Kansas State University Athletics
Excited For What’s Next
Apr 16, 2024 | Football, Sports Extra
By: D. Scott Fritchen
Kansas State isn't a finished product. But it's certainly trending in the right direction.
K-State returns 49 letterwinners, including 15 starters and 11 players that earned 2023 All-Big 12 recognition on a team that finished 9-4 overall and 6-3 in the Big 12 and won six of its final eight games. The Wildcats finished 18th in the final AP Top 25 rankings and are projected to begin the 2024 season nationally ranked as well.
Head coach Chris Klieman emphasized that the Wildcats made positive steps as he opened his final news conference of spring practice following the team's 15th and last practice session at the Shamrock Indoor Practice Facility.
"We made some really good strides, especially with a lot of young players that maybe have just been in the program a year that we're going to have to count on, whether it's on offense, defense or special teams," Klieman said. "The guys did a really good job and we're excited for what's next."
Asked what he learned most about his team in the spring, Klieman replied, "Who the leaders are, really."
Klieman noted that the team reported at 6 a.m. Monday through Friday and that there were no tardies, which he attributes to player-led ownership of the program.
"It's those kids holding each other accountable on little things, whether it's meals to workouts to meeting times," Klieman said, "our guys were really locked in."
The 49 returning letterwinners are the Wildcats' second most since 2003. Of the 49 returning letterwinners, 17 are on offense, 31 on defense and one is a specialist. The 31 returning letterwinners on defense are the most on that side of the ball since at least 2003.
Klieman indicated that some players were either limited or sat out spring practice while recovering from bumps and bruises or offseason surgery. He noted absences at defensive tackle, linebacker and wide receiver ("just down with some aches and pains and soft-tissue things," he said) that limited the amount of double reps that the team performed in the spring.
"Everybody should be up and running by June 1," he said.
June 1 is when the team reports to summer workouts and the captains are expected to begin holding captains' practices.
The charge is for each position group to have a leader.
"I don't know if we had that last year," Klieman said. "We had really good leadership but not at every position. We have somebody who's stepping up at every position and holding their teammates accountable, and it's really helped us."
Klieman lauded the efforts of several players on offense and on defense on the field.
Asked how sophomore quarterback Avery Johnson improved over the course of spring practice, Klieman replied, "Really well. He and Coach (Matt) Wells are a really good match. They have really good connection and do a really good job of communicating. I sit down in a decent amount of QB meetings. Just seeing his growth and seeing him take the things that we talk about in the meeting room to the grass with practice and in team settings, it's been fun to see him evolve."
The absence of junior running back DJ Giddens while recovering from a shoulder injury opened a path for others to take reps at the position.
Klieman said that La'James White, a 5-foot-7, 183-pound junior from Lenexa, Kansas, is "getting better in his fits because he's so explosive." Klieman said that "the sky's the limit" for tight end Garrett Oakley. While sophomore wide receiver Jayce Brown "was limited a little bit with an injury," Klieman called Keagan Johnson "one of the best wide receivers in the Big 12 and we have to keep him healthy." The addition of Dante Cephas is already paying off. "Bringing in Dante Cephas was a really good get for us and he fits in really well." Sterling Lockett "made some great strides and is playing a lot faster." Jadon Jackson, Trey Spivey and Andre Davis are all "playing a lot faster."
"Who's going to be at the front when we get to the end of fall camp?" Klieman said. "It's really good competition in there but there's certain guys who have really good skillsets. We have to find ways to get them onto the field because the names that I mention – it's a lot of guys – but we need more than just three or four wide receivers. We need seven or eight to be productive for us."
Getting production from seven or eight wide receivers would mark a significant change from a year ago. Two of the top three pass catchers last season didn't play wide receiver (Ben Sinnott and Giddens), and departed senior Phillip Brooks was the only wide receiver with more than 30 catches on the year. Only six wide receivers in all totaled three or more receptions.
It appears that new offensive coordinator Conor Riley and co-offensive coordinator Matt Wells have something cooking for the fall.
Asked how much the offense has changed with Johnson at quarterback and the Riley-Wells combination, Klieman replied, "A lot. A lot. But we're not going to go much further than that."
"We're doing a lot of similar things but a lot of different things as far as some of the run-scheme stuff, but then in the pass game, we're doing some things to get the ball on the perimeter a little bit more and taking some shots downfield," Klieman continued. "We were down some numbers at wide receiver (in the spring), but my dialog with Riles and Wells, there are some things that are going to be different than people have not seen here."
K-State is rebuilding its offensive line following the loss of all five of its starters. One new face to keep in mind is 6-foot-5, 305-pound senior Easton Kilty, who arrived from North Dakota and was the fifth-best available offensive tackle transfer by 247Sports. Kilty started every game last season at left tackle and earned Honorable Mention All-Missouri Valley Conference honors. This came after he started 12 games at right guard as a sophomore.
"He's a physical guy," Klieman said. "He has really good length. He gets challenged every day. He's for sure a guy who's already in our rotation just through our spring. How many we get into that rotation of six, seven, or eight, he's in there for sure."
Klieman indicated that Sam Hecht, who was put on scholarship at semester, is front-runner to take over the center position, and that "we hope that he takes the reins of it," while suggesting there is adequate depth at the spot as well.
There appears to be depth at the safety position, which is the position group that apparently most pleasantly surprised Klieman in the spring.
"We have some really talented defensive ends for sure, and Uso Seumalo was doing individual (drills), but he didn't do team stuff, and we're really deep on the defensive line in general. We'll find some ways to get four guys on the field quite a bit, but the safety position has a lot of depth right now," Klieman said.
"Marques Sigle, everybody knows VJ Payne was held out because of an offseason deal, and Colby McCalister was held out because of an offseason deal, but guys like Jack Fabris, who is a year into the program, and Wesley Fair, Mike Bergeron, Jordan Riley — those guys have really stepped up and have made us a lot better and deeper in the secondary."
The next phase for the Wildcats is workouts under director of strength and conditioning Trumain Carroll and captains' practices.
"I'm excited," Klieman said. "We have a long way to go. We have some guys who've made the next step. Now it's all the guys who missed some springtime, getting those guys caught up and up to speed, because in the summer it's a lot of time with Coach Tru and the captain's practices, but we're really excited.
"We have a long way to go but we're excited."
Kansas State isn't a finished product. But it's certainly trending in the right direction.
K-State returns 49 letterwinners, including 15 starters and 11 players that earned 2023 All-Big 12 recognition on a team that finished 9-4 overall and 6-3 in the Big 12 and won six of its final eight games. The Wildcats finished 18th in the final AP Top 25 rankings and are projected to begin the 2024 season nationally ranked as well.
Head coach Chris Klieman emphasized that the Wildcats made positive steps as he opened his final news conference of spring practice following the team's 15th and last practice session at the Shamrock Indoor Practice Facility.
"We made some really good strides, especially with a lot of young players that maybe have just been in the program a year that we're going to have to count on, whether it's on offense, defense or special teams," Klieman said. "The guys did a really good job and we're excited for what's next."
Asked what he learned most about his team in the spring, Klieman replied, "Who the leaders are, really."
Klieman noted that the team reported at 6 a.m. Monday through Friday and that there were no tardies, which he attributes to player-led ownership of the program.
"It's those kids holding each other accountable on little things, whether it's meals to workouts to meeting times," Klieman said, "our guys were really locked in."
The 49 returning letterwinners are the Wildcats' second most since 2003. Of the 49 returning letterwinners, 17 are on offense, 31 on defense and one is a specialist. The 31 returning letterwinners on defense are the most on that side of the ball since at least 2003.
Klieman indicated that some players were either limited or sat out spring practice while recovering from bumps and bruises or offseason surgery. He noted absences at defensive tackle, linebacker and wide receiver ("just down with some aches and pains and soft-tissue things," he said) that limited the amount of double reps that the team performed in the spring.
"Everybody should be up and running by June 1," he said.
June 1 is when the team reports to summer workouts and the captains are expected to begin holding captains' practices.
The charge is for each position group to have a leader.
"I don't know if we had that last year," Klieman said. "We had really good leadership but not at every position. We have somebody who's stepping up at every position and holding their teammates accountable, and it's really helped us."
Klieman lauded the efforts of several players on offense and on defense on the field.
Asked how sophomore quarterback Avery Johnson improved over the course of spring practice, Klieman replied, "Really well. He and Coach (Matt) Wells are a really good match. They have really good connection and do a really good job of communicating. I sit down in a decent amount of QB meetings. Just seeing his growth and seeing him take the things that we talk about in the meeting room to the grass with practice and in team settings, it's been fun to see him evolve."
The absence of junior running back DJ Giddens while recovering from a shoulder injury opened a path for others to take reps at the position.
Klieman said that La'James White, a 5-foot-7, 183-pound junior from Lenexa, Kansas, is "getting better in his fits because he's so explosive." Klieman said that "the sky's the limit" for tight end Garrett Oakley. While sophomore wide receiver Jayce Brown "was limited a little bit with an injury," Klieman called Keagan Johnson "one of the best wide receivers in the Big 12 and we have to keep him healthy." The addition of Dante Cephas is already paying off. "Bringing in Dante Cephas was a really good get for us and he fits in really well." Sterling Lockett "made some great strides and is playing a lot faster." Jadon Jackson, Trey Spivey and Andre Davis are all "playing a lot faster."
"Who's going to be at the front when we get to the end of fall camp?" Klieman said. "It's really good competition in there but there's certain guys who have really good skillsets. We have to find ways to get them onto the field because the names that I mention – it's a lot of guys – but we need more than just three or four wide receivers. We need seven or eight to be productive for us."
Getting production from seven or eight wide receivers would mark a significant change from a year ago. Two of the top three pass catchers last season didn't play wide receiver (Ben Sinnott and Giddens), and departed senior Phillip Brooks was the only wide receiver with more than 30 catches on the year. Only six wide receivers in all totaled three or more receptions.
It appears that new offensive coordinator Conor Riley and co-offensive coordinator Matt Wells have something cooking for the fall.
Asked how much the offense has changed with Johnson at quarterback and the Riley-Wells combination, Klieman replied, "A lot. A lot. But we're not going to go much further than that."
"We're doing a lot of similar things but a lot of different things as far as some of the run-scheme stuff, but then in the pass game, we're doing some things to get the ball on the perimeter a little bit more and taking some shots downfield," Klieman continued. "We were down some numbers at wide receiver (in the spring), but my dialog with Riles and Wells, there are some things that are going to be different than people have not seen here."
K-State is rebuilding its offensive line following the loss of all five of its starters. One new face to keep in mind is 6-foot-5, 305-pound senior Easton Kilty, who arrived from North Dakota and was the fifth-best available offensive tackle transfer by 247Sports. Kilty started every game last season at left tackle and earned Honorable Mention All-Missouri Valley Conference honors. This came after he started 12 games at right guard as a sophomore.
"He's a physical guy," Klieman said. "He has really good length. He gets challenged every day. He's for sure a guy who's already in our rotation just through our spring. How many we get into that rotation of six, seven, or eight, he's in there for sure."
Klieman indicated that Sam Hecht, who was put on scholarship at semester, is front-runner to take over the center position, and that "we hope that he takes the reins of it," while suggesting there is adequate depth at the spot as well.
There appears to be depth at the safety position, which is the position group that apparently most pleasantly surprised Klieman in the spring.
"We have some really talented defensive ends for sure, and Uso Seumalo was doing individual (drills), but he didn't do team stuff, and we're really deep on the defensive line in general. We'll find some ways to get four guys on the field quite a bit, but the safety position has a lot of depth right now," Klieman said.
"Marques Sigle, everybody knows VJ Payne was held out because of an offseason deal, and Colby McCalister was held out because of an offseason deal, but guys like Jack Fabris, who is a year into the program, and Wesley Fair, Mike Bergeron, Jordan Riley — those guys have really stepped up and have made us a lot better and deeper in the secondary."
The next phase for the Wildcats is workouts under director of strength and conditioning Trumain Carroll and captains' practices.
"I'm excited," Klieman said. "We have a long way to go. We have some guys who've made the next step. Now it's all the guys who missed some springtime, getting those guys caught up and up to speed, because in the summer it's a lot of time with Coach Tru and the captain's practices, but we're really excited.
"We have a long way to go but we're excited."
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