Kansas State University Athletics
Weber’s Return to K-State Started with an Emoji
Dec 15, 2025 | Football, Sports Extra
By: D. Scott Fritchen
Stanton Weber says that when he announced to the members of the Toledo football team that he was returning home to Kansas State, the Rockets players applauded, and then a line of players stretched down the hallway as they patiently waited to bid farewell to their special teams coach.
Those are the types of relationships that Weber, who has been hired as special teams coordinator by K-State head coach Collin Klein, soon hopes to begin fostering when he meets with the Wildcats. He plans to sit down with each player, and tell each one his personal story, which began when the native of Overland Park, Kansas, came to K-State prior to the 2011 season, and how he left his senior season in 2015 as a team captain. Although Weber won't say it, the three-time First Team Academic All-Big 12 performer as a wide receiver and special teams standout, was also one of the most underrated players in the Big 12 Conference.
"Stanton is one of the most competitive individuals I've ever met," Klein says.
Weber has spent the last three seasons as the special teams coordinator at Toledo, and he was named a finalist for the 2024 Special Teams Coordinator of the Year by FootballScoop in addition to the AFCA 35 Under 35 Leadership Institute.
Prior to his time at Toledo, Weber spent two seasons as a special teams analyst at South Carolina after getting his start in coaching at K-State, first as an offensive graduate assistant in 2017 and 2018 before becoming a special teams quality control coach in 2019 and 2020.
Weber tutored over five All-Mid-American Conference honorees at Toledo, including three-straight kickoff return specialists, a punt returner and a kicker. The Rockets blocked six punts in his three years.
During the 2025 regular season, Toledo ranked fourth in the FBS in blocked punts (3), 20th in punt-return defense (4.22) and 31st in punt returns (11.48). All-MAC kickoff returner Trayvon Rudolph averaged 21.6 yards per kickoff return, including a 96-yard return for a touchdown. All-MAC punt returner Bryson Hammer ranked 12th in the FBS in averaging 12.3 yards per punt return and his 333 total punt-return yards ranked sixth nationally.
Stanton comes from a rich K-State heritage. His father, Stan, was a K-State quarterback from 1980-84, and he has been the lead analyst on the K-State Sports Network for 480 games. Stanton's brother, Landry, played at wide receiver at K-State from 2017-21; and his sister, McKenzi, played for K-State volleyball from 2016-19.
Stanton has three degrees from K-State, including his bachelor's (2015), and master's (2016) in accounting prior to earning an MBA in 2019. He and his wife, Natalie, were married in July 2022.
D. SCOTT FRITCHEN: When did you first learn that there was a possibility of you returning to K-State?
STANTON WEBER: I was on the field coaching last Wednesday. We're a morning practice team at Toledo. My phone exploded. I had 25 texts and a call from my dad. I got off the field at 10:30 a.m. and knew something was happening. That's when I heard that Coach Klieman was retiring, and there was speculation that they were going to hire Coach Klein. At 11:30 a.m., I got a text from Coach Klein.
FRITCHEN: Collin Klein texted you at 11:30 a.m. What did Collin say?
WEBER: He just texted me an emoji.
FRITCHEN: What emoji did Collin text?
WEBER: The purple devil emoji. I knew I better get my bags packed.
FRITCHEN: Was your immediate reaction?
WEBER: It was a combination of surprise and sort of a sense of responsibility like it's time to go home and do the job really well for the people you love. My family members, their emotions were ecstatic, homecoming, and this is going to be great, and they want K-State to win and care so much about it, but they're also so personally excited I'm going to be there.
After a day or two, the question was whether I was even excited about the job, just because I was very focused on the task, and that settled into a point where, at first it didn't seem real in a lot of ways, and now it's starting to being in Manhattan. I'm obviously excited, but there's a job to do. That's how I feel.
FRITCHEN: You got the purple devil emoji from Collin. From there, how did things progress?
WEBER: It was a phone call from Collin, congratulations between each other, and then it was about getting the ball rolling when things became official, but real things move a lot slower than that. A day or two later, I received a call, and he said, "I can finally officially offer you." That was a cool moment because we had talked about this since we were kids, since we were great friends as players to young coaches together on the same staff, to he's in my wedding, and to every time we crossed paths, it was, "When we get a chance to be together again, it's going to be really special." We didn't know where it'd be. We had conversations all offseason about maybe being in Stillwater or at South Florida, and then the stars aligned, and I knew we were going home. God's timing is perfect.
FRITCHEN: When did you tell you dad that you were going to K-State?
WEBER: Collin is burning the candle on both ends, obviously, and I'm on eastern time, so any correspondence was coming in pretty late. I quickly learned I needed to turn my ringer on, so it'd wake me up when I got a call. I got that call from Collin at midnight or 1:00 a.m., and he said, "All right, we can finally say it's official. No need to hide it anymore." My first call was to my mother-in-law because I promised her that I'd do that. Then my second call was to my dad. He answered the phone as if he wasn't sleepy at all. He was ready for it, too. He said he was proud of me and was excited for what's to come. He obviously loves K-State so much and has been around so long. The fact that this could happen, is just a blessing. Obviously, he was thrilled as a dad. In this profession, you're apart from your family, and the chance to ever be at home is special. He's very excited for K-State and for our family. It's a special deal.
FRITCHEN: What did your wife say?
WEBER: Natalie is thrilled. I met here when I was 28 or 29, and she always would say, "Man, I wish I could've met you in college." Now she's going to be able to be around all the things, me and my siblings, talk about all the time — our favorite restaurants, our places we lived in college. She's very excited to experience that. I had the chance to experience her college town because I met her when she was a post-graduate worker at South Carolina. I got to experience all the things she loved. I proposed to her at the Horseshoe, her favorite place at her college. Now I get to show her my favorite places. She's really excited.
FRITCHEN: What does it mean to be back in Manhattan exactly?
WEBER: It's the honor of a lifetime. I don't know if I'll ever do anything that is more special to me than this in terms of work. It means the world to be given this responsibility. It's important, and I don't take it lightly. I was inspired to be the person I am from these people. I want to do right by them. I want to do my best for them. I hope I can make them proud.
FRITCHEN: What are you most excited about as you begin this journey?
WEBER: I'm excited about connecting with the kids. It's become something that as a special teams coordinator I've learned is really fruitful. I get a chance to get to know all the players and build a relationship with them and really help them. It's one of the more challenging things about leaving a place is that you love the men you worked with for many, many years. When I had to tell the team that I was leaving, their reaction was applause – not mad – and then you have a line out the door of everybody saying bye. I'm ready to create those relationships here, and that starts today. All the other stuff, I'll be excited about a lot of things, but that's the foundation to this, and I cannot wait to be able to tell them that I walked in their shoes. You kind of have another gear here. I'll work as hard as I possibly can anywhere else, but that'll be special.
FRITCHEN: When do you move to Manhattan and what do you have planned for the near future?
WEBER: Natalie is flying in this weekend, and we're ideally going to get a house nailed down as soon as possible. I'm here until I'm told I can go home for Christmas, hopefully. I'm moving here permanently as soon as we can. We're going to meet individually with every player, learn their story and tell my story, and hopefully inspire them to believe in us as a staff. I have an incredibly valuable thing that I get to carry in my life, and that's that I love a place that's special and that's loved me back. That came through being at a place, fighting through adversity there, and finding a way to fit and love it. In this world where everything is so transactional, they have the opportunity to feel the same way at K-State because it offers that and the people here are special. The town is special and unique. When you have a chance to go elsewhere, your appreciation for it increases. I'll try to convey to our players — how neat it is that I have that, and they have the opportunity to have that. I'll help with that through pouring everything I can into them to help them be the best person and player they can be. If they're willing to be resilient and tough, they're going to come out of this thing with something that they may not have even realized is there, which is loving your university and loving a place and being able to come home to it and bring your kids to it. It's something that's lost a little bit right now, but they'll have that chance.
I'm going to teach, teach, teach. I love teaching. I'm going lot do a lot of evaluation of our current roster and evaluate things that we may need externally in recruitment, and then slowly work into anything schematically that I need to update, but that's a little bit farther off.
FRITCHEN: What do you believe can be accomplished during the Collin Klein era at K-State?
WEBER: Well, it means the world to be with Collin because not only is he one of my best friends, and a groomsman in my wedding, but he's one of the highest-character individuals I've ever been around, he's bright, he's tough, he's unyielding about doing the right thing, he's an incredible leader, and I'm very excited that I get to be a part of that with him because I know he's going to do an incredible job for K-State. It has the potential to go places it hasn't before, and we'll stand on the foundation that's been laid that we had the opportunity to be a small part of when we were players. Anything is possible.
FRITCHEN: When I say "Kansas State Special Teams" what comes to mind?
WEBER: Weapon.
FRITCHEN: Why?
WEBER: Because when we're at our best, it's giving us an edge, and it needs to give us an edge. It's part of our identity. It's an incredible responsibility and one I don't take lightly at all. It's near and dear to my heart and something that I've been passed that baton to. It's not mine, it'll always be ours, but it's my job to push it forward and get it to a place where it should be.
Stanton Weber says that when he announced to the members of the Toledo football team that he was returning home to Kansas State, the Rockets players applauded, and then a line of players stretched down the hallway as they patiently waited to bid farewell to their special teams coach.
Those are the types of relationships that Weber, who has been hired as special teams coordinator by K-State head coach Collin Klein, soon hopes to begin fostering when he meets with the Wildcats. He plans to sit down with each player, and tell each one his personal story, which began when the native of Overland Park, Kansas, came to K-State prior to the 2011 season, and how he left his senior season in 2015 as a team captain. Although Weber won't say it, the three-time First Team Academic All-Big 12 performer as a wide receiver and special teams standout, was also one of the most underrated players in the Big 12 Conference.
"Stanton is one of the most competitive individuals I've ever met," Klein says.
Weber has spent the last three seasons as the special teams coordinator at Toledo, and he was named a finalist for the 2024 Special Teams Coordinator of the Year by FootballScoop in addition to the AFCA 35 Under 35 Leadership Institute.
Prior to his time at Toledo, Weber spent two seasons as a special teams analyst at South Carolina after getting his start in coaching at K-State, first as an offensive graduate assistant in 2017 and 2018 before becoming a special teams quality control coach in 2019 and 2020.
Weber tutored over five All-Mid-American Conference honorees at Toledo, including three-straight kickoff return specialists, a punt returner and a kicker. The Rockets blocked six punts in his three years.
During the 2025 regular season, Toledo ranked fourth in the FBS in blocked punts (3), 20th in punt-return defense (4.22) and 31st in punt returns (11.48). All-MAC kickoff returner Trayvon Rudolph averaged 21.6 yards per kickoff return, including a 96-yard return for a touchdown. All-MAC punt returner Bryson Hammer ranked 12th in the FBS in averaging 12.3 yards per punt return and his 333 total punt-return yards ranked sixth nationally.
Stanton comes from a rich K-State heritage. His father, Stan, was a K-State quarterback from 1980-84, and he has been the lead analyst on the K-State Sports Network for 480 games. Stanton's brother, Landry, played at wide receiver at K-State from 2017-21; and his sister, McKenzi, played for K-State volleyball from 2016-19.
Stanton has three degrees from K-State, including his bachelor's (2015), and master's (2016) in accounting prior to earning an MBA in 2019. He and his wife, Natalie, were married in July 2022.
D. SCOTT FRITCHEN: When did you first learn that there was a possibility of you returning to K-State?
STANTON WEBER: I was on the field coaching last Wednesday. We're a morning practice team at Toledo. My phone exploded. I had 25 texts and a call from my dad. I got off the field at 10:30 a.m. and knew something was happening. That's when I heard that Coach Klieman was retiring, and there was speculation that they were going to hire Coach Klein. At 11:30 a.m., I got a text from Coach Klein.
FRITCHEN: Collin Klein texted you at 11:30 a.m. What did Collin say?
WEBER: He just texted me an emoji.
FRITCHEN: What emoji did Collin text?
WEBER: The purple devil emoji. I knew I better get my bags packed.
FRITCHEN: Was your immediate reaction?
WEBER: It was a combination of surprise and sort of a sense of responsibility like it's time to go home and do the job really well for the people you love. My family members, their emotions were ecstatic, homecoming, and this is going to be great, and they want K-State to win and care so much about it, but they're also so personally excited I'm going to be there.
After a day or two, the question was whether I was even excited about the job, just because I was very focused on the task, and that settled into a point where, at first it didn't seem real in a lot of ways, and now it's starting to being in Manhattan. I'm obviously excited, but there's a job to do. That's how I feel.
FRITCHEN: You got the purple devil emoji from Collin. From there, how did things progress?
WEBER: It was a phone call from Collin, congratulations between each other, and then it was about getting the ball rolling when things became official, but real things move a lot slower than that. A day or two later, I received a call, and he said, "I can finally officially offer you." That was a cool moment because we had talked about this since we were kids, since we were great friends as players to young coaches together on the same staff, to he's in my wedding, and to every time we crossed paths, it was, "When we get a chance to be together again, it's going to be really special." We didn't know where it'd be. We had conversations all offseason about maybe being in Stillwater or at South Florida, and then the stars aligned, and I knew we were going home. God's timing is perfect.
FRITCHEN: When did you tell you dad that you were going to K-State?
WEBER: Collin is burning the candle on both ends, obviously, and I'm on eastern time, so any correspondence was coming in pretty late. I quickly learned I needed to turn my ringer on, so it'd wake me up when I got a call. I got that call from Collin at midnight or 1:00 a.m., and he said, "All right, we can finally say it's official. No need to hide it anymore." My first call was to my mother-in-law because I promised her that I'd do that. Then my second call was to my dad. He answered the phone as if he wasn't sleepy at all. He was ready for it, too. He said he was proud of me and was excited for what's to come. He obviously loves K-State so much and has been around so long. The fact that this could happen, is just a blessing. Obviously, he was thrilled as a dad. In this profession, you're apart from your family, and the chance to ever be at home is special. He's very excited for K-State and for our family. It's a special deal.
FRITCHEN: What did your wife say?
WEBER: Natalie is thrilled. I met here when I was 28 or 29, and she always would say, "Man, I wish I could've met you in college." Now she's going to be able to be around all the things, me and my siblings, talk about all the time — our favorite restaurants, our places we lived in college. She's very excited to experience that. I had the chance to experience her college town because I met her when she was a post-graduate worker at South Carolina. I got to experience all the things she loved. I proposed to her at the Horseshoe, her favorite place at her college. Now I get to show her my favorite places. She's really excited.
FRITCHEN: What does it mean to be back in Manhattan exactly?
WEBER: It's the honor of a lifetime. I don't know if I'll ever do anything that is more special to me than this in terms of work. It means the world to be given this responsibility. It's important, and I don't take it lightly. I was inspired to be the person I am from these people. I want to do right by them. I want to do my best for them. I hope I can make them proud.
FRITCHEN: What are you most excited about as you begin this journey?
WEBER: I'm excited about connecting with the kids. It's become something that as a special teams coordinator I've learned is really fruitful. I get a chance to get to know all the players and build a relationship with them and really help them. It's one of the more challenging things about leaving a place is that you love the men you worked with for many, many years. When I had to tell the team that I was leaving, their reaction was applause – not mad – and then you have a line out the door of everybody saying bye. I'm ready to create those relationships here, and that starts today. All the other stuff, I'll be excited about a lot of things, but that's the foundation to this, and I cannot wait to be able to tell them that I walked in their shoes. You kind of have another gear here. I'll work as hard as I possibly can anywhere else, but that'll be special.
FRITCHEN: When do you move to Manhattan and what do you have planned for the near future?
WEBER: Natalie is flying in this weekend, and we're ideally going to get a house nailed down as soon as possible. I'm here until I'm told I can go home for Christmas, hopefully. I'm moving here permanently as soon as we can. We're going to meet individually with every player, learn their story and tell my story, and hopefully inspire them to believe in us as a staff. I have an incredibly valuable thing that I get to carry in my life, and that's that I love a place that's special and that's loved me back. That came through being at a place, fighting through adversity there, and finding a way to fit and love it. In this world where everything is so transactional, they have the opportunity to feel the same way at K-State because it offers that and the people here are special. The town is special and unique. When you have a chance to go elsewhere, your appreciation for it increases. I'll try to convey to our players — how neat it is that I have that, and they have the opportunity to have that. I'll help with that through pouring everything I can into them to help them be the best person and player they can be. If they're willing to be resilient and tough, they're going to come out of this thing with something that they may not have even realized is there, which is loving your university and loving a place and being able to come home to it and bring your kids to it. It's something that's lost a little bit right now, but they'll have that chance.
I'm going to teach, teach, teach. I love teaching. I'm going lot do a lot of evaluation of our current roster and evaluate things that we may need externally in recruitment, and then slowly work into anything schematically that I need to update, but that's a little bit farther off.
FRITCHEN: What do you believe can be accomplished during the Collin Klein era at K-State?
WEBER: Well, it means the world to be with Collin because not only is he one of my best friends, and a groomsman in my wedding, but he's one of the highest-character individuals I've ever been around, he's bright, he's tough, he's unyielding about doing the right thing, he's an incredible leader, and I'm very excited that I get to be a part of that with him because I know he's going to do an incredible job for K-State. It has the potential to go places it hasn't before, and we'll stand on the foundation that's been laid that we had the opportunity to be a small part of when we were players. Anything is possible.
FRITCHEN: When I say "Kansas State Special Teams" what comes to mind?
WEBER: Weapon.
FRITCHEN: Why?
WEBER: Because when we're at our best, it's giving us an edge, and it needs to give us an edge. It's part of our identity. It's an incredible responsibility and one I don't take lightly at all. It's near and dear to my heart and something that I've been passed that baton to. It's not mine, it'll always be ours, but it's my job to push it forward and get it to a place where it should be.
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