SE: Klieman Talks “Reset” Underway in Manhattan
Jul 21, 2021 | Football, Sports Extra
By: Austin Siegel
After his final interview of Big 12 Media Days in Dallas, Chris Klieman ducked into a darkened locker room, empty but for a FOX television set in the corner.
Down one hallway, he noted the location of the coach's office and the path to the field at AT&T Stadium.
Klieman had just spent the better part of a day talking about his team, about Skylar Thompson and Jahron McPherson, about beating Oklahoma (twice) and navigating COVID-19 in just his second season at the helm of the Wildcats.
But his mind was always on football.
And Klieman's last interview of the afternoon was in the locker room the Wildcats will use when they return to Dallas for the Allstate Kickoff Classic against Stanford on September 4.
"I came here in 2019 after being on the job about four months, Kenny Lannou took me around and I was just kind of in awe. I'm looking at the place a little differently today," Klieman said. "I'm asking him where the locker room is and which sideline we're on. Skylar and I are pointing out where the play clock is at. We're trying to do as much leg work as we can, because what a great opportunity this is for our guys."
In less than two months, one of the biggest stages on college football's opening weekend will belong to the Wildcats. On the same field where K-State Football will look to turn the page on a challenging 2020 season, the head coach of the Wildcats explained how they're going to do it.
"I think if you don't grow and learn from something, then it can really overshadow the problems that you had," Klieman said. "We really grew, and I learned an awful lot about myself as a leader and about myself as a coach."
The word Klieman used to describe his third season in Manhattan was "reset."
That starts with the culture around the program, something that K-State's head coach said began at the end of last season.
It's when the Wildcats came up with four core values: Discipline, Commitment, Toughness and Be Selfless.
Those four values were up on the video boards at Bill Snyder Family Stadium during spring practice and summer workouts, and in June when recruits could visit Manhattan for the first time in more than a year. They're even on the cover of the new K-State Football Media Guide.
"They're kind of plastered all over our Vanier Complex right now," Klieman said. "When I say reset, the building of relationships is the biggest thing that us coaches need to do with our student-athletes…as we started to clear up some of our COVID things, just to build those bonds."
That theme continued in the weight room, where new Director of Strength and Conditioning Trumain Carroll was the first name Klieman mentioned during his media day press conference.
"He has had an unbelievable impact on our football team and our football players and helped enhance the already good culture at Kansas State to another level," Klieman said.
Of course, Carroll isn't the only new face around Manhattan, as the Wildcats also brought in eight players through the transfer portal.
That subject came up in a few different interviews with Klieman, most interestingly as an adjustment he mentioned from his time at North Dakota State.
"We're still a developmental program," he said. "But you've got to change with the times. I'm all for kids being able to transfer and be immediately eligible. This game is too great for kids to lose a season. We had to plug some holes, but it still came down to do they fit our locker room and do they fit our culture."
Of the new faces, Daniel Imatorbhebhe is someone Klieman said he couldn't wait for K-State fans to watch on Saturdays. Imatorbhebhe will look to follow Briley Moore as the latest transfer tight end to arrive in Manhattan and make an immediate impact, after spending 2020 at Illinois.
Klieman also talked about wide receiver Kade Warner, who arrives from Nebraska with a personal connection to Klieman as the son of a former college teammate, NFL Hall of Famer Kurt Warner.
But it was the returning talent at Bill Snyder Family Stadium that Klieman kept coming back too.
"It starts off with our quarterback, having Skylar Thompson back. But I also will throw Will Howard into that mix too because we have two starting quarterbacks returning," he said. "Deuce Vaughn, who is as humble as the day is long, and I absolutely love how he's handled the accolades and success he's had because he has not felt like he's arrived."
McPherson, who will lead the K-State defense in 2021, and center Noah Johnson were a pair of sixth-year players who Klieman mentioned as leaders before the Wildcats begin fall camp.
For all the talk of a "reset" and a "revamp" in Manhattan this season, one word you didn't hear from Klieman was "rebuild."
With a sixth-year senior at quarterback, award-winning weapon on offense and a defense strengthened by the transfer portal, everyone the Wildcats need to succeed is already here.
Sometimes, what goes unsaid can speak volumes.
"We're into the third season and we're resetting a little bit, resetting some values, resetting some culture things, resetting some things in the weight room," Klieman said. "But it's about a belief and mindset that we have the opportunity to be successful if we play to our capabilities."
After his final interview of Big 12 Media Days in Dallas, Chris Klieman ducked into a darkened locker room, empty but for a FOX television set in the corner.
Down one hallway, he noted the location of the coach's office and the path to the field at AT&T Stadium.
Klieman had just spent the better part of a day talking about his team, about Skylar Thompson and Jahron McPherson, about beating Oklahoma (twice) and navigating COVID-19 in just his second season at the helm of the Wildcats.
But his mind was always on football.
And Klieman's last interview of the afternoon was in the locker room the Wildcats will use when they return to Dallas for the Allstate Kickoff Classic against Stanford on September 4.
"I came here in 2019 after being on the job about four months, Kenny Lannou took me around and I was just kind of in awe. I'm looking at the place a little differently today," Klieman said. "I'm asking him where the locker room is and which sideline we're on. Skylar and I are pointing out where the play clock is at. We're trying to do as much leg work as we can, because what a great opportunity this is for our guys."
See you there#KStateFB | @ATTStadium | @dallascowboys pic.twitter.com/2MBFFrDMKB
— K-State Football (@KStateFB) July 15, 2021
In less than two months, one of the biggest stages on college football's opening weekend will belong to the Wildcats. On the same field where K-State Football will look to turn the page on a challenging 2020 season, the head coach of the Wildcats explained how they're going to do it.
"I think if you don't grow and learn from something, then it can really overshadow the problems that you had," Klieman said. "We really grew, and I learned an awful lot about myself as a leader and about myself as a coach."
The word Klieman used to describe his third season in Manhattan was "reset."
That starts with the culture around the program, something that K-State's head coach said began at the end of last season.
It's when the Wildcats came up with four core values: Discipline, Commitment, Toughness and Be Selfless.
Those four values were up on the video boards at Bill Snyder Family Stadium during spring practice and summer workouts, and in June when recruits could visit Manhattan for the first time in more than a year. They're even on the cover of the new K-State Football Media Guide.
"They're kind of plastered all over our Vanier Complex right now," Klieman said. "When I say reset, the building of relationships is the biggest thing that us coaches need to do with our student-athletes…as we started to clear up some of our COVID things, just to build those bonds."
That theme continued in the weight room, where new Director of Strength and Conditioning Trumain Carroll was the first name Klieman mentioned during his media day press conference.
"He has had an unbelievable impact on our football team and our football players and helped enhance the already good culture at Kansas State to another level," Klieman said.
Of course, Carroll isn't the only new face around Manhattan, as the Wildcats also brought in eight players through the transfer portal.
That subject came up in a few different interviews with Klieman, most interestingly as an adjustment he mentioned from his time at North Dakota State.
"We're still a developmental program," he said. "But you've got to change with the times. I'm all for kids being able to transfer and be immediately eligible. This game is too great for kids to lose a season. We had to plug some holes, but it still came down to do they fit our locker room and do they fit our culture."
Of the new faces, Daniel Imatorbhebhe is someone Klieman said he couldn't wait for K-State fans to watch on Saturdays. Imatorbhebhe will look to follow Briley Moore as the latest transfer tight end to arrive in Manhattan and make an immediate impact, after spending 2020 at Illinois.
Klieman also talked about wide receiver Kade Warner, who arrives from Nebraska with a personal connection to Klieman as the son of a former college teammate, NFL Hall of Famer Kurt Warner.
But it was the returning talent at Bill Snyder Family Stadium that Klieman kept coming back too.
"Let's fill this place up with purple"#KStateFB ⚒ pic.twitter.com/Y4njestQg2
— K-State Football (@KStateFB) July 15, 2021
"It starts off with our quarterback, having Skylar Thompson back. But I also will throw Will Howard into that mix too because we have two starting quarterbacks returning," he said. "Deuce Vaughn, who is as humble as the day is long, and I absolutely love how he's handled the accolades and success he's had because he has not felt like he's arrived."
McPherson, who will lead the K-State defense in 2021, and center Noah Johnson were a pair of sixth-year players who Klieman mentioned as leaders before the Wildcats begin fall camp.
For all the talk of a "reset" and a "revamp" in Manhattan this season, one word you didn't hear from Klieman was "rebuild."
With a sixth-year senior at quarterback, award-winning weapon on offense and a defense strengthened by the transfer portal, everyone the Wildcats need to succeed is already here.
Sometimes, what goes unsaid can speak volumes.
"We're into the third season and we're resetting a little bit, resetting some values, resetting some culture things, resetting some things in the weight room," Klieman said. "But it's about a belief and mindset that we have the opportunity to be successful if we play to our capabilities."
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