Kansas State University Athletics

Patience Paves the Way for Purnell
Jul 14, 2025 | Football, Sports Extra
By: D. Scott Fritchen
Lorenzo Purnell saw this coming all along.
Â
Although Desmond Purnell began outracing defenders and tearing up football fields during flag-football and Pee-Wee football games, Lorenzo, who played football at Pittsburg State, maintained other ideas for his younger brother in the coming years.
Â
"He saw me playing on the defensive side more," Des says. "So, I kind of had an inkling a little bit. It was always fun playing offenses and touching the ball, but he thought I'd be more impactful on defense."
Â
As Purnell grew up, his legend across northeast Kansas high school football grew as well, as he emerged as a dominant force at Hayden High School in Topeka. He was a finalist for the 2020 Kansas 3A Offensive and Defensive Player of the Year by Sports in Kansas. As a senior, he had 811 rushing yards, 469 receiving yards, 22 touchdowns, and he also had 80 tackles as a safety. He was also the No. 6-rated prospect in the state of Kansas for the Class of 2021 by 247Sports.
Â
It was during one particular game against Manhattan High School that Purnell turned all the right heads. K-State head coach Chris Klieman happened to be in attendance to watch his son, a member of the Manhattan High Indians.
Â
"Coach Klieman came up to Topeka and watched Manhattan play Hayden," Purnell says. "We beat them pretty bad. That next day, (K-State director of recruiting) Taylor Braet called my head coach, and we were in communication ever since.
Â
"That first conversation was like, 'Well, you beat the crap out of our sons.' It was all genuine and love from the very beginning."
Â
Sitting at the 2025 Big 12 Football Media Days, Purnell chuckles at the recollection and his path from Topeka to attending college in nearby Manhattan. Meanwhile, his older brother's assertion many years ago has proven correct: Purnell has made an impact on defense.
Â
And the 6-foot, 232-pound Purnell, who arrived at K-State as a safety and then moved to linebacker, embarks upon his senior season with more in store for the Wildcats.
Â
"It's bittersweet that it's my last year, but ultimately it's a very big privilege for me," Purnell says. "Being here, especially from my freshman year to now, seeing everything from the outside in, I've just been really fortunate."
Â
After redshirting as a freshman in 2021, Purnell has played in every game in his career, and he has made 26 starts, including 25 in the past two seasons. Last season, he totaled 46 tackles, including 9.5 tackles for loss with four sacks, a pass breakup and a fumble recovery while playing 670 defensive snaps — fifth on the team. He posted a career high-tying seven tackles against UT Martin and Arizona State, had six tackles against West Virginia and five against Kansas. He ranked second on the team with 9.5 tackles for a loss and recorded full sacks against Colorado, Kansas and Arizona State.
Â
While Purnell is quick to credit defensive coordinator Joe Klanderman, linebackers coach Steve Stanard and his teammates for aiding in any success on the football field over the years — he earned 2023 All-Big 12 Honorable Mention accolades — his menacing presence goes back to following a simple formula.
Â
"I've just had to focus on one thing at a time each and every day and stack great days upon great days, which has led to opportunities for me to make great plays out there," he says.
Â
It has also required another ingredient along the way.
Â
"I needed to be patient," he says. "My freshman year, I was really frustrated with myself. I had to take a step back, take a deep breath, understand who I am, and take it day by day."
Â
For Purnell, the day June 1, 2021, stays in his head.
Â
"I had spoken with the coaches, and they told me about the four core values and how they do things and how they thought I'd be a great fit for the program," he says. "Me and my parents loved their core values. When I got dropped off a camp on June 1, 2021, my mom said, 'I'm just going to leave you here. They got you.'"
Â
In this day in age when some college football players might seek opportunities elsewhere, Purnell can't imagine being anywhere else than surrounded by a great coaching staff, supportive teammates, gracious fans, and a loving family an hour away.
Â
"Having them just drive down the road to come see me play has been great," he says. "It's been phenomenal to see them whenever I can. My first year, I was homesick even though I was an hour away. It's been really important and impactful for me knowing they're that close to me."
Â
They were with him during those trying times when he first came to Manhattan.
Â
"I played safety in high school, outside linebacker my junior year and then went back to safety my senior year," he says. I knew I couldn't get too far ahead of myself, but when I first came to K-State, I was like, 'Dang, these dudes can fly.' I gained a lot of knowledge from Reggie Stubblefield and Russ Yeast. I absorbed everything."
Â
Then in the spring of 2022, Klanderman, who also coaches the safeties, approached Purnell.
Â
"Coach Klanderman said, 'They may need you to play Sam linebacker for a couple plays,'" Purnell says. "We really didn't have a Sam linebacker. Khalid Duke was coming off an injury, and we had Shawn Robinson and Krew Jackson. Coach Klanderman said, 'Go try it out really quick.'
Â
"I made a couple plays in practice and it took off from there."
Â
In Purnell's first-ever K-State game, on special teams, he returned a blocked punt for a touchdown in the 2022 season opener against South Dakota. On the field, he played in every game at linebacker in 2022. He had 21 tackles, two pass breakups and a fumble recovery over 301 defensive snaps and 194 special teams plays.
Â
He still remembers the feeling of winning the 2022 Big 12 Championship in Arlington, Texas.
Â
He hopes for a return trip to Arlington in December.
Â
"I'm very excited because we have a very good team," he says. "We have a lot of great players, and we have a lot of exciting transfers and freshmen. We're going to be very good. You see can just see it in our competition each and every single day. Iron sharpens iron. In practice, we get after each other. We talk the talk and get after it."
Â
Purnell plans to make plenty of noise in the fall.
Â
"During my career, it has seemed like it has been going very slow, but now it feels like it's gone by very fast," he says. "It's just crazy to think that 2021 was four years ago. And now my career is almost over with. My time at K-State has just flown by."
Â
From running past opposing teams in flag-football to developing into one of the top overall high school players in northeastern Kansas, Purnell has made his presence felt wherever he's played.
Â
At K-State, Purnell is a leader and one of the team's top linebackers.
Â
For the past three years, he's impacted the defense in impressive ways.
Â
All we had to do was ask his older brother.
Â
He saw this coming all along.
Lorenzo Purnell saw this coming all along.
Â
Although Desmond Purnell began outracing defenders and tearing up football fields during flag-football and Pee-Wee football games, Lorenzo, who played football at Pittsburg State, maintained other ideas for his younger brother in the coming years.
Â
"He saw me playing on the defensive side more," Des says. "So, I kind of had an inkling a little bit. It was always fun playing offenses and touching the ball, but he thought I'd be more impactful on defense."
Â
As Purnell grew up, his legend across northeast Kansas high school football grew as well, as he emerged as a dominant force at Hayden High School in Topeka. He was a finalist for the 2020 Kansas 3A Offensive and Defensive Player of the Year by Sports in Kansas. As a senior, he had 811 rushing yards, 469 receiving yards, 22 touchdowns, and he also had 80 tackles as a safety. He was also the No. 6-rated prospect in the state of Kansas for the Class of 2021 by 247Sports.
Â
It was during one particular game against Manhattan High School that Purnell turned all the right heads. K-State head coach Chris Klieman happened to be in attendance to watch his son, a member of the Manhattan High Indians.
Â
"Coach Klieman came up to Topeka and watched Manhattan play Hayden," Purnell says. "We beat them pretty bad. That next day, (K-State director of recruiting) Taylor Braet called my head coach, and we were in communication ever since.
Â
"That first conversation was like, 'Well, you beat the crap out of our sons.' It was all genuine and love from the very beginning."
Â

Sitting at the 2025 Big 12 Football Media Days, Purnell chuckles at the recollection and his path from Topeka to attending college in nearby Manhattan. Meanwhile, his older brother's assertion many years ago has proven correct: Purnell has made an impact on defense.
Â
And the 6-foot, 232-pound Purnell, who arrived at K-State as a safety and then moved to linebacker, embarks upon his senior season with more in store for the Wildcats.
Â
"It's bittersweet that it's my last year, but ultimately it's a very big privilege for me," Purnell says. "Being here, especially from my freshman year to now, seeing everything from the outside in, I've just been really fortunate."
Â
After redshirting as a freshman in 2021, Purnell has played in every game in his career, and he has made 26 starts, including 25 in the past two seasons. Last season, he totaled 46 tackles, including 9.5 tackles for loss with four sacks, a pass breakup and a fumble recovery while playing 670 defensive snaps — fifth on the team. He posted a career high-tying seven tackles against UT Martin and Arizona State, had six tackles against West Virginia and five against Kansas. He ranked second on the team with 9.5 tackles for a loss and recorded full sacks against Colorado, Kansas and Arizona State.
Â
While Purnell is quick to credit defensive coordinator Joe Klanderman, linebackers coach Steve Stanard and his teammates for aiding in any success on the football field over the years — he earned 2023 All-Big 12 Honorable Mention accolades — his menacing presence goes back to following a simple formula.
Â
"I've just had to focus on one thing at a time each and every day and stack great days upon great days, which has led to opportunities for me to make great plays out there," he says.
Â
It has also required another ingredient along the way.
Â
"I needed to be patient," he says. "My freshman year, I was really frustrated with myself. I had to take a step back, take a deep breath, understand who I am, and take it day by day."
Â

For Purnell, the day June 1, 2021, stays in his head.
Â
"I had spoken with the coaches, and they told me about the four core values and how they do things and how they thought I'd be a great fit for the program," he says. "Me and my parents loved their core values. When I got dropped off a camp on June 1, 2021, my mom said, 'I'm just going to leave you here. They got you.'"
Â
In this day in age when some college football players might seek opportunities elsewhere, Purnell can't imagine being anywhere else than surrounded by a great coaching staff, supportive teammates, gracious fans, and a loving family an hour away.
Â
"Having them just drive down the road to come see me play has been great," he says. "It's been phenomenal to see them whenever I can. My first year, I was homesick even though I was an hour away. It's been really important and impactful for me knowing they're that close to me."
Â
They were with him during those trying times when he first came to Manhattan.
Â
"I played safety in high school, outside linebacker my junior year and then went back to safety my senior year," he says. I knew I couldn't get too far ahead of myself, but when I first came to K-State, I was like, 'Dang, these dudes can fly.' I gained a lot of knowledge from Reggie Stubblefield and Russ Yeast. I absorbed everything."
Â
Then in the spring of 2022, Klanderman, who also coaches the safeties, approached Purnell.
Â
"Coach Klanderman said, 'They may need you to play Sam linebacker for a couple plays,'" Purnell says. "We really didn't have a Sam linebacker. Khalid Duke was coming off an injury, and we had Shawn Robinson and Krew Jackson. Coach Klanderman said, 'Go try it out really quick.'
Â
"I made a couple plays in practice and it took off from there."
Â

In Purnell's first-ever K-State game, on special teams, he returned a blocked punt for a touchdown in the 2022 season opener against South Dakota. On the field, he played in every game at linebacker in 2022. He had 21 tackles, two pass breakups and a fumble recovery over 301 defensive snaps and 194 special teams plays.
Â
He still remembers the feeling of winning the 2022 Big 12 Championship in Arlington, Texas.
Â
He hopes for a return trip to Arlington in December.
Â
"I'm very excited because we have a very good team," he says. "We have a lot of great players, and we have a lot of exciting transfers and freshmen. We're going to be very good. You see can just see it in our competition each and every single day. Iron sharpens iron. In practice, we get after each other. We talk the talk and get after it."
Â
Purnell plans to make plenty of noise in the fall.
Â
"During my career, it has seemed like it has been going very slow, but now it feels like it's gone by very fast," he says. "It's just crazy to think that 2021 was four years ago. And now my career is almost over with. My time at K-State has just flown by."
Â

From running past opposing teams in flag-football to developing into one of the top overall high school players in northeastern Kansas, Purnell has made his presence felt wherever he's played.
Â
At K-State, Purnell is a leader and one of the team's top linebackers.
Â
For the past three years, he's impacted the defense in impressive ways.
Â
All we had to do was ask his older brother.
Â
He saw this coming all along.
Players Mentioned
K-State Football | Chris Klieman Press Conference - Sept. 8, 2025
Monday, September 08
K-State Football | Pregame Hype vs Army
Friday, September 05
K-State Men's Basketball | Hang With Tang On The Go (Season 4, Episode 1)
Friday, September 05
K-State Football | Matt Wells Press Conference Sept. 4, 2025
Thursday, September 04