Kansas State University Athletics
Ilalio Leaving It Better Than He Found It
Nov 12, 2025 | Football, Sports Extra
By: D. Scott Fritchen
Three regular season games to go. Damian Ilalio won't allow himself to think about it, no sir, because with each workout, with each practice, the fifth-year senior defensive tackle, a team captain, and a proud native of Manhattan, can feel it coming. There's a trip to Stillwater, Oklahoma, to play Oklahoma State on Saturday, then there's a trip to Salt Lake City, Utah, to face the 13th-ranked Utes, then there's K-State Senior Day against Colorado at Bill Snyder Family Stadium. Then, who knows? A bowl game? No, Ilalio won't allow himself to think that far ahead.
"If I think about it," he says, "I get pretty sad."
So Ilalio adopts an alternate perspective.
"I look at these three games, and I'm just very appreciative of where I am," he says. "No matter our record or what's happened in the season, I appreciate any time I get here, any extra time. We could be undefeated or could not have won a single game, and I'd still be happy to be here at K-State because of everything it's done for me.
"And for all that K-State will continue to do for others."
Ilalio is a large man with a large heart. The 6-foot-2, 300-pounder is on the watch list for the Wuerffel Trophy, and he's on the Polynesian College Player of the Year Award watch list as well. He's started in 24-straight games, which ranks second on the team, and has posted multiple tackles in seven games this season. He also has 8.5 tackles for loss and 3.0 sacks in his career, which are the most since his big brother, Eli Huggins, between 2018 and 2022.
From redshirting the 2021 season to making a heroic play in the 2022 Big 12 Championship Game to contributing as a backup in 2023 to developing into a starter in 2024, Ilalio has seen some things and has done some things in his 38-game career with the Wildcats.
But there's something else that is perhaps equally impressive. After each practice, Ilalio picks up trash inside the locker room. And then he checks on each of his teammates "to make sure they're OK."
He leaves it better than he found it.
As K-State head coach Chris Klieman puts it: "He kind of embodies what K-State football is."
There's more to the story, of course. And perhaps the beginning is an appropriate place to start, back when Ilalio moved from Washington state to Manhattan — his father was stationed at Fort Riley — and his love for football began his freshman year at Manhattan High School.
"Honestly, I wasn't very big into college football until I moved here," Ilalio says. "Then being in Manhattan, the best college town in the nation, I saw everybody's love for Kansas State. My love and passion for the sport started to grow. It became more personal when the town I was living in was so invested in the program."
A two-time league wrestling champion, Ilalio also turned heads on the football field with the Indians with 129 tackles, 35.0 tackles for loss, 1.5 sacks and five fumble recoveries during his junior and senior seasons. He was regarded as the sixth-best prospect in the state of Kansas for the Class of 2021 and earned 2020 Kansas 6A Defensive Player of the Year.
He also received just one single scholarship offer from a Power 4 school.
"Signed, sealed and ready to work!!" Ilalio tweeted upon signing his letter-of-intent with K-State on December 17, 2020.
And what a ride it's been.
And now? Appreciation. And paying it forward.
"I take a lot of pride in it," Ilalio says. "I wouldn't be in this spot without Eli Huggins, Timmy Horne, Dee Hentz, and also Daniel Green and Felix Anudike-Uzomah. They all helped me in football and in the game of life. Being that person for the younger guys now is really important to me. It's a duty I have."
It's about family. And Ilalio's day begins at 7:00 a.m. His 2-year-old daughter, Oakley, is sure to wake him and his finance, Morgan, if they miss their alarms. Then it's out the door for Ilalio for a weight-lifting session at the Vanier Family Football Complex. Then it's breakfast with the fellas, then it's back home for family time. From 10:00 a.m. to noon, the only people in the world are Damian, Morgan and Oakley. On Monday, they took a trip to the store, cleaned house, re-arranged some furniture, and then played with their dogs in the backyard. Oakley is always eager to go outside and play.
After football practice, Ilalio eats dinner with the fellas, but he eats light. He has family dinner waiting for him at home at 6:30 p.m. The favorite dish in the house? Fasipovi, a recipe handed down from Ilalio's grandparents — boiled corned beef brisket with cabbage and rice. Used to be that Ilalio only got Fasipovi for his birthday and special events.
"Now as an adult," he says, "I eat it whenever I want. We cook that dish pretty often. Oakley loves it."
Damian and Morgan put Oakley to bed at 8:00 p.m. after an hour of no-phone, no-TV time. Lights out for Damian at 9:00 p.m.
"That way," he says, "I can get some sleep if Oakley wakes up early."
Standing inside Vanier on Monday, Ilalio shines when talking about his family. He met Morgan, a Manhattan native, when they were seniors at Manhattan High School. They are currently expecting their second child — a boy — in January. Ilalio's eyes particularly light up when he mentions Oakley.
"It's the most special relationship I have," he says. "Being able to pour into her and raise her is really, really rewarding to me. The best part is when I get to see her figuring out stuff for herself. She's been getting smarter and smarter every day. The other day, I saw her standing next to a doorknob and was like, 'You've grown a lot.' We took a picture standing next to the same doorknob three weeks ago and she's now two inches taller.
"Seeing those things and knowing that I have a direct impact on how she grows up is really important to me. That's why I take that time — no football, no school, and I'll be Ok if I'm home for a couple hours. I know I have time later in the day to get any extra work completed. It's really important that I have that time with them."
He pauses.
"Being a girl dad is a pretty great thing," he continues. "She might as well do all the things that a boy does. She likes to tackle me and play football. Having a boy, I'm happy for another child. That'll be cool."
Family time arrived on Friday night prior to K-State's game against Texas Tech. It was Halloween night. And Damian, Morgan and Oakley took full advantage of it.
"Oh yeah, Oakley loved it," Ilalio says. "It was on a Friday, and we were at the hotel the night before the game. Morgan and Oakley had been trick-or-treating for four hours before I saw them at the hotel. When they got there, she still had some energy, but she was also tired. She had a lot of fun on Halloween.
"Oakley was dressed up as Boo from Monsters Inc., and I had a Sully costume, and Morgan, who's pregnant, has a bigger belly now, so she wore the Mike Wazowski t-shirt, and it worked perfect."
Saturday was no holiday, however. K-State suffered a 43-20 loss to No. 13 Texas Tech. But Ilalio, like in every game, was routinely in the mix.
"Boy, he gets off blocks," Klieman says. "He's disruptive. You're not moving him. He's going to anchor down on double teams, and you're not moving him. He gets off blocks and is disruptive and makes plays. He keeps those linebackers clean. He's always in the right gap. Damian is the team player. He makes our defense better."
Then there's Ilalio's leadership aspect, which Klieman cannot emphasize enough.
"He's a local kid who came here and that bought his time and learned from the people in front of him," Klieman says. "He got to learn from one of the best players and humans in Eli Huggins. Eli absolutely poured into him. You can tell that Damian is paying it forward. Damian pours into everybody on the team. Damian is a father as well, so he's had a lot of tougher things than a football game going on, having a family.
"Damian has really played great football for us this year, but his leadership has really helped. He's the same guy every day. That's one thing I love about guys like Damian. You're getting the same person every day in the building whether you won or lost or had a good practice or not so good of a day or whether something happened outside of the building, he embodies 'Standard Over Feelings.' He's always going to live to the standard and never let his feelings dictate how he shows up on a daily basis. He is the same guy every, day and he is as good of a leader as we've had here."
Time continues to tick, tick, tick.
Standing alone, the reporters all gone, Ilalio is told of Klieman's comments, and how Klieman said that he embodied K-State. Ilalio is noticeably taken aback. He collects his thoughts.
And he talks about everybody but himself.
"To me, I think about the people who taught me how to play football," Ilalio says. "When I first got here, in my very first fall camp practice, I was very confused because football was a game I loved, but I felt like I didn't know how to play it anymore. I leaned on the older guys to help me learn the game a lot and seeing them work hard every day and not complaining and trusting the process, to me that's what K-State is all about. It's blue-collar work, and getting your hands dirty, and doing the work nobody else wants to do, and really buying into the fact that it's going to help you in the future."
Ilalio heads out of the team meeting room at Vanier and awaits an elevator that will take him downstairs to the locker room. It's another day of practicing the game that he loves and of being a leader for the football program that he loves.
After practice, he will clean up the locker room.
And he will make sure each of his teammates are OK.
Three regular season games to go. Damian Ilalio won't allow himself to think about it, no sir, because with each workout, with each practice, the fifth-year senior defensive tackle, a team captain, and a proud native of Manhattan, can feel it coming. There's a trip to Stillwater, Oklahoma, to play Oklahoma State on Saturday, then there's a trip to Salt Lake City, Utah, to face the 13th-ranked Utes, then there's K-State Senior Day against Colorado at Bill Snyder Family Stadium. Then, who knows? A bowl game? No, Ilalio won't allow himself to think that far ahead.
"If I think about it," he says, "I get pretty sad."
So Ilalio adopts an alternate perspective.
"I look at these three games, and I'm just very appreciative of where I am," he says. "No matter our record or what's happened in the season, I appreciate any time I get here, any extra time. We could be undefeated or could not have won a single game, and I'd still be happy to be here at K-State because of everything it's done for me.
"And for all that K-State will continue to do for others."
Ilalio is a large man with a large heart. The 6-foot-2, 300-pounder is on the watch list for the Wuerffel Trophy, and he's on the Polynesian College Player of the Year Award watch list as well. He's started in 24-straight games, which ranks second on the team, and has posted multiple tackles in seven games this season. He also has 8.5 tackles for loss and 3.0 sacks in his career, which are the most since his big brother, Eli Huggins, between 2018 and 2022.
From redshirting the 2021 season to making a heroic play in the 2022 Big 12 Championship Game to contributing as a backup in 2023 to developing into a starter in 2024, Ilalio has seen some things and has done some things in his 38-game career with the Wildcats.
But there's something else that is perhaps equally impressive. After each practice, Ilalio picks up trash inside the locker room. And then he checks on each of his teammates "to make sure they're OK."
He leaves it better than he found it.
As K-State head coach Chris Klieman puts it: "He kind of embodies what K-State football is."
There's more to the story, of course. And perhaps the beginning is an appropriate place to start, back when Ilalio moved from Washington state to Manhattan — his father was stationed at Fort Riley — and his love for football began his freshman year at Manhattan High School.
"Honestly, I wasn't very big into college football until I moved here," Ilalio says. "Then being in Manhattan, the best college town in the nation, I saw everybody's love for Kansas State. My love and passion for the sport started to grow. It became more personal when the town I was living in was so invested in the program."
A two-time league wrestling champion, Ilalio also turned heads on the football field with the Indians with 129 tackles, 35.0 tackles for loss, 1.5 sacks and five fumble recoveries during his junior and senior seasons. He was regarded as the sixth-best prospect in the state of Kansas for the Class of 2021 and earned 2020 Kansas 6A Defensive Player of the Year.
He also received just one single scholarship offer from a Power 4 school.
"Signed, sealed and ready to work!!" Ilalio tweeted upon signing his letter-of-intent with K-State on December 17, 2020.
And what a ride it's been.
And now? Appreciation. And paying it forward.
"I take a lot of pride in it," Ilalio says. "I wouldn't be in this spot without Eli Huggins, Timmy Horne, Dee Hentz, and also Daniel Green and Felix Anudike-Uzomah. They all helped me in football and in the game of life. Being that person for the younger guys now is really important to me. It's a duty I have."
It's about family. And Ilalio's day begins at 7:00 a.m. His 2-year-old daughter, Oakley, is sure to wake him and his finance, Morgan, if they miss their alarms. Then it's out the door for Ilalio for a weight-lifting session at the Vanier Family Football Complex. Then it's breakfast with the fellas, then it's back home for family time. From 10:00 a.m. to noon, the only people in the world are Damian, Morgan and Oakley. On Monday, they took a trip to the store, cleaned house, re-arranged some furniture, and then played with their dogs in the backyard. Oakley is always eager to go outside and play.
After football practice, Ilalio eats dinner with the fellas, but he eats light. He has family dinner waiting for him at home at 6:30 p.m. The favorite dish in the house? Fasipovi, a recipe handed down from Ilalio's grandparents — boiled corned beef brisket with cabbage and rice. Used to be that Ilalio only got Fasipovi for his birthday and special events.
"Now as an adult," he says, "I eat it whenever I want. We cook that dish pretty often. Oakley loves it."
Damian and Morgan put Oakley to bed at 8:00 p.m. after an hour of no-phone, no-TV time. Lights out for Damian at 9:00 p.m.
"That way," he says, "I can get some sleep if Oakley wakes up early."
Standing inside Vanier on Monday, Ilalio shines when talking about his family. He met Morgan, a Manhattan native, when they were seniors at Manhattan High School. They are currently expecting their second child — a boy — in January. Ilalio's eyes particularly light up when he mentions Oakley.
"It's the most special relationship I have," he says. "Being able to pour into her and raise her is really, really rewarding to me. The best part is when I get to see her figuring out stuff for herself. She's been getting smarter and smarter every day. The other day, I saw her standing next to a doorknob and was like, 'You've grown a lot.' We took a picture standing next to the same doorknob three weeks ago and she's now two inches taller.
"Seeing those things and knowing that I have a direct impact on how she grows up is really important to me. That's why I take that time — no football, no school, and I'll be Ok if I'm home for a couple hours. I know I have time later in the day to get any extra work completed. It's really important that I have that time with them."
He pauses.
"Being a girl dad is a pretty great thing," he continues. "She might as well do all the things that a boy does. She likes to tackle me and play football. Having a boy, I'm happy for another child. That'll be cool."
Family time arrived on Friday night prior to K-State's game against Texas Tech. It was Halloween night. And Damian, Morgan and Oakley took full advantage of it.
"Oh yeah, Oakley loved it," Ilalio says. "It was on a Friday, and we were at the hotel the night before the game. Morgan and Oakley had been trick-or-treating for four hours before I saw them at the hotel. When they got there, she still had some energy, but she was also tired. She had a lot of fun on Halloween.
"Oakley was dressed up as Boo from Monsters Inc., and I had a Sully costume, and Morgan, who's pregnant, has a bigger belly now, so she wore the Mike Wazowski t-shirt, and it worked perfect."
Saturday was no holiday, however. K-State suffered a 43-20 loss to No. 13 Texas Tech. But Ilalio, like in every game, was routinely in the mix.
"Boy, he gets off blocks," Klieman says. "He's disruptive. You're not moving him. He's going to anchor down on double teams, and you're not moving him. He gets off blocks and is disruptive and makes plays. He keeps those linebackers clean. He's always in the right gap. Damian is the team player. He makes our defense better."
Then there's Ilalio's leadership aspect, which Klieman cannot emphasize enough.
"He's a local kid who came here and that bought his time and learned from the people in front of him," Klieman says. "He got to learn from one of the best players and humans in Eli Huggins. Eli absolutely poured into him. You can tell that Damian is paying it forward. Damian pours into everybody on the team. Damian is a father as well, so he's had a lot of tougher things than a football game going on, having a family.
"Damian has really played great football for us this year, but his leadership has really helped. He's the same guy every day. That's one thing I love about guys like Damian. You're getting the same person every day in the building whether you won or lost or had a good practice or not so good of a day or whether something happened outside of the building, he embodies 'Standard Over Feelings.' He's always going to live to the standard and never let his feelings dictate how he shows up on a daily basis. He is the same guy every, day and he is as good of a leader as we've had here."
Time continues to tick, tick, tick.
Standing alone, the reporters all gone, Ilalio is told of Klieman's comments, and how Klieman said that he embodied K-State. Ilalio is noticeably taken aback. He collects his thoughts.
And he talks about everybody but himself.
"To me, I think about the people who taught me how to play football," Ilalio says. "When I first got here, in my very first fall camp practice, I was very confused because football was a game I loved, but I felt like I didn't know how to play it anymore. I leaned on the older guys to help me learn the game a lot and seeing them work hard every day and not complaining and trusting the process, to me that's what K-State is all about. It's blue-collar work, and getting your hands dirty, and doing the work nobody else wants to do, and really buying into the fact that it's going to help you in the future."
Ilalio heads out of the team meeting room at Vanier and awaits an elevator that will take him downstairs to the locker room. It's another day of practicing the game that he loves and of being a leader for the football program that he loves.
After practice, he will clean up the locker room.
And he will make sure each of his teammates are OK.
Players Mentioned
DT
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