Football
MANHATTAN, Kan. – Kansas State head coach Chris Klieman and new Director of Strength and Conditioning Trumain Carroll met with members of the media via Zoom on Friday following the Wildcats' second spring practice of 2021. A complete transcript of Klieman's press conference – which was also streamed live on Big 12 Now on ESPN+ – and Carroll are posted below.
CHRIS KLIEMAN, HEAD COACH
Opening Statement...
"Good morning everyone. It's 11 o'clock on Friday and we just finished practice two of spring ball. It was the second non-padded day. You have to have two to start with with just helmets and shorts, and we were able to get those done on Wednesday and Friday. Lots of energy, excitement out there, guys flying around, good communication. Good bunch of guys out there to work with, and we're just excited to be back on the field. They'll have the weekend off, and then Monday will be a full padded practice and we kind of roll from there."
On the health status of quarterback Skylar Thompson...
"We got some great news on Skylar. Monday before spring ball started, he was cleared for normal activity. No tackling, contact, but we will have him do all of our 7-on-7 stuff and 1-on-1 stuff. He's practicing every day. He won't be in many team settings. He'll get into a few team settings that are non-contact team settings, but I'm excited for him because he's able to throw it to moving targets this spring. Prior to that, we didn't think that was going to happen. So, great news for Skylar and great news for our football team."
On the battle for the backup quarterback spot...
"You have Will Howard who played really good football and played a number of games, so we are excited to have Will back. You can tell how much the weight room has helped Will. Between Jaren (Lewis), Max (Marsh) and Jake (Rubley), we have some young guys. Jaren is starting to become an older guy, but I'm excited about the competition, and feel really good about the depth we have at quarterback and we'll see how it plays out."
On the excitement around spring ball after not having it last year...
"I think everyone is more fired up. Coaches and players, there's great excitement. It's so much fun to be out there with the guys. They are excited to be out there. We go in the mornings, so our kids are at the facility before 6 a.m. We have quick meetings, we have a quick continental breakfast, and hit the practice field by 7:15. The first whistle blows about 7:30, and we are going for a little over two hours. Once again, we've had two helmet practices that have been really good. Guys have been excited, but you can tell the energy because you missed the entire winter and spring from last year. So, it's a lot of fun to be out there with the guys."
On Skylar Thompson's passes ...
"They look sharp. I mean, it's popping out of his hand, and you would never have thought he had surgery to be honest with you."
On new Director of Strength and Conditioning Trumain Carroll...
"Well, you guys will get the chance in about 20 minutes to see what I saw in the interview. The energy, the enthusiasm, the love for the players, the passion for what he does in his profession as strength and conditioning. Kids just gravitate to him. He did a dynamite job at his interview. He's had prior relationships with three of our coaches in Coach (Buddy) Wyatt, and Coach (Van) Malone at SMU – which a lot of you guys know – but also Coach (Jason) Ray at Oklahoma State. He's familiar with some of our coaches, which has enabled him to get in with his feet running. I'm excited because he has just great energy, and I can see the way the guys have taken to him."
On the search for a new strength coach...
"Obviously you want someone who is skilled at his craft. You want somebody who can build relationships. You want somebody that can challenge you as coaches and challenge the team. And you want somebody who can do a great job of building individual relationships. I know that's what we have in Tru, and I'm excited. We've only had Tru for about a week, but seeing the kids come out of the weight room and going into the weight room and see the excitement the guys have, everything is just fresh and a little bit new. What we did before wasn't poor at all. Coach (Chris) Dawson was phenomenal here for more than a decade, but sometimes when you have that newness to things, kids are excited about that, and I can't wait for you guys to meet him."
On the transfers...
"In two days, I'm very excited about all five. All five fit right in with our guys, that's the number one thing when we brought these guys in and embedded these guys was will they make our locker room better? That was the number one thing that was a prerequisite for us as coaches was were they going to fit in with our guys and team and were they going to make our locker room better, and all five guys do that. They all have really good skill sets, from a couple of DBs to a linebacker to a d-lineman to a tight end, they are going to be good football players here and play an awful lot for us. We will evaluate those guys once we get pads on, but excited about all five of them."
On what he wants to accomplish this spring...
"Practice and play faster. Number one, practice faster and play faster. Create those habits from a practice standpoint that we lost in the spring, and in essence, the fall because you had 75% of your roster at most at any practice because of COVID. You just didn't know who was going to be out there on a daily basis and that's what it was. So, getting back to those practice habits that we had, really in 2019 before all the pandemic, and retraining our guys this is how we want to practice, this is the expectation, this is the standard. How you do one thing is the way you do everything, and that's not only on the field, but off the field as well. We've had a really good offseason thus far as kids don't miss meals. They make every meal. We aren't missing many classes if any. We aren't missing any tutors. Those little things that allow you to be successful on the field. I've never been around a team that does some knucklehead things off the field and all of a sudden you're going to be really good on Saturdays. It doesn't work like that. Our kids have taken to that and are holding each other accountable to that standard, and we are seeing that through two days, but we have a long ways to go, and excited about where we are at."
On moving Wayne Jones to linebacker...
"We think that serves Wayne best from a skillset standpoint. Wayne is a much more efficient in-the-box player than he is playing what we would call top down, playing from a safety down. We had long conversations as a staff about that, and it wasn't a knee jerk reaction. It was long conversations about we know Wayne is a really good football player, now where can we best utilize his skillset? The more we looked and the more we watched his film over the last two years, when Wayne was playing really well, he was closer to the line of scrimmage. It became a pretty simple thing for us. Let's put a kid in a position where he can be more successful, and being closer to the line of scrimmage where he needs to be."
On Wayne Jones adding depth to the linebacker position...
"It contributes greatly to the depth we have at linebacker. We'd like to see Wayne probably be in the 207-210 (pound) range. We want him to keep his quickness, and he's close to that at probably 207 or 208 right now. He could probably handle a few more pounds, but I don't want him to lose his speed or quickness. In the Big 12, with people spreading you out so much it's not like you have to be a 220-pound kid to play linebacker. You need to be able to run sideline to sideline and tackle. It adds depth. It adds a guy who has had valuable starting experience to go along with Daniel Green, who has had valuable experience, and Cody Fletcher, who has had valuable experience. We have some younger players as well as Eric Munoz, who we brought in from a transfer standpoint. You guys know who watched us last year, when COVID hit us, we took two linebackers to two-straight road games, and that's all we had was two linebackers going to two-straight road games. One of them had to play 90 snaps, and it's hard to hold up, so we need the depth there."
On the offensive line...
"Last year at this time, we had no idea what was going to happen on the offensive line. We were going to get it figured out in the spring, and we didn't even get a chance to get a look at it until August and played an awful lot of guys there throughout the course of the season. Now you come into this spring ball, and we have nine or 10 guys that played significant snaps. We're excited about the depth and excited about the competition. They can make each other better. We have the ability to move people around a little bit more if we wanted to or solidify some guys. For instance, Christian Duffie played right side, he played left side. We want to focus Duff on the right side. Cooper Beebe played tackle and guard. We're hoping to play Coop inside. He's got to play a little outside but hoping to play him inside as well. And then a couple of kids, Taylor Poitier we are excited about, and Carver Willis and Sam Shields and Witt Mitchum. We have some young players that are pushing those guys. So, we're really excited about where we are with our depth, and the fact that those guys are going to push each other and make us much better off over in the long haul of a season to play an upwards of nine, ten guys."
On getting Coach Carroll's philosophy working with the offensive line...
"One thing we have not been able to do quite yet since Tru is getting his feet on the ground is meet with each position coach to decide the skillset the players have and what he wants to do. We like athletic guys who can run and pull and lead plays with the amount of perimeter run game that we like to do, as well as guards and centers pulling. It leads me into how excited we are that Noah Johnson came back. You have a center who had one outstanding year his senior year and gets an opportunity to come back. Noah loves football and is a great leader because he holds people to the standard that he expects from himself. Noah does things the right way. Noah works hard, and you have to gravitate to him because he has the infectious personality. Athletically, Noah is an extremely good athlete at center. That's a great one for everybody to look at, those are the type of guys that we want in our program."
On the running backs...
"It's different because you lost Harry (Trotter) and Tyler (Burns), big bangers inside. Joe Ervin is an extremely talented kid who we saw in 2019 his ability to run inside and outside. Keyon Mozee continued to improve throughout the season, and we expect him to be in the mix. Obviously, Deuce (Vaughn) is extremely special. I'm excited to see what happens with Jacardia (Wright) and Clyde (Price). They both have the ability and need to put it all together and have consistent days and consistent practices so that we can count on those guys. We have a number of people there. We just will see how the depth chart shakes out through the spring."
On any other position moves this spring...
"The only other guy, when you talk about Wayne (Jones), we also made the wholesale change to move Ryan Henington to play linebacker. He started as a quarterback, moved over to safety last year, and now are going to have him play linebacker. We did that for the same reason as Wayne. They are guys who played safety, and in the Big 12 you need linebackers who can really run that are 210-, 215-pound guys that can cover and run sideline to sideline. So, Henington will provide even more depth there on special teams and at linebacker."
On incoming freshman and Manhattan native Damian Ilalio...
"Competitor. I was able to watch Damian play a lot at Manhattan High because my son played there this year, and I saw him come in every Friday night and compete and play really well and play physical play in and play out. Damian never takes plays off, and you can see why with the wrestling background. I'm so happy and so proud of him for winning state and having to fight through some adversity to get that done, and he did that. Damian's going to have a tremendous career here. It's always hard as a true freshman to come in and have an immediate impact on the field, but he'll have an immediate impact on our football team at just how hard he works, his competitive nature. We are counting on him to be one of the leaders of that freshman class."
On the wide receivers...
"Phillip Brooks, Malik Knowles, it goes without saying that those two kids have played a lot of football and have had really good offseasons. Chabastin (Taylor) is still recovering from offseason injuries, so he'll be held out of spring ball. I'm excited to see a young man like Keenan Garber step up into a different and new role that he has. Keenan has tremendous speed, and the game is starting to slow down for him. I've seen some really good things out of him the first couple practices. Then we have some younger players that we are excited about. We'll see how they progress during spring, but we feel that we have some good depth there."
On playing in Arlington against Stanford to open up the season...
"It's a tremendous opportunity. We are thankful to have that chance to go play a great institution like Stanford. I have so much respect for Coach (David) Shaw. For our kids to be able to go down to Dallas where we have so many alums and such a huge recruiting base for us, and for us to be able to go down there and showcase Kansas State University and Kansas State Football. I know our guys have talked about it because we said we were going to open up the stadium at AT&T Stadium. I know that excited guys, but you have to put the work in before you get down there. That's what the start of spring ball is about."
On the importance of this year's spring ball...
"All of them are important. All the falls are important, all the offseasons are important. When you miss the amount of time that we missed, you do have to start over a little bit. You do have to start from scratch and refocus your efforts and energies on the fact that we get this spring ball, let's take advantage of it. We had it taken away. A lot of things can be taken away from you in this game due to injury, now we found out due to a pandemic. You're blessed to have the opportunity to play this game. You're blessed to have the opportunity to run out there with your brothers and battle every day and compete and run around. Don't take it for granted because it can be taken away from you in an instant. I've been pleased with the energy that we've had these first couple days. The challenge to these guys after practice was that we've had two great days, but they were shirt and helmet days. Now we are going to put the pads on Monday and need to have the same focus and same energy."
On making changes in spring ball...
"We need to get back to the basics. We didn't block exceptionally well last year. We didn't tackle exceptionally well last year. We didn't get off blocks exceptionally well last year. We didn't do little things with footwork and hand placement. Simple technique things like running to the football with the proper angles on defense. All that stuff, that's what we need to get back to. The schemes will come as spring ball and summer and fall get here. Our biggest emphasis is to be better fundamentally throughout the spring, and that is going to be the daily challenge for the guys. We had one call on defense on both practice one and practice two, and that was for a reason because we just need to play faster, more aggressive, and more physical."
On Will Howard and the quarterback depth...
"I would say he's got a leg up because he's played seven or eight games, but we've got wide open competitions at so many positions. Skylar, I think all of us envision him coming in and being the guy, but we also know that he's got to compete. And Skylar knows that as well. That's what makes us better when you have multiple people at positions, whether that's quarterback, running back, offensive line like we talked about. That competition is going to make all of us better. So, I like that quarterback room. We've got an older guy like Skylar and then a bunch of younger players that are going to learn the mental side of the game from Skylar. But Skylar has started an awful lot of football games for us, and I can't wait for him to see it cut it loose full-go. I know that those other quarterbacks are continuing to improve, and let's see how it plays out this spring"
On the defensive line...
"We have depth, and we have competition. Tyrone Taleni has put on some great strength and some weight. Cartez (Crook-Jones) has put on some great weight and strength. Eli Huggins, I think, is ready to be that difference maker player. Jaylen Pickle is continuing to improve. We have a lot of young defensive ends that nobody knows about because Wyatt (Hubert) took the lion share of the reps. Felix Anudike and Nate Matlack and Brendan Mott, we have so many young players that we're excited about those guys because they've put on 15-25 pounds over the last year to get into that mode to be ready to play in the Big 12. So, I like the depth we have in there. Do we have a Wyatt and Drew (Wiley) right now from a difference maker standpoint? Time will tell, but we have a lot more versatility in there with the amount of guys."
TRUMAIN CARROLL, DIRECTOR OF STRENGTH AND CONDITIONING
On what excited him about K-State...
"Honestly, just K-State in general. I remember as a player, formerly in the Big 12, just what K-State was. Every time we lined up against K-State, you knew what you were going to get. An opportunity to be a part of that, to come in and help build it from the ground floor up, it excited me more than anything. Also the familiarity with a few of the staff members, in Coach Van Malone, Coach Buddy Wyatt, Coach Jason Ray. We all had previous experience working together, and they couldn't tell me enough good things about Coach Klieman. When I got a chance to talk to him on the phone, my wife and I spoke with Coach Klieman, I got a chance to see for myself and it got me more excited. So, I'm very blessed and honored to be here but the work is just beginning."
On his biggest emphasis...
"It's just that, building relationships, everything after that is just extra. Because I have to come in and learn the guys, I have to come in and show them respect and demand respect in return. From that point on, it's about building trust. You can only push a person as far as they trust you. Putting as many deposits in that trust bank as possible. These guys, they don't care as much we know as coaches until they know how much we care as coaches. So, just coming in and being authentic, being genuine and showing them genuine love and care, and then that's when the work can begin because they know that when they are being pushed, it's coming from an honest and genuine place."
On specific exercises in the weight room...
"I wouldn't say anything is unique. I'm a guy that I know enough to be dangerous and I surround myself with experts. But, when it comes to program philosophy, I didn't invent anything that we do, I just simply adopted. The thing is, really this first week, my goal is to come in and evaluate where we are as a program from a physical standpoint as far as what we do on the field and what we do in the weight room. From there, I sit down with the position coaches, the coordinators, the head coach and just get an understanding of their philosophy with what each side of the ball looks like, and from a special teams standpoint. From there, I get with the athletic training staff to understand limitations, different injury history and everything of that nature in order to put the plan together. The thing that makes a successful strength and conditioning coach, I would have to say, is being adaptable to the hand that you're dealt. We want to make sure we come in and not just prescribe a program that worked for another university or worked for another place that we've been. We want to come in and figure out what the needs are at K-State and from there work backwards. Begin with the end in mind and then develop the plan in order to get these guys to where they can be the most successful on the field. So, what that looks like is different for each position group, and we're still learning what those expectations are."
On how quickly the opportunity came...
"It was really quick, really quick. But, honestly, I'm a big believer in my faith and with that I know God has me here for a reason. I can't explain that. I never hesitated because I knew this was sent from up above, me just sitting here today. I'm so appreciative and so thankful. It went from having a conversation one night, speculating interest, to Coach Klieman reaching out to the head coach I was working with at the time, and Coach Klieman and I spoke, and our families spoke, and I did the interview. 'Okay, alright, let's get the background check and all of the human resource information, get this done.' I loaded my truck up with my car behind it and I pulled into Manhattan, Kansas, on Saturday evening. So, it was a quick turnaround from Wednesday, learning about it, to Saturday getting here."
On coming back to the Big 12...
"No doubt, no question. I enjoyed the winters in Florida don't get me wrong. The 80-degree winter where you can go to the beach on the weekend, it was nice. But being back close to where it all started for me, and more importantly now that my wife and I have a son, him getting an opportunity to know where Dad played ball in this league and just the importance of the Big 12 and the Midwest in general. This is a place where I want him to be able to run out of this tunnel, if that is what he chooses to do, or if it's on the baseball diamond. But he's going to have a closet full of purple here in the next few weeks."
On if he hopes he will be at K-State awhile...
"I'm not hopeful, I'm pretty sure of it. Like I said, this is where we are called to be. The Kansas State family and the Wildcat nation don't know me very much, but they know my career path and my journey. The thing is that everywhere I've been, I've given 100% effort of everything I have every single day. We do that here with Coach Klieman under his direction, we're going to be here for as long as it takes. I know that with the history of Coach Snyder and everything that he's brought to this university, he's done a tremendous job. So not comparing ourselves to that regime, but wanting to create this new culture, this new environment, just to where this standard is going to be one where the Wildcat family is going to be very proud of."
On his first meeting with the team...
"Well, it started off with Ben Newman talking to the team, and I think I have two pages worth of notes just from that talk alone. So, I was pretty fired up before I got up there. Just talking to the team, I didn't want to get up there and sell myself because at the end of the day it's not about me. I'm here in the duty of service. I'm here to serve these young men and help them navigate life and learn tools that are going to help them for the rest of their life. And the beauty of the is, we do it and our common vision and purpose is through the game of football. Football is a great teacher of life. It's taught myself and all my teammates that I've played with throughout the years so many valuable lessons that there are too many to count. It's on me to share that wisdom with these young men. So, that was my main focus in addressing the team. Yeah, I'm here to help you guys get right and win championships, but that starts with building relationships."
On if his lifting style will change to match the style of K-State...
"Well, the thing about the game of football is that being here in the Big 12, it's a line of scrimmage league. So, the thing is you've got to be able to win up front in order to win at all. When we talk about, as far as the spread offense, or the slow ground and pound, or the run and shoot, whatever you have, I'm not a football coach so I'm not going to pretend to be the expert here, but I do know that from playing in the Big 12 is that you have to win up front to even have a shot. So, a lot of our focus is those guys up front are strong and physical, and they are able to move people backwards. As far as the big skill positions, the tight ends and the fullbacks, that's a unique position that I hadn't coached in the past few years but I am familiar with it because that was a style of offense that I was in before. So tight ends, fullbacks, linebackers, those big skill positions, they've got to be able to pack-a-punch in the box but still be able to move well out in space. Because with the teams that spread it around, they are going to try to find mismatches and they are going to try and get those slower moving guys to cover the fast guys on offense. Those guys got to be able to move well out in space but also be able to hit when the time comes to be able to deliver a blow in the box. Then the skill positions, skill is skill wherever you go. Those guys have got to be able to move, they've got to run, they've got to be able to cut, they've got to be able to have what we call that 'repeat sprinter ability'. So, if a guy runs a 4.3 on a laser in the first quarter of a game, then he has to be able to run that 4.3 in the fourth quarter for us to be able to have a chance. So, those are primary focuses that we address within the training of what we do, but football across the board is going to have a lot of similarities and for us it starts up front."
On adapting Coach Klieman's philosophies...
"Well, I don't really think that is for me to answer. Obviously I'm the strength and conditioning coach, so my focus is going to be on preparing the guys for whatever style or system Coach Klieman and the rest of the coaches decide to go with."
On his knowledge of K-State from his playing days...
"I definitely remember a guy that wore the No. 43 by the name of Darren Sproles. I remember Ell Roberson. I remember Taco Wallace. I remember quite a few of those guys just because they came with a physicality. There weren't a lot of household names on Kansas State's football roster, but the thing is they were all blue-collar guys that no matter who was in that game, you were going to get 110% of whatever they had in the tank. They didn't take plays off, they didn't shy away from contact, they didn't turn down hits. So, that's really the biggest memories that I have of K-State. I remember one year we came here to play in Manhattan, and we had a pretty good punter. He was leading the country, I want to say, in punts. That was back before the stadium renovation took place, he was averaging 45-plus (yards) a punt. So, we punted one time here in Manhattan and the punt went up and as soon as the punt got over the top of the stadium, it actually curled and came backwards and netted as a negative-five yard punt. So, I do remember that pretty vividly."
On his relationship with Van Malone playing a part in his ...
"It was huge because there are only a few people in the world that could've called my phone. I was in a really good situation where I just came from, don't get me wrong. Van Malone is one of those people that is deeper than coaching. Obviously, us being from Houston, us having ties all the way back to being in Stillwater early in my career. That played a big factor, but I think the biggest factor is who he was and who Coach Wyatt and Coach Ray are as men. I'm all about surrounding myself with great people, so when I was presented the opportunity to come join forces with those guys, I knew it was going to be a lot more than football. Being a proud husband and proud dad now, those lessons, I don't have everything figured out, and I'm comfortable saying that. So, I want to make sure that I'm surrounded by men that believe the same things that I believe, that have the same things that I'm trying to achieve. They've had long careers, but they've also been able to sustain strong families and still be great dads to their children. That's the kind of people that I want to be around because that's the kind of person that I am."
CHRIS KLIEMAN, HEAD COACH
Opening Statement...
"Good morning everyone. It's 11 o'clock on Friday and we just finished practice two of spring ball. It was the second non-padded day. You have to have two to start with with just helmets and shorts, and we were able to get those done on Wednesday and Friday. Lots of energy, excitement out there, guys flying around, good communication. Good bunch of guys out there to work with, and we're just excited to be back on the field. They'll have the weekend off, and then Monday will be a full padded practice and we kind of roll from there."
On the health status of quarterback Skylar Thompson...
"We got some great news on Skylar. Monday before spring ball started, he was cleared for normal activity. No tackling, contact, but we will have him do all of our 7-on-7 stuff and 1-on-1 stuff. He's practicing every day. He won't be in many team settings. He'll get into a few team settings that are non-contact team settings, but I'm excited for him because he's able to throw it to moving targets this spring. Prior to that, we didn't think that was going to happen. So, great news for Skylar and great news for our football team."
On the battle for the backup quarterback spot...
"You have Will Howard who played really good football and played a number of games, so we are excited to have Will back. You can tell how much the weight room has helped Will. Between Jaren (Lewis), Max (Marsh) and Jake (Rubley), we have some young guys. Jaren is starting to become an older guy, but I'm excited about the competition, and feel really good about the depth we have at quarterback and we'll see how it plays out."
On the excitement around spring ball after not having it last year...
"I think everyone is more fired up. Coaches and players, there's great excitement. It's so much fun to be out there with the guys. They are excited to be out there. We go in the mornings, so our kids are at the facility before 6 a.m. We have quick meetings, we have a quick continental breakfast, and hit the practice field by 7:15. The first whistle blows about 7:30, and we are going for a little over two hours. Once again, we've had two helmet practices that have been really good. Guys have been excited, but you can tell the energy because you missed the entire winter and spring from last year. So, it's a lot of fun to be out there with the guys."
On Skylar Thompson's passes ...
"They look sharp. I mean, it's popping out of his hand, and you would never have thought he had surgery to be honest with you."
On new Director of Strength and Conditioning Trumain Carroll...
"Well, you guys will get the chance in about 20 minutes to see what I saw in the interview. The energy, the enthusiasm, the love for the players, the passion for what he does in his profession as strength and conditioning. Kids just gravitate to him. He did a dynamite job at his interview. He's had prior relationships with three of our coaches in Coach (Buddy) Wyatt, and Coach (Van) Malone at SMU – which a lot of you guys know – but also Coach (Jason) Ray at Oklahoma State. He's familiar with some of our coaches, which has enabled him to get in with his feet running. I'm excited because he has just great energy, and I can see the way the guys have taken to him."
On the search for a new strength coach...
"Obviously you want someone who is skilled at his craft. You want somebody who can build relationships. You want somebody that can challenge you as coaches and challenge the team. And you want somebody who can do a great job of building individual relationships. I know that's what we have in Tru, and I'm excited. We've only had Tru for about a week, but seeing the kids come out of the weight room and going into the weight room and see the excitement the guys have, everything is just fresh and a little bit new. What we did before wasn't poor at all. Coach (Chris) Dawson was phenomenal here for more than a decade, but sometimes when you have that newness to things, kids are excited about that, and I can't wait for you guys to meet him."
On the transfers...
"In two days, I'm very excited about all five. All five fit right in with our guys, that's the number one thing when we brought these guys in and embedded these guys was will they make our locker room better? That was the number one thing that was a prerequisite for us as coaches was were they going to fit in with our guys and team and were they going to make our locker room better, and all five guys do that. They all have really good skill sets, from a couple of DBs to a linebacker to a d-lineman to a tight end, they are going to be good football players here and play an awful lot for us. We will evaluate those guys once we get pads on, but excited about all five of them."
On what he wants to accomplish this spring...
"Practice and play faster. Number one, practice faster and play faster. Create those habits from a practice standpoint that we lost in the spring, and in essence, the fall because you had 75% of your roster at most at any practice because of COVID. You just didn't know who was going to be out there on a daily basis and that's what it was. So, getting back to those practice habits that we had, really in 2019 before all the pandemic, and retraining our guys this is how we want to practice, this is the expectation, this is the standard. How you do one thing is the way you do everything, and that's not only on the field, but off the field as well. We've had a really good offseason thus far as kids don't miss meals. They make every meal. We aren't missing many classes if any. We aren't missing any tutors. Those little things that allow you to be successful on the field. I've never been around a team that does some knucklehead things off the field and all of a sudden you're going to be really good on Saturdays. It doesn't work like that. Our kids have taken to that and are holding each other accountable to that standard, and we are seeing that through two days, but we have a long ways to go, and excited about where we are at."
On moving Wayne Jones to linebacker...
"We think that serves Wayne best from a skillset standpoint. Wayne is a much more efficient in-the-box player than he is playing what we would call top down, playing from a safety down. We had long conversations as a staff about that, and it wasn't a knee jerk reaction. It was long conversations about we know Wayne is a really good football player, now where can we best utilize his skillset? The more we looked and the more we watched his film over the last two years, when Wayne was playing really well, he was closer to the line of scrimmage. It became a pretty simple thing for us. Let's put a kid in a position where he can be more successful, and being closer to the line of scrimmage where he needs to be."
On Wayne Jones adding depth to the linebacker position...
"It contributes greatly to the depth we have at linebacker. We'd like to see Wayne probably be in the 207-210 (pound) range. We want him to keep his quickness, and he's close to that at probably 207 or 208 right now. He could probably handle a few more pounds, but I don't want him to lose his speed or quickness. In the Big 12, with people spreading you out so much it's not like you have to be a 220-pound kid to play linebacker. You need to be able to run sideline to sideline and tackle. It adds depth. It adds a guy who has had valuable starting experience to go along with Daniel Green, who has had valuable experience, and Cody Fletcher, who has had valuable experience. We have some younger players as well as Eric Munoz, who we brought in from a transfer standpoint. You guys know who watched us last year, when COVID hit us, we took two linebackers to two-straight road games, and that's all we had was two linebackers going to two-straight road games. One of them had to play 90 snaps, and it's hard to hold up, so we need the depth there."
On the offensive line...
"Last year at this time, we had no idea what was going to happen on the offensive line. We were going to get it figured out in the spring, and we didn't even get a chance to get a look at it until August and played an awful lot of guys there throughout the course of the season. Now you come into this spring ball, and we have nine or 10 guys that played significant snaps. We're excited about the depth and excited about the competition. They can make each other better. We have the ability to move people around a little bit more if we wanted to or solidify some guys. For instance, Christian Duffie played right side, he played left side. We want to focus Duff on the right side. Cooper Beebe played tackle and guard. We're hoping to play Coop inside. He's got to play a little outside but hoping to play him inside as well. And then a couple of kids, Taylor Poitier we are excited about, and Carver Willis and Sam Shields and Witt Mitchum. We have some young players that are pushing those guys. So, we're really excited about where we are with our depth, and the fact that those guys are going to push each other and make us much better off over in the long haul of a season to play an upwards of nine, ten guys."
On getting Coach Carroll's philosophy working with the offensive line...
"One thing we have not been able to do quite yet since Tru is getting his feet on the ground is meet with each position coach to decide the skillset the players have and what he wants to do. We like athletic guys who can run and pull and lead plays with the amount of perimeter run game that we like to do, as well as guards and centers pulling. It leads me into how excited we are that Noah Johnson came back. You have a center who had one outstanding year his senior year and gets an opportunity to come back. Noah loves football and is a great leader because he holds people to the standard that he expects from himself. Noah does things the right way. Noah works hard, and you have to gravitate to him because he has the infectious personality. Athletically, Noah is an extremely good athlete at center. That's a great one for everybody to look at, those are the type of guys that we want in our program."
On the running backs...
"It's different because you lost Harry (Trotter) and Tyler (Burns), big bangers inside. Joe Ervin is an extremely talented kid who we saw in 2019 his ability to run inside and outside. Keyon Mozee continued to improve throughout the season, and we expect him to be in the mix. Obviously, Deuce (Vaughn) is extremely special. I'm excited to see what happens with Jacardia (Wright) and Clyde (Price). They both have the ability and need to put it all together and have consistent days and consistent practices so that we can count on those guys. We have a number of people there. We just will see how the depth chart shakes out through the spring."
On any other position moves this spring...
"The only other guy, when you talk about Wayne (Jones), we also made the wholesale change to move Ryan Henington to play linebacker. He started as a quarterback, moved over to safety last year, and now are going to have him play linebacker. We did that for the same reason as Wayne. They are guys who played safety, and in the Big 12 you need linebackers who can really run that are 210-, 215-pound guys that can cover and run sideline to sideline. So, Henington will provide even more depth there on special teams and at linebacker."
On incoming freshman and Manhattan native Damian Ilalio...
"Competitor. I was able to watch Damian play a lot at Manhattan High because my son played there this year, and I saw him come in every Friday night and compete and play really well and play physical play in and play out. Damian never takes plays off, and you can see why with the wrestling background. I'm so happy and so proud of him for winning state and having to fight through some adversity to get that done, and he did that. Damian's going to have a tremendous career here. It's always hard as a true freshman to come in and have an immediate impact on the field, but he'll have an immediate impact on our football team at just how hard he works, his competitive nature. We are counting on him to be one of the leaders of that freshman class."
On the wide receivers...
"Phillip Brooks, Malik Knowles, it goes without saying that those two kids have played a lot of football and have had really good offseasons. Chabastin (Taylor) is still recovering from offseason injuries, so he'll be held out of spring ball. I'm excited to see a young man like Keenan Garber step up into a different and new role that he has. Keenan has tremendous speed, and the game is starting to slow down for him. I've seen some really good things out of him the first couple practices. Then we have some younger players that we are excited about. We'll see how they progress during spring, but we feel that we have some good depth there."
On playing in Arlington against Stanford to open up the season...
"It's a tremendous opportunity. We are thankful to have that chance to go play a great institution like Stanford. I have so much respect for Coach (David) Shaw. For our kids to be able to go down to Dallas where we have so many alums and such a huge recruiting base for us, and for us to be able to go down there and showcase Kansas State University and Kansas State Football. I know our guys have talked about it because we said we were going to open up the stadium at AT&T Stadium. I know that excited guys, but you have to put the work in before you get down there. That's what the start of spring ball is about."
On the importance of this year's spring ball...
"All of them are important. All the falls are important, all the offseasons are important. When you miss the amount of time that we missed, you do have to start over a little bit. You do have to start from scratch and refocus your efforts and energies on the fact that we get this spring ball, let's take advantage of it. We had it taken away. A lot of things can be taken away from you in this game due to injury, now we found out due to a pandemic. You're blessed to have the opportunity to play this game. You're blessed to have the opportunity to run out there with your brothers and battle every day and compete and run around. Don't take it for granted because it can be taken away from you in an instant. I've been pleased with the energy that we've had these first couple days. The challenge to these guys after practice was that we've had two great days, but they were shirt and helmet days. Now we are going to put the pads on Monday and need to have the same focus and same energy."
On making changes in spring ball...
"We need to get back to the basics. We didn't block exceptionally well last year. We didn't tackle exceptionally well last year. We didn't get off blocks exceptionally well last year. We didn't do little things with footwork and hand placement. Simple technique things like running to the football with the proper angles on defense. All that stuff, that's what we need to get back to. The schemes will come as spring ball and summer and fall get here. Our biggest emphasis is to be better fundamentally throughout the spring, and that is going to be the daily challenge for the guys. We had one call on defense on both practice one and practice two, and that was for a reason because we just need to play faster, more aggressive, and more physical."
On Will Howard and the quarterback depth...
"I would say he's got a leg up because he's played seven or eight games, but we've got wide open competitions at so many positions. Skylar, I think all of us envision him coming in and being the guy, but we also know that he's got to compete. And Skylar knows that as well. That's what makes us better when you have multiple people at positions, whether that's quarterback, running back, offensive line like we talked about. That competition is going to make all of us better. So, I like that quarterback room. We've got an older guy like Skylar and then a bunch of younger players that are going to learn the mental side of the game from Skylar. But Skylar has started an awful lot of football games for us, and I can't wait for him to see it cut it loose full-go. I know that those other quarterbacks are continuing to improve, and let's see how it plays out this spring"
On the defensive line...
"We have depth, and we have competition. Tyrone Taleni has put on some great strength and some weight. Cartez (Crook-Jones) has put on some great weight and strength. Eli Huggins, I think, is ready to be that difference maker player. Jaylen Pickle is continuing to improve. We have a lot of young defensive ends that nobody knows about because Wyatt (Hubert) took the lion share of the reps. Felix Anudike and Nate Matlack and Brendan Mott, we have so many young players that we're excited about those guys because they've put on 15-25 pounds over the last year to get into that mode to be ready to play in the Big 12. So, I like the depth we have in there. Do we have a Wyatt and Drew (Wiley) right now from a difference maker standpoint? Time will tell, but we have a lot more versatility in there with the amount of guys."
TRUMAIN CARROLL, DIRECTOR OF STRENGTH AND CONDITIONING
On what excited him about K-State...
"Honestly, just K-State in general. I remember as a player, formerly in the Big 12, just what K-State was. Every time we lined up against K-State, you knew what you were going to get. An opportunity to be a part of that, to come in and help build it from the ground floor up, it excited me more than anything. Also the familiarity with a few of the staff members, in Coach Van Malone, Coach Buddy Wyatt, Coach Jason Ray. We all had previous experience working together, and they couldn't tell me enough good things about Coach Klieman. When I got a chance to talk to him on the phone, my wife and I spoke with Coach Klieman, I got a chance to see for myself and it got me more excited. So, I'm very blessed and honored to be here but the work is just beginning."
On his biggest emphasis...
"It's just that, building relationships, everything after that is just extra. Because I have to come in and learn the guys, I have to come in and show them respect and demand respect in return. From that point on, it's about building trust. You can only push a person as far as they trust you. Putting as many deposits in that trust bank as possible. These guys, they don't care as much we know as coaches until they know how much we care as coaches. So, just coming in and being authentic, being genuine and showing them genuine love and care, and then that's when the work can begin because they know that when they are being pushed, it's coming from an honest and genuine place."
On specific exercises in the weight room...
"I wouldn't say anything is unique. I'm a guy that I know enough to be dangerous and I surround myself with experts. But, when it comes to program philosophy, I didn't invent anything that we do, I just simply adopted. The thing is, really this first week, my goal is to come in and evaluate where we are as a program from a physical standpoint as far as what we do on the field and what we do in the weight room. From there, I sit down with the position coaches, the coordinators, the head coach and just get an understanding of their philosophy with what each side of the ball looks like, and from a special teams standpoint. From there, I get with the athletic training staff to understand limitations, different injury history and everything of that nature in order to put the plan together. The thing that makes a successful strength and conditioning coach, I would have to say, is being adaptable to the hand that you're dealt. We want to make sure we come in and not just prescribe a program that worked for another university or worked for another place that we've been. We want to come in and figure out what the needs are at K-State and from there work backwards. Begin with the end in mind and then develop the plan in order to get these guys to where they can be the most successful on the field. So, what that looks like is different for each position group, and we're still learning what those expectations are."
On how quickly the opportunity came...
"It was really quick, really quick. But, honestly, I'm a big believer in my faith and with that I know God has me here for a reason. I can't explain that. I never hesitated because I knew this was sent from up above, me just sitting here today. I'm so appreciative and so thankful. It went from having a conversation one night, speculating interest, to Coach Klieman reaching out to the head coach I was working with at the time, and Coach Klieman and I spoke, and our families spoke, and I did the interview. 'Okay, alright, let's get the background check and all of the human resource information, get this done.' I loaded my truck up with my car behind it and I pulled into Manhattan, Kansas, on Saturday evening. So, it was a quick turnaround from Wednesday, learning about it, to Saturday getting here."
On coming back to the Big 12...
"No doubt, no question. I enjoyed the winters in Florida don't get me wrong. The 80-degree winter where you can go to the beach on the weekend, it was nice. But being back close to where it all started for me, and more importantly now that my wife and I have a son, him getting an opportunity to know where Dad played ball in this league and just the importance of the Big 12 and the Midwest in general. This is a place where I want him to be able to run out of this tunnel, if that is what he chooses to do, or if it's on the baseball diamond. But he's going to have a closet full of purple here in the next few weeks."
On if he hopes he will be at K-State awhile...
"I'm not hopeful, I'm pretty sure of it. Like I said, this is where we are called to be. The Kansas State family and the Wildcat nation don't know me very much, but they know my career path and my journey. The thing is that everywhere I've been, I've given 100% effort of everything I have every single day. We do that here with Coach Klieman under his direction, we're going to be here for as long as it takes. I know that with the history of Coach Snyder and everything that he's brought to this university, he's done a tremendous job. So not comparing ourselves to that regime, but wanting to create this new culture, this new environment, just to where this standard is going to be one where the Wildcat family is going to be very proud of."
On his first meeting with the team...
"Well, it started off with Ben Newman talking to the team, and I think I have two pages worth of notes just from that talk alone. So, I was pretty fired up before I got up there. Just talking to the team, I didn't want to get up there and sell myself because at the end of the day it's not about me. I'm here in the duty of service. I'm here to serve these young men and help them navigate life and learn tools that are going to help them for the rest of their life. And the beauty of the is, we do it and our common vision and purpose is through the game of football. Football is a great teacher of life. It's taught myself and all my teammates that I've played with throughout the years so many valuable lessons that there are too many to count. It's on me to share that wisdom with these young men. So, that was my main focus in addressing the team. Yeah, I'm here to help you guys get right and win championships, but that starts with building relationships."
On if his lifting style will change to match the style of K-State...
"Well, the thing about the game of football is that being here in the Big 12, it's a line of scrimmage league. So, the thing is you've got to be able to win up front in order to win at all. When we talk about, as far as the spread offense, or the slow ground and pound, or the run and shoot, whatever you have, I'm not a football coach so I'm not going to pretend to be the expert here, but I do know that from playing in the Big 12 is that you have to win up front to even have a shot. So, a lot of our focus is those guys up front are strong and physical, and they are able to move people backwards. As far as the big skill positions, the tight ends and the fullbacks, that's a unique position that I hadn't coached in the past few years but I am familiar with it because that was a style of offense that I was in before. So tight ends, fullbacks, linebackers, those big skill positions, they've got to be able to pack-a-punch in the box but still be able to move well out in space. Because with the teams that spread it around, they are going to try to find mismatches and they are going to try and get those slower moving guys to cover the fast guys on offense. Those guys got to be able to move well out in space but also be able to hit when the time comes to be able to deliver a blow in the box. Then the skill positions, skill is skill wherever you go. Those guys have got to be able to move, they've got to run, they've got to be able to cut, they've got to be able to have what we call that 'repeat sprinter ability'. So, if a guy runs a 4.3 on a laser in the first quarter of a game, then he has to be able to run that 4.3 in the fourth quarter for us to be able to have a chance. So, those are primary focuses that we address within the training of what we do, but football across the board is going to have a lot of similarities and for us it starts up front."
On adapting Coach Klieman's philosophies...
"Well, I don't really think that is for me to answer. Obviously I'm the strength and conditioning coach, so my focus is going to be on preparing the guys for whatever style or system Coach Klieman and the rest of the coaches decide to go with."
On his knowledge of K-State from his playing days...
"I definitely remember a guy that wore the No. 43 by the name of Darren Sproles. I remember Ell Roberson. I remember Taco Wallace. I remember quite a few of those guys just because they came with a physicality. There weren't a lot of household names on Kansas State's football roster, but the thing is they were all blue-collar guys that no matter who was in that game, you were going to get 110% of whatever they had in the tank. They didn't take plays off, they didn't shy away from contact, they didn't turn down hits. So, that's really the biggest memories that I have of K-State. I remember one year we came here to play in Manhattan, and we had a pretty good punter. He was leading the country, I want to say, in punts. That was back before the stadium renovation took place, he was averaging 45-plus (yards) a punt. So, we punted one time here in Manhattan and the punt went up and as soon as the punt got over the top of the stadium, it actually curled and came backwards and netted as a negative-five yard punt. So, I do remember that pretty vividly."
On his relationship with Van Malone playing a part in his ...
"It was huge because there are only a few people in the world that could've called my phone. I was in a really good situation where I just came from, don't get me wrong. Van Malone is one of those people that is deeper than coaching. Obviously, us being from Houston, us having ties all the way back to being in Stillwater early in my career. That played a big factor, but I think the biggest factor is who he was and who Coach Wyatt and Coach Ray are as men. I'm all about surrounding myself with great people, so when I was presented the opportunity to come join forces with those guys, I knew it was going to be a lot more than football. Being a proud husband and proud dad now, those lessons, I don't have everything figured out, and I'm comfortable saying that. So, I want to make sure that I'm surrounded by men that believe the same things that I believe, that have the same things that I'm trying to achieve. They've had long careers, but they've also been able to sustain strong families and still be great dads to their children. That's the kind of people that I want to be around because that's the kind of person that I am."
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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
