K-State Holds Initial Spring Football Press Conference

Mar 08, 2022 | Football

MANHATTAN, Kan. – Kansas State head coach Chris Klieman and select players met with members of the media on Tuesday at the Vanier Family Football Complex following the Wildcats' first spring practice. A complete transcript of Klieman's press conference (also streamed live on Big 12 Now on ESPN+ and archived here) are posted below, in addition to comments from select players.

CHRIS KLIEMAN, HEAD COACH
Opening Statement…
"Good afternoon, everyone. Welcome back. It's exciting to be back at practice. We had our first practice this morning. You could tell that we didn't play that long ago. I think that's one of the benefits of playing late like we did in January. There's a lot of familiarity, whether it's drills to just the young guys knowing where they're supposed to be. Some of these drills we just did with these young guys, January 1, 2, and 3. So, that's the positive part is the fact that we have a lot of guys that have not been away from football for that long. Maybe the negative side of things is we had so many kids have season-ending surgeries that we're down quite a few numbers, especially in the defensive line. So, we've got to be pretty creative on how we're doing practice right now. We like to do our double-rep stuff. We don't have the ability to do that. So, opposite of that, we have a team period going opposite of that. We have 7-on-7 just because we have a few more skill kids. So, we'll have to adapt and adjust quite a bit throughout the spring. We won't have a traditional Spring Game. We will have a few scrimmages but not for very many plays because we're down so many defensive linemen for the spring. It was a good first day and guys were flying around and good leadership, good energy. We'll have another practice on Thursday, which will be same thing just helmets and in jerseys. Then we have that week of spring break, which I forgot we didn't have spring break last year, so it was a grind going through everything. But this year we have spring break and come back from that, we'll be able to put the pads on and go to work."

On the hiring of Thad Ward…
"A couple things. I met Thad a number of times through Brian Anderson. He and BA have been longtime friends and just had learned a lot about Thad. He'd been in a lot of really good places. I visited with a few coaches that he worked under that spoke very, very highly of him as far as, not only his knowledge of the game and his knowledge of receiver play but building relationships and getting the most out of his receivers. So, it's been just a couple of weeks, but I like where it's heading right now."

On players taking a step forward in strength and conditioning…
"Yeah, everybody did. The fact of it was a shorter window, we didn't really get going until almost the first of February after taking a little bit of time off after the bowl game. But just the amount of lean muscle mass and body fat lost in those things, there's a number of guys that really helped their bodies out. Now we have to continue that on for the rest of the spring."

On keeping things in balance with low numbers as some positions…
"Yeah, it's difficult, but we just got to be creative in what we what we're doing. I know that we need to be a little bit better in special teams. It's something that we as a staff talked about. We were good on special teams, but I think we can be better and need to be better on special teams. So, that's another area that you typically don't have a lot of defensive and offensive linemen on some of those special teams unit. So, we're able to take a period of time and work special teams in place of a team period as well, just to keep pushing the young guys forward. We have so many young guys that I'm excited about but just haven't played football and need to need constant repetition and constant coaching. So, we'll spend some a lot of that time on special teams as well trying to balance some of our numbers out."

On the quarterbacks…
"Excited about those guys. Will (Howard) is even bigger and stronger. Will is 245 (pounds) probably, and just needs to continue to take repetitions. He'll run with the ones this spring. Jaren (Lewis) is that much more experienced and better. Jake Rubley we're excited about. We need to really push Jake this spring to give him some opportunities, see how his growth and development has been. Adrian (Martinez) is learning. He's out there doing all the things that he can. He can't throw right now this spring, but he's doing some of the footwork mechanics and run-game things, then visiting with Coach (Collin) Klein. Adrian's just trying to get up to speed where everybody else is at learning the offense."

On if Khalid Duke is a full participant in the spring…
"He is not. Coming off of his surgery, he is not. He's in just some individual drills right now. We hope to have him to be non-contact, some 7-on-7 things hopefully around the first of April. But no, he will not be a full participant this spring."

On if Khalid Duke will play more defensive end or linebacker…
"Yeah, both. He's going to play similar to what we did last year. He'll play some defensive end, true defensive end, and then he'll play some outside linebacker for us. It's probably disappointing that we don't get him all spring to find out, because he needs to be pushed more as a linebacker than he does as a defensive lineman. He's played d-line his whole time here, so he's really adept at that and really talented. He's one of the best, I think, one of the best pass rushers we have in the Big 12. Now we just have to keep pushing him and keep having him learn as best he can getting the limited snaps he has as a linebacker."

On the development of linebacker Krew Jackson…
"Krew is continuing to get stronger. He's continuing to try to put on weight. He's a long body. I think he's grown a couple inches since he's been here even. He covers so much ground. He's going to take a ton of snaps. He'll play the SAM linebacker or nickel spot for us, and he's going to take a ton of snaps this spring. We have to see what his best skill set is. Can he rush the passer like a Khalid (Duke) can? He's probably not going to be able to cover like a Reggie (Stubblefield) can, so we've got to do some different things with him. He just covers so much ground out there. He's so long that he takes away a lot of throws just with his length."

On how many defensive linemen K-State is down…
"Well, I know we had seven at practice today. So, if we were to double rep, we'd have one extra. So, we don't have the ability to do it right now. But I look at a kid like Cody Stufflebean and Brendan Mott. Those two guys have been in our program a while, and I'm excited to see how they grow and develop. Cartez (Crook-Jones) is the other one that's playing some defensive end. So, we really have three defensive ends we're trying to rotate through that we think can provide some much-needed assistance in depth for us this year. But those guys are going to get the lion's share of the reps against the Cooper Beebes and Christian Duffies, so they're going to get a great opportunity to see what they can do."

On the next step in the development of Will Howard…
"Just feel more confident throwing the football. He understands our offense so, so well, and Coach (Collin) Klein does a phenomenal job with him. I was in the quarterback meeting this morning, and he's just so crisp and confident in what he's doing. Same with Jaren (Lewis). They just know what we're doing so well offensively. Now it is making the right read, being decisive, being confident and pulling the trigger and rolling. I saw some really good throws he made today on some seem routes to Phillip (Brooks) that excited all of us because it's like, 'Ok, we've seen this out of Will. Now, it's a consistency, and Will knows that as well. Will is a really good football player, he just got to gain confidence in gain consistency so it just snaps out of his hand."

On who he is looking forward to watching at running back this spring…
"Well, we've made the wholesale change to put Jax Dineen at running back. I think that's probably the big thing. He'll play some fullback, but if you guys noticed in the in the bowl game, he played some true running back for us. We've just put him with Coach (Brian) Anderson and said, 'Go through all the meetings and let's see how far we can take it with Jax,' because he's gives us a different dimension for sure running the football. He's got good hands, he'll be able to protect. And now whether, it's Jordan Schippers, whether it's DJ Giddens, those are a couple that are taken some of the reps, Devin Weathers is out this spring with an injury that he sustained in the fall. So, we don't have a lot of numbers there. We're trying to protect Deuce (Vaughn) a little bit. He'll run a lot of the non-contact drills and things like that and 7-on-7 and some team period, but he's not going to be any of the scrimmage situation. So, it's going to come down to Schippers, Jax and DJ."

On momentum into the spring following last season…
"That was great. All those things are last year. We talked about resetting it. Yeah, there's great optimism, there's great excitement, but we've got to turn the turn the page, flip the script to 2022. We do have some good players coming back, but we also have to continue to find some other guys and see what guys can make a leap, make a jump that maybe played limited role or didn't play at all or are new to the program that can add great value and great depth for us, because we saw it last year – you're going to need everybody. You're going to need the third linebacker. You're going to need the third or fourth safety. You're going to need the second or third quarterback. You're going to need multiple tight ends and wide outs. So, that that's the big challenge right now is we have great competition with the guys that are out there. At a number of spots, we're down, obviously, numbers that a number of spots. So, we have to emphasize the guys in the positions that we have a lot of give those guys great opportunities. Whether that's 1-on-1s with DBs and wide outs to o-line stuff, we have to find ways keep pushing people forward."

On the energy level of practice…
"We have most of our skill kids back on offense, and quarterbacks in Jaren (Lewis) and Will (Howard) that know the offense, and tight ends back. So, that was fun to just watch those guys. We were much further along on install on offense. Much further along than we'd been in the past. Guys ran around with confidence and making plays and have an excitement. Then on defense, there's a couple guys that have played a lot of football. Daniel Green has played a lot of football for us, and he's trying to help some of the younger linebackers. Julius (Brents) and Ekow (Boye-Doe) have played a ton of football for us. They're trying to help the safeties that are kind of coming along. So, it's just neat to see the mixture of veteran guys that are stepping up from a leadership role and setting up from an accountability role, and making sure that the next wave of guys, 'You don't have a chance to just get your feet wet. We need to have you ready to roll and ready to play fast.'"

On what he expects from Daniel Green…
"He'll take the next step. For him, I think that is more probably pre-snap stuff. The kid's a really good football player as we all know. He's physical, he runs well, he covers well. It's just the pre-snap stuff of seeing things before they happen and being even a better communicator. That's what we need to get from Deuce (Green), and he's capable of doing that, and he's ready for that to make everybody around him better by really talking and seeing things that he's seeing pre-snap so everybody knows."

On the progress with Taylor Poitier…
"He's close. He's probably further along than like Khalid (Duke). We have to be smart with Taylor as well. We don't want to have him have any setbacks, but he's moving around doing a lot of drills. We'll keep him out of contact things right now. But we're just trying to get him back into the groove of playing football again because he's a really good player that we missed last year. It's just getting this confidence back in his knee. That's the biggest thing."

On the tight end position…
"Yeah. I've been really impressed in the winter was Sammy Wheeler. We were excited that Sammy chose to come back. He's already graduated. Sammy's taken a great leadership role. He's bigger, he's stronger, he's fit into that tight end role now. I think he's going to lead that group. He's done a tremendous job. Ben Sinnott is a good player that's a young player that I think has got so much ability and he's just scratching the surface. Ben's got to have a really good spring because I think he can be better than what he even was last year. Then guys like Will Swanson. Konner Fox is coming off an injury, but we're counting on him. We have some good depth there, but who's going to be that guy opposite of Sammy?"

On the hiring of Brian Lepak…
"He's done a really, really good job, and the guys were excited when Brian was hired. Brian's a great energy guy. Obviously, he's very intelligent, knows the game of football really well, can explain the game of football well. He does a lot of things for our staff with data analytics. Brian was ready for this opportunity. He's probably similar to Collin (Klein) in that he wanted to prove that he was the guy throughout that bowl prep. We talked about how Collin did and how excited we were for him gaining that role of offensive coordinator, I was just as excited for Brian Lepak because Brian earned the job with how he handled that tight end/fullback room and how those guys played and how those guys' preparation was."

On the new quality control coaches and analysts…
"Clint Brown, he's a defensive guy, and I've known Clint forever because he was at South Dakota State. He's going to help on the offensive side. He's going to replace Brian Lepak. So, I'm excited for Clint because he'll give that offense a different perspective, being a defensive guy and great experience on his side. Then on offense, we hired Josh Buford, an old high school coach in the Park Hill District of KC, Mo. He just started this week. Excited about him as well. Then we still have Matt Kardulis and David Orloff on the defensive side that I can't say enough great things. Those two make our operation on defense go because of their organization and how smart those guys are."

On the center position…
"The number of people. Hayden Gillum is probably taken the most snaps there from a practice standpoint being Noah's (Johnson) true backup last year. Hadley Panzer is another guy that we're going to give a bunch of reps to. He's been a guard, but we think he can be a really good center. We need to have some depth there. Then we move Sam Shields there a little bit, too. Sam's been more of a guard throughout his time, but we need to continue to develop centers. So, we have those three guys, for the most part, taking most of the reps, and we'll see. It's a pretty wide-open position. That's the one spot on the offensive line that we may move some people around with Beebs (Cooper Beebe) and Duff (Christian Duffie), and we know we've got Taylor (Poitier) coming back. A kid like Andrew Leingang can be really good, but the center spot we've got to get solidified the spring."

On when Adrian Martinez will start throwing…
"Probably May. I think his progression starts here in April. I don't see him throwing much in March, or if it is, it's Nerf balls and things like that. Pretty similar to Skylar (Thompson). I think in April he'll start throwing a little bit more, but we're not going to put him in a spot in a team drill where anybody could bang into him or anything. So, I would say maybe later April, for sure in May. He'll get a full May, June and July to be around the guys and develop that camaraderie with receivers and tight ends."

On the interior of the offensive line…
"TP (Taylor Poitier) was essentially a starter, so we feel good about Taylor replacing either Revo (Josh Rivas) or Ben (Adler). So, we get Taylor back healthy. I'm excited about what he's going to be able to bring because he's a really good player. Andrew Leingang's growth, maybe being a guard or a tackle, allows us to have (Cooper) Beebe play some guard and tackle as well. Hadley Panzer has played guard and center. Kaitori (KT) Levenson – based on how far along Carver Wills comes, how far Witt Mitchum comes, we've got some good depth there – could also fit into that interior role. So, I like the fact that Riles (Conor Riley) has got a number of guys to work with. Some of these guys are coming off some injuries, like TP, that I don't know how much they're going to be able to fully participate this spring. But we have a core group of guys. We just got to make sure that whether it's we put the stress on a Cooper Beebe or a KT, somebody that's been around to be a swing guy that's got to play guard and tackle."

On the wide receivers…
"Great experience. Great playmaking ability. Excited to have as many guys back as we do. I think Landry (Weber) is the only one, and Eric Hommel, that played significantly for us. Between Phillip (Brooks), Malik (Knowles) and Kade (Warner) those are the three that played the most late in the season. Those three really understand the game well, understand our offense well, are good leaders and productive players. I'm excited to see this spring how Chabastin Taylor does. I think he's finally healthy. Unfortunately for C-Bass, he just was never healthy in the fall, and he knew it. He would be the first one to tell you, 'I was not healthy the entire fall.' His injury occurred middle of December of '20, so he didn't get a surgery. So, it's been a little over a year now, and sometimes that's what it will take on that kind of an injury. So, I'm excited for C-Bass. I think Ty Bowman is going to bring something to the table. He's one of our better special teams, guys, and I love that out of a wide receiver. Then a guy that just made a couple of splash plays today, RJ Garcia II is a really talented player, and he made a couple really splash plays today at practice. We've got him in Phillip's spot, but I'm excited because RJ is a dynamic player."

On the discussions after the season with Landry Weber…
"It's been a little bit since I've communicated with Landry, but I know he had some difficult decisions that were all going to be positive no matter what he chose and what path he chose. It was a matter of him deciding that he's okay with being done with football. He's got a greater calling. I'm excited because I'm going to be able to say that I've coached the guy that's gone to the priesthood and be a priest. Maybe I can take care of some of my sins later on, and I call Landry, and he can come in and help me out. What a great, great young man, great family, and excited for the future with Landry."

On the transfers from Nebraska having a bond…
"Oh, without a doubt. You see those three guys hanging around, but I also see those guys interacting with the team. They fit in really well. Once again, I thought we did a really good job of vetting the guys that we brought into the program that came from different schools. I've been very pleased to see how they all just fit in. Give you a great example, I when I walked over to practice at the indoor today, all four quarterbacks got all the same car. That tells me an awful lot that those kids except Adrian (Martinez) and Adrian is fitting into that crew. I see Josh Hayes hanging out with Ekow (Boye-Doe) and Julius (Brents), guys he's competing with. We all want the same thing. We all want to be successful and have a chance to win, and we all know we need each other. It's something that's really important. You have to make our locker room better to be a part of this team, and all those guys do."

On Collin Klein using the bowl game as a preparation for the 2022 season…
"I think it helped him, not just the game, I think the preparation is what was so important for him is to be out in front leading all of us for three weeks. Granted, we were on the road a little bit, but he was out in front and leading everybody and getting the practice plans and the game plan together. He leans on everybody on offense and does a really good job of getting input from other people. Then coming up with a collective idea and saying, 'Here's what we're going to do.' I think the game will help him, but I think the preparation is probably more valuable to him."

On the depth at cornerback…
"Well, obviously we have Julius (Brents) and Ekow (Boye-Doe) that have played an awful lot of ball for us. I know that Josh Hayes is a really good football player. I've been around him enough to know that he's going to have an impact for us, whether or not it's at a corner or as an inside nickel player because he can do some of the things that Reggie (Stubblefield) did. So, he's going to play an awful lot for us. We have a couple of younger players that are growing and learning that, who knows? Are they as experienced as those three in front of them? Probably not, but they're going to get their opportunity. I'm excited to see this spring how they do competing against those good wide outs."

On the impact of Kade Warner returning…
"Huge. Great leadership, a guy that walks the walk and does what he says he's going to do. I've been as impressed with him as I have anybody on the football team. Kade doesn't have a bad day. Kade loves life, and Kade is impactful off the field getting guys to come watch film, getting guys to play Spikeball outside, hanging out, hanging out with people in the in the performance table to what he does in the weight room to what he does on the field. He is the spark right now. We knew we had to try to fulfill what we lost with Noah Johnson, and that's a hard job to kind of galvanize the whole offense. Right now, Kade has done a really good job. There's other guys that are going to do it, but Kade has kind of taken that reign and said, 'I'll be the guy that jumps out in front.' We were so excited when Kade decided to come back. He had a good bowl game, too. He was in the mix. He had a lot of targets, was excited about what we were doing moving forward with the offense, as we all are. Kade is going to have a big impact in our pass game."

On Kade Warner as a technician…
"Great route runner, knows how to beat leverage, knows how to get open, does as good a job as anybody of building rapport with the people that are throwing the football to you. He's watching film with all the QBs. All the QBs he's watching film with. Obviously, you can't throw with Adrian (Martinez). He's done that in the past but can't do that right now. So, he's got Jake (Rubley) and he's got Will (Howard) and he's got Jaren (Lewis), and they're throwing balls all the time and talking about things and helping the kid like RJ (Garcia II), helping a guy like Ty (Bowman) from alignments, to stances, to reading coverages. There's a selfless guy. We talked about one of our core values of being selfless. Kade wants to win. Yeah, he wants balls thrown to him and those things, but he wants to win, and he wants to have an impact on guys. That's fun to see as a coach when you have a guy that is all in and wants what's best for everybody on the team."

On Pro Day…
"We got a big Pro Day tomorrow. We got a bunch of guys back for Pro Day. Most of them were out at practice, so I'm excited for those guys to have an opportunity to showcase their talents. I got quick conversation with Sky (Skylar Thompson) about his time in Indy (Indianapolis), and it was pretty special, pretty cool to watch him grow. I'm excited for him as well as all the other guys to go out and perform tomorrow morning."

ELI HUGGINS, SENIOR DEFENSIVE LINEMAN
On participating in spring football...
"I am not completely participating this spring. I am doing some stuff, but not fully."

On how much convincing it took to come back this season...
"Not much. I love this place. I just wasn't quite ready to leave yet. I felt like I had more to prove, and I wasn't happy with my career yet. Everyone I talked to that is older than me, who played here before me, told me that if they had an opportunity to come back for another year that they would have absolutely done it."

On getting a few months off during the spring...
"This will be my sixth year of college football, and I think my body definitely felt it at times. A few months off will be huge because my body hasn't had a few months off in six years."

KADE WARNER, SENIOR WIDE RECEIVER
On the first day of practice...
"Today we were a little rusty as you would assume, especially with this new tempo and everything. We're doing a great job of practicing without a whole lot of bodies, and we are doing a great job of getting our work in, too. To me, the message was just to compete. That's been the motto all winter. Just compete and get yourself better and push the guys next to you to get better as well."

On Collin Klein's footprint on the offense so far...
"So far it has been tempo. Today we did a lot of no-huddle and a lot of quick, get up on the ball. We did constant movement, six plays in a row, and more tempo stuff like that. It's just changing the pace and trying to get more plays per game."

On how he likes the new offense...
"In Nebraska it was all signals and no-huddle. When I hear these guys struggle with the signals and the no-huddle, those are the same things I struggled with a few years ago. I am trying to help them all through it as much as I can, but I really like it. The more plays, the more offense."

JULIUS BRENTS, SENIOR DEFENSIVE BACK
On the first few months with Trumain Carroll...
"They were great. You can see a lot of the results with the guys, especially on paper with how much weight we actually put on and just seeing the difference between losing body fat and gaining muscle mass. Him and the staff have definitely been great for the program."

On what areas he has been focusing on for improvement...
"I would say more so the game within the game and the mental aspect. Paying more attention to the backfield sets and finding other fine little details that may be able to help me make one or two more plays in a game. As a corner, there may only be eight to 10 plays a game that are actually going to be meaningful and impactful with you involved. Making sure when those plays do come my way and that I am just fully prepared and ready for them just by adding those small little details."

On helping new transfers around him...
"I have been getting a lot closer to Josh Hayes. He's a good dude, and he's very smart. He's actually helping me as well, and that's helping him just getting adjusted and feeling comfortable. I came last year around this time and it's tough, but we have guys like me who have been through the same thing and the same process, which makes it easy to get adjusted."

DANIEL GREEN, SENIOR LINEBACKER
On the new guys who came in at linebacker...
"I think that we have a good group. It is always nice when you have a good group. The guys want to learn and want to make a difference, most importantly."

On his responsibilities as a senior...
"More leadership. I'm working on my role right now. We have guys that are new and just making sure they know what we are doing in practice and what we do at K-State."

On what he wants to improve on...
"The biggest thing I want to improve on is coverage. That's a very big emphasis for me this spring."