Proud of the Legacy

By: D. Scott Fritchen

"When people doubt you, rise up."

That sentence spoken by Kansas State head coach Chris Klieman a handful of years ago caused offensive lineman Hayden Gillum to type the six words into his cellphone, where they've remained ever since. At the time, Gillum, a native of Plainville, Kansas, and a walk-on offensive lineman buried behind ample veteran players, had no idea where his football journey would take him in a Wildcat uniform, but he knew this: He trusted Klieman.

Now a sixth-year senior, just days away from taking the field one final time at Bill Snyder Family Stadium, Gillum stands inside the Vanier Family Football Complex, and the words pour back, ever relevant to this football season, which, by the way, feels like the fastest football season in K-State history, yet with many twists and turns as the defending Big 12 Champions have fought in this topsy-turvy conference through eight games.

"When people doubt you, rise up," Gillum repeats. "I've really tried to embody that. When people doubt you, you do need to rise up. People doubted us after Oklahoma State. People might doubt you and people might continue to doubt you. Yeah, that specific quote, I always look at that. That quote is something Coach Klieman taught me."

No. 19 K-State, 8-3 overall and 6-2 in the Big 12, heads toward Saturday's 7 p.m. kickoff (FOX) against Iowa State, 6-5 and 5-3, at Bill Snyder Family Stadium, where the Wildcats seek their first undefeated home football season since 2012, and they seek a possible berth in the Big 12 Championship Game, and they seek a victory for their seniors. There was a time when these Wildcats were doubted — there was a 3-point loss at Missouri, an 8-point loss at Oklahoma State, and a 3-point overtime loss at Texas — yet they have overcome, with last Saturday's 31-27 win at then-No. 25 Kansas serving as the crown jewel to this point in the season. As for the Wildcats' three losses? Those are against teams currently ranked No. 7 (Texas), No. 9 (Missouri) and No. 20 (Oklahoma State) in the latest College Football Playoff Top 25.

"The story is still being written for us, and we still have more chapters, and this is a huge one," Klieman says at his weekly news conference. "That was a huge chapter last week (in Lawrence)."

Step back from the immediacy of the Iowa State game, and this senior class — from fourth-year seniors to fifth-year seniors to sixth-year seniors — has already accomplished so much.

"It's fun for me because I've been with a lot of them all five years that I've been here," Klieman says. "Some of them came back for a sixth year, which I'm so thankful to spend another year with those guys."

Klieman adds: "I don't even know how many guys are walking. There are a lot of guys walking who have to make a decision once they're done if they're going to come back for another year, but there are guys we know who are going to move on."

Since 2019, K-State has won no fewer than eight games in non-COVID seasons. Last season, the Wildcats finished top-10 in the final College Football Playoff Poll for the first time. The Wildcats have a chance to record double-digit wins in back-to-back seasons for the first time since 2011 and 2012. The Wildcats have also been to three bowls in four years and will soon add to that ledger. Yes, this senior class has been a part of something special.

"They went through a good time in 2019 to a tough experience in the pandemic year to rebuilding this the way we wanted in 2021 and 2022 and now in 2023. We've put three really good seasons back-to-back," Klieman says. "I told the guys Monday, 'The guys who've been with us all this time, these guys have put K-State on the national map.' It's a really cool for a legacy for that group, no matter how this thing ends as far as if we finish this week in the regular season or get the opportunity to play for another week in the Big 12 Championship, to playing in a bowl game.

"Whatever it may be, be proud of the legacy because you left the place a lot better after your time here."

Sixth-year senior Phillip Brooks stands inside Vanier on Tuesday afternoon, and, oh, how the memories flow. A former walk-on wide receiver from Lee's Summit, Missouri, the 5-foot-8, 171-pound Brooks is one of only two players in Big 12 history with 1,000 receiving yards, 800 kickoff-return yards, 700 punt-return yards, and 100 rushing yards.

In the spirit of Thanksgiving, Brooks is extremely grateful.

"I'm very thankful for Coach Klieman because he gave me an opportunity to play," Brooks says. "He believed in me."

Yes, an opportunity is all that Brooks wanted when he walked through the front doors of Vanier for the first time. Little did he know the journey to come.

"As you can see, we've developed a winning culture," Brooks says. "We've propelled our team to win the Big 12 Championship and possibly go back-to-back. This senior class is very strong willed and has a lot of talent and a lot of leaders.

"It was about just developing the team and the team nature and the family atmosphere. We've definitely developed a strong culture along with the coaching staff that came in with us. We just want to leave a legacy and keep that momentum going."

Christian Duffie remembers. The sixth-year senior right tackle from Humble, Texas, remembers sitting in Klieman's first meeting with the team shortly after his hiring. Now Duffie stands in the very room where Klieman delivered his fiery introductory speech to the team that day in December 2018.

"I'm extremely thankful for Coach Klieman," Duffie says. "He's truly shaped the culture that we have here. Something as simple as 'Pound the Stone,' something as simple as that has changed the culture here and look how it's grown."

And now Duffie's time in the program nears an end.

"It's funny, we say the days are long and the weeks are short," he says. "It feels like I just got here."

If there was a time that sixth-year senior long-snapper Randen Plattner will remember, it's the morning runs. Although the times chatting with teammates inside meeting rooms and inside the locker room might forever be treasured, those morning runs, man, those morning runs served as the cornerstone for building relationships and collective success.

"Those relationships just mean more when you're sweating and grinding together at 6 a.m. every week versus just hanging out," Plattner says. "I'm unbelievably thankful. Everything Coach Klieman has done for this program and to make my family and me feel a part of this program is unreal."

But reality strikes. And it brings a strong sense of gratitude as the pendulum swings and slowly begins to stop on an unforgettable ride.

"There's a lot of emotions and all that this place has meant to me and a lot of these seniors and guys who'll be running out there for their final time," senior quarterback Will Howard says. "It'll be emotional."

It was the special bond between Howard and his teammates that kept the native of Downingtown, Pennsylvania, wearing purple all these years. Howard has thrown a school-record 47 touchdown passes, but it's about more than that. It's about the process, which the seniors witnessed and played an active role in to alter the shape of the program when times were tough.

"A lot of what makes this senior class and all the guys that'll be out there on Senior Night special is all the things that we've been through together," Howard says. "Going through a tough season like 2020 and rebuilding in 2021 and winning a Big 12 Championship in 2022 and having kind of an up-and-down year this year and being so close, man, we've been through so many things together and we've leaned on each other, and we love each other so much. That's special.

"That bond we have is going to last the rest of our lives. It truly will. I know when we all come back in 10 years and celebrate our reunion — hopefully a lot of us are still playing ball in the league — I know that relationship, that love that we have, it runs deep and is going to forever."

It's those relationships that brought Gillum back. Gillum went through the Senior Night ceremony last year. Shortly after the Big 12 Championship, when he sat down with his fellow senior offensive linemen, he decided that he wasn't finished yet. He loved his team. He loved his coaches. He loved the bond with his fellow veteran offensive linemen. He came back for a sixth season. And now, this is it, the final home farewell.

"I'm just trying to take it all in," Gillum says. "This week in practice, you really realize your days are limited here with these guys. It's going to be special.

"What a better way to wrap up (the regular season) than here in The Bill with everyone. It's been such an amazing year. I'm just excited to have one more opportunity here."

For now, there are no doubters, only ardent supporters of a senior class and an indomitable team that still has at least two games remaining in this 2023 season. It's been quite a journey. It's been quite a ride.

And they're thankful.

"To be able to put a stamp on (the season to this point) and go out not losing to KU, it's special," Gillum says. "Our class will be the one remembered for this season, so we have a lot of pride in what we do. We faced some adversity. It definitely could've gone the other way, but I'm surrounded by great leadership and guys who were focused on not allowing that to happen and continuing to push through."

Yes, time flies, but one fundamental lesson Klieman bestowed upon his team several years ago, the words that Gillum planted into his cellphone, the words that Gillum refers to during good times and not-so good times, remain steadfast and have helped shape the path of this program and this season.

Once doubted, the Wildcats, and their seniors, have risen up.

Kansas State University Athletics

Players Mentioned

Phillip Brooks

Christian Duffie

Hayden Gillum

Will Howard

Randen Plattner

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