Cats Seek Consistency as Spring Practices Open

Mar 08, 2023 | Football, Sports Extra

By: D. Scott Fritchen

It's been 95 days since Kansas State captured the Big 12 Championship. Ninety-five days since the defense executed the most clutch goal-line stand in school history. Ninety-five days since Ty Zentner kicked the game-winning field goal in overtime. And 95 says since Chris Klieman hoisted the conference championship trophy into the sky at AT&T Stadium.

The confetti has long been cleaned up on the football field in Arlington, Texas. Similarly, Bill Snyder Family Stadium is bare as well — aside from the glow of "CHAMPIONS" that beams across the stadium videoboards and the long digital display outlining the rim of the Shamrock Zone reading, "BIG 12 CHAMPIONS" "BIG 12 CHAMPIONS" "BIG 12 CHAMPIONS" — purple tickertape serving as a reminder where the Wildcats have been, and the identity that they will work to achieve again in 2023.

Those strides officially began with the opening of spring practice on Tuesday at 8:10 a.m. The Wildcats practiced for around two hours and for the first time utilized both fields of their new Shamrock Indoor Practice Facility.

"It was our first true practice in the combination indoor/outdoor, so it was tons of field space and so much better to be able to open up the garage doors," Klieman says. "We had the defense outside most of the morning and the offense stayed inside, and then we were able to split team reps up and use both fields.

"We got a lot of stuff done and had good energy out there. We have a little over 80 guys practicing in the spring. Through all the offseason surgeries and some other injuries, we're down a little bit in numbers."

We're back 😁#RaiseTheBar ⚒️ @whoward_ pic.twitter.com/dY4BO4addA
— K-State Football (@KStateFB) March 7, 2023

K-State finished 10-4 and ranked No. 14 in the final AP Top 25 Poll following an appearance against No. 5 Alabama in the Allstate Sugar Bowl. It marked K-State's highest final ranking in the AP Poll since 2014.

Klieman's message: Taking care of unfinished business.

"We're not done," Klieman says. "We're just getting started in our mind. All of us as players and coaches feel that it's not unfinished business of where we should finish at the end of the season in totality, but just finding the consistency. We've had these conversations in here since I started about being consistent, and we were as consistent (in 2022) as we've been since I've been here. I think our guys start to see that.

"In this league, you're going to lose some football games – it's just so competitive – but our guys are becoming more consistent and that's what we see as a program. Unfinished business is just being a consistent program and staying where we're at. It's the hardest thing in athletics. We're not going to talk about winning a Big 12 Championship and all that stuff. I know what the kids' ultimate goal is, but to do those things we have to be more consistent. We have a lot of work to do this spring to decide where our fate is going to be in the summer and fall."

K-State came in at No. 18 on ESPN's 2023 Way-Too-Early College Football Top 25 and signed its highest-ranked recruiting class in 15 years.

The Wildcats return 15 starters. That includes eight starters for an offense led by second-year offensive coordinator Collin Klein. The Wildcats come off one of their best statistical offensive seasons in history, ranking top 10 in school history in 14 game or season categories, including the school record for lowest interception percentage (1.54%) and No. 2 in total plays (958) and total yards (5,863).

Offensively, the Wildcats bring back starting quarterback Will Howard, their entire offensive line, All-Big 12 First Team tight end Ben Sinnott, wide receivers Phillip Brooks and RJ Garcia II, running back DJ Giddens, and brought in wide receiver Keagan Johnson (Iowa) and running back Treshaun Ward (Florida State), who is doing individual work right now while recovering from injury.

"Keagan we were obviously more familiar with because it was us and Iowa all the way down to the end (of the initial recruiting process) and he chose Iowa," Klieman says. "Then when Keagan went into the transfer portal, he reached out to us and was very interested in what we're doing here. He has tremendous versatility in being either an X or Z or an F receiver for us in our offense.

"Just watching him in winter conditioning, he's a very smooth, fluid athlete who can really run, and watching him (Tuesday) in and out of breaks, catching the football in one day, you can tell he's a very seasoned kid for a wide receiver. We're excited about him."

Defensively, the Wildcats bring back five starters from a unit that continues to progress behind its 3-3-5 formation. In the 27 games since the defensive switch, the Wildcats are surrendering just 21.4 points per game, which ranks second in the Big 12 and 23^rd in the nation under defensive coordinator Joe Klanderman. The Wildcats have allowed just 21.0 points per game in 2021 and 21.9 points per game in 2022. It marks the first time K-State has allowed fewer than 22.0 points per game in consecutive seasons since going 13-straight years from 1991 to 2003.

"We're continuing to try and evolve (the defense)," Klieman says. "There are some things we feel that we're doing really well and some things that we need to improve on as a staff, so we're still in professional development and getting different ideas, and finding some new wrinkles and nuances. We have to continue to have some wrinkles and we have a lot of them this spring that we're excited about trying."

K-State's defense received a boost when inside linebacker Daniel Green opted to return for a sixth year. He joins leading tackler Austin Moore, defensive ends Brendan Mott and Khalid Duke, and safety Kobe Savage, a second-team All-Big 12 pick who began the spring doing straight-line running drills while recovering from surgery.

"Kobe is straight-line running right now and he's able to get up to full speed," Klieman says. "He won't do any contact (drills). I think by the end of spring he'll be in a lot more change-of-direction and agility drills, so I'm excited because Kobe will be full go once we get back from our May break. He's a guy with tremendous leadership skills."

Klieman lauded Green's decision to return to the Wildcats for another year.

"He did his homework," Klieman says. "He and his family did their homework to see where he'd land (in the NFL Draft) and what he needed to do. Daniel wasn't healthy all season. He didn't think he put his best film out there. Daniel Green knows there's more in him and that the best football for him is in front of him. That he comes back to Kansas State shows you what he thinks of what we have and what we're building here."

K-State will focus on building on a couple spots in particular. That includes the safety position and running back, as the Wildcats must pivot following the departure of Deuce Vaughn to the NFL Draft.

"It's about just continuing to be versatile more than anything, whether it's DJ (Giddens) or Treshaun (Ward) or some other guys," Klieman says. "I think a lot of people learned that DJ Giddens is a pretty good football player now, and he just does some different things, and having Phillip Brooks back and having RJ Garcia, and having Seth Porter back, you think of the perimeter guys. We lose Deuce catching the ball out of the backfield and you just don't replace Deuce Vaughn. Other guys have to step up. Collin is being creative to get the correct guys the ball and the amount of touches and spreading that out."

Along with finding safeties, Klieman is excited about the competition at cornerback as well.

"We have a lot of depth and a lot of great competition," Klieman says. "That's the position I'm excited about where a lot of guys are here that are getting to compete. Jacob Parrish is a terrific player and really is going to come into his own. Keenan Garber came on and is going to be a corner fulltime, so I'm excited about him. Jordan Wright and Justice Clemons both redshirted and are junior college kids with another year under their belt learning the system, which is going to help. Darell Jones had a 41-inch vertical and is a legit 4.4 kid who can really roll. Omar Daniels has played an awful lot of football for us in a backup role. Omar has confidence. The fact that we have all those guys at the corner spot vying for playing time (is ideal). It'll be a great competition with those guys."

One other position of intrigue? Nose guard.

"Uso Seumalo played an awful lot of football for us," Klieman says. "It's hard to replace Eli Huggins and what he did for us and obviously Dee (Robert) Hentz was really good. Damian Ilalio is going to help us as well. When you throw Damian into a third- and fourth-and-goal situation and he's able to walk people back in a Big 12 Championship game, that gave him a lot of confidence. Jevon Banks, we brought in, and Jevon is a guy who could play defensive end as well as nose tackle. We'll find out as we go through spring."

The Wildcats will practice throughout the month of March and April, which will culminate with the final practice on Saturday, April 15.

"Guys had great energy (Tuesday)," Klieman says. "It was exciting. It was a quick offseason. Guys are excited to be back out there. We have a lot of work to do. We have a lot of guys returning but obviously we lost a number of talented players, so it's going to be a great evaluation for a lot of young players and new players."

It's been 95 days since the Big 12 Championship game.

The Wildcats are working toward taking care of unfinished business with consistency in mind.