Kansas State University Athletics
K-State Defense Growing Together in Camp
Aug 14, 2025 | Football, Sports Extra
By: D. Scott Fritchen
The aftermath of the 16th session of Kansas State training camp found Joe Klanderman, in his seventh season at K-State and his sixth as defensive coordinator, posted up in front of reporters who throughout the offseason have heard about the Wildcats' versatile offensive attack, but who perhaps hadn't fully yet grasped the potential fury of this 2025 version of the Wildcats' defense.
That was about to change.
Klanderman acknowledged that the traditional old-school fly-to-the-ball ways of a defense that has ranked among the best in the Big 12 Conference is alive and well among this group as it embarks upon the grind of the regular season.
"These guys care, they care about it, and they hold each other accountable to it, which is the coolest thing," Klanderman said. "It's not me pushing the buttons. There are some guys we have that are going to be a big part of this that are transfers — Qua Moss is going to be a big part of this, Gunner Maldanado is going to be a big part of this, Gabe Powers is going to be a big part of this. Guys that are in different programs a year ago are taking pride in it.
"I hear them use our language. There's football terminology, sure, but there's also the language of how we run to the football, how we play, how we execute, how we do those things. To see it permeate through those guys is fun."
K-State returns five full-time starters on defense, and they are some of the top talents in the Big 12 Conference in All-American candidate Austin Romaine, All-American candidate VJ Payne, senior Des Purnell and senior defensive end Cody Stufflebean.
They provide leadership for a group that a year ago ranked fourth in the FBS in fourth-down defense at 32.1% (first in the Big 12), 25th in sacks per game at 2.69 (second in the Big 12) and 28th in rushing yards allowed per game at 118.7 (second in the Big 12). The rushing defense and ranking was the Wildcats' best since 2007 (No. 13 in the FBS by allowing just 117.7 rushing yards per game) thanks to the fact that they did not allow a 200-yard rushing game in any of the 13 contests. K-State was one of only two Big 12 teams to lay that claim (Arizona State), while it was the first time the Wildcats accomplished the feat since 2016.
In recent weeks, former K-State defensive standouts Eli Huggins and Damian McIntosh spoke to current players in the team theater room, allowing their words and wisdom about K-State and defense and tradition to permeate the Wildcats. Daniel Green was scheduled to speak to the team on Wednesday. Jon McGraw was scheduled to speak early next week, perhaps offering some powerful last words before No. 17 K-State takes off to face No. 22 Iowa State in the Aer Lingus College Football Classic in Dublin, Ireland, next Saturday, August 23.
Perhaps the eight-hour flight from Kansas City to Dublin might allow Klanderman a moment of rest.
It has been a spring and summer unlike any other.
"I feel like time is flying by," he said. "You look at this Ireland trip and you knew the schedule was going to be a little bit different. Spring went by in a blur, summer went by in a blur, as a football coach June doesn't even exist to you anymore. I was on vacation for four days and in the office during that time and now the game is afoot. It's going by really quick, but I feel good about where our guys are at."
The emergence of one area of offseason intrigue — cornerback — must be somewhat comforting. Jacob Parrish and Keenan Garber are both in the NFL after both started every game a year ago.
"The group that has impressed me the most with the progress they've made since the spring is the corners," Klanderman said. "Just watching Zashon Rich, Donovan McIntosh, Justice Clemons and Jayden Rowe playing with confidence, it's fun to watch those guys right now. That was probably the biggest question mark, losing two seniors from a year ago. Both of them (Parrish and Garber) were very good players.
"I don't think we're going to drop off at all."
Additional intrigue surrounds the 6-foot-1, 227-pound Rowe, a junior transfer from Oklahoma who was one of the top 30 cornerbacks in the Class of 2022. Cornerbacks rarely carry that weight, but Klanderman indicated that Rowe was special.
"Jayden is a different animal," Klanderman said. "He's about 227 pounds and ran a 10.3 in high school and is physical — I mean, he uses it. You think change of direction would be an issue for him but it's not. He's a different animal. He came from a system at Oklahoma where they did so much, and I don't know if he did any technique really well. We do less with our guys but try to do it with great technique. We're trying to get him dialed in with just that. I don't think it's a stress for him mentally, but I think just, 'Hey, I'm a divider,' or 'I'm a man player.' That's what we're trying to work on with him."
Klanderman, who also coaches the safeties, remained understandably proud of Payne, the senior free safety who is the fastest on the team at 23.37 miles per hour, and could prove to be among the best safeties in 2026 NFL Draft class.
"VJ Payne has been nails," Klanderman said. "He's been fantastic and vocal as we'd expect."
There are options at the middle safety position. Senior transfer Maldonado from Arizona could be available in the season opener after recovering from an ACL injury last year while Junior Colby McCalister continues his recovery from an ACL injury of his own.
Klanderman was quick to mention an under-the-radar talent in 6-foot-1, 200-pound sophomore Wesley Fair. Fair, a first team all-state selection from Kansas Football Coaches Association following his senior season at Wichita Collegiate and a top-100 safety in the Class of 2023, played in three games on special teams to retain his redshirt in 2023. Last season, he played in every game as a member of all four core special teams units and played a total of 33 snaps as a reserve defensive back against UT Martin, West Virginia, Cincinnati and Rutgers.
"Wesley Fair has been tremendous," Klanderman said. "Anything we've ever asked that kid to do, he's done. He played a smaller level of football and didn't get exposed to a bunch of different things even though he was in a great program, and he came here just learning stuff and the complexity of it. He nailed it. Then it was, 'Wesley, I don't know if you're fast enough. Work on your speed.' He nailed it. He's a 22-mile-per-hour guy. 'Wesley, can you be physical?' He's nailing that. Anything we've asked him to do through his career, he's done, and he's been fantastic."
Klanderman also lauded the efforts of a true freshman safety as well.
"Logan Bartley as a true freshman will play this year," Klanderman said. "He is different. He's a unique talent. His maturity level and how he's picking things up right now is absolutely incredible. I don't know if I've seen it that good from a guy that young, granted he was here in the spring, but he'll play."
Meanwhile, excitement surrounds the debut of Moss, a 5-foot-10, 185-pound junior transfer from the University of West Georgia who began his career at Dodge City Community College, and Daniel Cobbs, a 5-foot-10, 190-pound junior transfer from Tyler (Texas) Junior College.
"Daniel Cobbs has been so much better, and Qua Moss has been fantastic," Klanderman said. "We still have to sort that out."
If there was a moment of clarity during training camp, when things truly fell into focus after spring and summer flew by, it arrived during a training camp period on Tuesday. Klanderman watched on. He liked what he saw.
"We did a little situational walk-through today and Coach Chris Klieman called out the second defense and they got together in a little group," Klanderman said. "I looked at that group of guys and thought, 'There are some pretty dang good football players here.' They're good-looking kids who know what they're doing and who I trust to be out there. A lot of groups have made a great leap."
And soon, they figure to make big headaches for K-State opponents.
The aftermath of the 16th session of Kansas State training camp found Joe Klanderman, in his seventh season at K-State and his sixth as defensive coordinator, posted up in front of reporters who throughout the offseason have heard about the Wildcats' versatile offensive attack, but who perhaps hadn't fully yet grasped the potential fury of this 2025 version of the Wildcats' defense.
That was about to change.
Klanderman acknowledged that the traditional old-school fly-to-the-ball ways of a defense that has ranked among the best in the Big 12 Conference is alive and well among this group as it embarks upon the grind of the regular season.
"These guys care, they care about it, and they hold each other accountable to it, which is the coolest thing," Klanderman said. "It's not me pushing the buttons. There are some guys we have that are going to be a big part of this that are transfers — Qua Moss is going to be a big part of this, Gunner Maldanado is going to be a big part of this, Gabe Powers is going to be a big part of this. Guys that are in different programs a year ago are taking pride in it.
"I hear them use our language. There's football terminology, sure, but there's also the language of how we run to the football, how we play, how we execute, how we do those things. To see it permeate through those guys is fun."
K-State returns five full-time starters on defense, and they are some of the top talents in the Big 12 Conference in All-American candidate Austin Romaine, All-American candidate VJ Payne, senior Des Purnell and senior defensive end Cody Stufflebean.
They provide leadership for a group that a year ago ranked fourth in the FBS in fourth-down defense at 32.1% (first in the Big 12), 25th in sacks per game at 2.69 (second in the Big 12) and 28th in rushing yards allowed per game at 118.7 (second in the Big 12). The rushing defense and ranking was the Wildcats' best since 2007 (No. 13 in the FBS by allowing just 117.7 rushing yards per game) thanks to the fact that they did not allow a 200-yard rushing game in any of the 13 contests. K-State was one of only two Big 12 teams to lay that claim (Arizona State), while it was the first time the Wildcats accomplished the feat since 2016.
In recent weeks, former K-State defensive standouts Eli Huggins and Damian McIntosh spoke to current players in the team theater room, allowing their words and wisdom about K-State and defense and tradition to permeate the Wildcats. Daniel Green was scheduled to speak to the team on Wednesday. Jon McGraw was scheduled to speak early next week, perhaps offering some powerful last words before No. 17 K-State takes off to face No. 22 Iowa State in the Aer Lingus College Football Classic in Dublin, Ireland, next Saturday, August 23.
Perhaps the eight-hour flight from Kansas City to Dublin might allow Klanderman a moment of rest.
It has been a spring and summer unlike any other.
"I feel like time is flying by," he said. "You look at this Ireland trip and you knew the schedule was going to be a little bit different. Spring went by in a blur, summer went by in a blur, as a football coach June doesn't even exist to you anymore. I was on vacation for four days and in the office during that time and now the game is afoot. It's going by really quick, but I feel good about where our guys are at."
The emergence of one area of offseason intrigue — cornerback — must be somewhat comforting. Jacob Parrish and Keenan Garber are both in the NFL after both started every game a year ago.
"The group that has impressed me the most with the progress they've made since the spring is the corners," Klanderman said. "Just watching Zashon Rich, Donovan McIntosh, Justice Clemons and Jayden Rowe playing with confidence, it's fun to watch those guys right now. That was probably the biggest question mark, losing two seniors from a year ago. Both of them (Parrish and Garber) were very good players.
"I don't think we're going to drop off at all."
Additional intrigue surrounds the 6-foot-1, 227-pound Rowe, a junior transfer from Oklahoma who was one of the top 30 cornerbacks in the Class of 2022. Cornerbacks rarely carry that weight, but Klanderman indicated that Rowe was special.
"Jayden is a different animal," Klanderman said. "He's about 227 pounds and ran a 10.3 in high school and is physical — I mean, he uses it. You think change of direction would be an issue for him but it's not. He's a different animal. He came from a system at Oklahoma where they did so much, and I don't know if he did any technique really well. We do less with our guys but try to do it with great technique. We're trying to get him dialed in with just that. I don't think it's a stress for him mentally, but I think just, 'Hey, I'm a divider,' or 'I'm a man player.' That's what we're trying to work on with him."
Klanderman, who also coaches the safeties, remained understandably proud of Payne, the senior free safety who is the fastest on the team at 23.37 miles per hour, and could prove to be among the best safeties in 2026 NFL Draft class.
"VJ Payne has been nails," Klanderman said. "He's been fantastic and vocal as we'd expect."
There are options at the middle safety position. Senior transfer Maldonado from Arizona could be available in the season opener after recovering from an ACL injury last year while Junior Colby McCalister continues his recovery from an ACL injury of his own.
Klanderman was quick to mention an under-the-radar talent in 6-foot-1, 200-pound sophomore Wesley Fair. Fair, a first team all-state selection from Kansas Football Coaches Association following his senior season at Wichita Collegiate and a top-100 safety in the Class of 2023, played in three games on special teams to retain his redshirt in 2023. Last season, he played in every game as a member of all four core special teams units and played a total of 33 snaps as a reserve defensive back against UT Martin, West Virginia, Cincinnati and Rutgers.
"Wesley Fair has been tremendous," Klanderman said. "Anything we've ever asked that kid to do, he's done. He played a smaller level of football and didn't get exposed to a bunch of different things even though he was in a great program, and he came here just learning stuff and the complexity of it. He nailed it. Then it was, 'Wesley, I don't know if you're fast enough. Work on your speed.' He nailed it. He's a 22-mile-per-hour guy. 'Wesley, can you be physical?' He's nailing that. Anything we've asked him to do through his career, he's done, and he's been fantastic."
Klanderman also lauded the efforts of a true freshman safety as well.
"Logan Bartley as a true freshman will play this year," Klanderman said. "He is different. He's a unique talent. His maturity level and how he's picking things up right now is absolutely incredible. I don't know if I've seen it that good from a guy that young, granted he was here in the spring, but he'll play."
Meanwhile, excitement surrounds the debut of Moss, a 5-foot-10, 185-pound junior transfer from the University of West Georgia who began his career at Dodge City Community College, and Daniel Cobbs, a 5-foot-10, 190-pound junior transfer from Tyler (Texas) Junior College.
"Daniel Cobbs has been so much better, and Qua Moss has been fantastic," Klanderman said. "We still have to sort that out."
If there was a moment of clarity during training camp, when things truly fell into focus after spring and summer flew by, it arrived during a training camp period on Tuesday. Klanderman watched on. He liked what he saw.
"We did a little situational walk-through today and Coach Chris Klieman called out the second defense and they got together in a little group," Klanderman said. "I looked at that group of guys and thought, 'There are some pretty dang good football players here.' They're good-looking kids who know what they're doing and who I trust to be out there. A lot of groups have made a great leap."
And soon, they figure to make big headaches for K-State opponents.
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