A Young Team with Much to Prove

By: D. Scott Fritchen

Sitting on a cushy brown leather chair in the team theater room at Buser Family Stadium, intense and fiery first-year Kansas State head coach Colleen Corbin, less than two weeks from embarking upon a journey that she hopes steers into the first winning season in program history, finds her voice nearly crack as the past 10 months and progress of her new Wildcats team began to swirl.

"I know we're going to win games," she begins. "We're also going to lose games. I know that to be true as well. What I'm conscious of is this group cannot be defined by either one. We cannot be defined by success or by our failures, but rather by how we respond and show up the next day. That's one of the most challenging things in sports, especially with a group that has so much they want to prove.

"There's going to be disappointment and letdown, but there's also going to be pure joy, elation and excitement. Those are heavy emotions in both directions. The second we start to teeter off course, it's going to be really hard to rein it back in again and get back on track. It's about just being conscious of those things as we head into the first game."

She pauses.

"And it's about expressing gratitude and enjoying the experience."

Corbin, hired on December 2, hired a staff, returns 12 of 26 letterwinners from last year's team, returns four of seven starters from a year ago, met five freshmen who had signed with K-State, and brought in six Division I transfers from the likes of Texas Tech, Oklahoma State, LSU, USC, Mississippi State and Miami (Fla.).

In all, Corbin's first roster at K-State is relatively young, for sure — a relatively young team boasting unreal excitement. As evidenced by the smiling faces of players speaking publicly for the first time since this ride began, this purple-clad ride is just getting started, and sure there's film, team meetings, team meals, prehab, rehab, practice, individual meetings and book club, but there's a name upon the white ballcap that Corbin sports today in the team theater room, and there's a name written in bold upon the gigantic video board outside at Buser Family Park, and that name simply reads: "K-STATE."

"I think a lot of teams will go into playing us thinking we're K-State, we're an easy game, but we have so much to bring with this new team," says LSU sophomore transfer defender Emerson DeLuca. "I'm super excited, especially if we're the underdogs. We have a lot to expect now. I'm super excited to play with this team and show what we have to offer."

K-State comes off a 3-12-3 overall record, including an 0-9-2 mark in the Big 12 Conference. The Wildcats are 38-98-21 overall and 9-59-7 in the Big 12 since the program began in 2016.

But a new feel wafts across the offices and hallways and meeting rooms as the Wildcats, who traveled to Missouri State for a scrimmage on Saturday and who travels to face Missouri in another scrimmage on Wednesday, inch closer to the date that for now matters most.

K-State opens the Corbin era when it meets Oral Roberts on August 14 at 6:30 p.m. at Buser Family Park.

At the moment, Corbin and members of her leadership council give us backstage access to the place where a lot of learning has no doubt taken place.

"COMPETE — RESPECT — FAMILY" are written in bold white letters upon a purple board screwed into the top of a white-walled team theater room, which features a large flat-screen TV and an adjacent large white dry-erase board bearing the outline of a soccer field. Black leather theater chairs, each chairback embedded with the K-State soccer logo in white thread, line across the spacious room in three rows. A few grass clippings lay upon the dark gray carpet.

Work has been done here.

And plenty of work has been done on the soccer field as well. And, well, that started with a physical fitness test Corbin ordered each player to complete and pass in order to even see the soccer field.

It's one of many changes that Corbin has made in the name of ratcheting up attributes such as accountability and dedication.

"Accountability both to themselves and their teammates is a huge one," Corbin says. "This is the first time I've put a standard or expectation on the fitness level coming in. They had to hit a certain standard in order to play. That had never been the case before. Every single player passed the fitness test. I know how much work it took to pass that fitness test. The time, dedication, belief, buy-in — we have a leadership council that has really leaned in and helped to set the standard for the team.

"The best championship programs are player led. The coach sets standards and expectations, but we're not around 24-7 and don't know what's going on in the locker room. It's important they understand the expectations and implement them within the group. Our leadership group has done a phenomenal job of holding people accountable and setting standards for the group."

That includes senior forward Andra Mohler, a forward and three-year letterwinner who is entering her senior season at K-State.

"Just knowing my teammates trust me to be a leader on and off the field is important," Mohler says. "I'm the encourager of the team. I like to make sure everybody is staying positive and optimistic. I'm the person people look to when they're down.

"It's really exciting. Since the beginning of the preseason and the summer, you can see the improvement and feel the energy shift. We're really starting to create a winner's mentality. As we get those wins on the board, it's just going to continue rolling and continue to grow."

And K-State might grow by virtue of its new-look offensive attack, which seemingly seethes with creativity and excitement.

Corbin issues a battle cry of sorts: "We're going to press, run at people, and make it uncomfortable."

"We have elite athletes in our frontline that we expect to make the backline of opposing teams uncomfortable," she continues. "We want there to be a relentless mindset that we want the ball back when we turn it over at some point. We have this heightened work rate, energy and competitiveness that people will enjoy seeing. When we have the ball, there will be a structure and space set up to help us keep the ball while also allowing players and their individual talents to shine. We want to emphasize creativity, decision making, and that's not going to look the same player to player.

"We're hopeful everyone sees the relentlessness every possession, trying to win the ball back, and then the confidence, composure and creativity when we have the ball."

And that is a part of what makes three-year letterwinner and senior midfielder Paige Dickson smile the most.

"Our mentality has changed and everyone kind of knows we have what it takes to win," Dickson says. "We're putting all the pieces together to start to win games. We have a love for each other. Our skills will continue to come. A big thing that Colleen stresses is our press, and that we're going to win games with our press, and we're going to be a high-pressing team that other teams are going to be afraid to play. I'm excited. It's going to be challenging, but it's going to be good and I'm excited to see the result."

Yes, there's just something different in the air.

The results will come.

"There's an openness to be receptive to new things and to demand more of each other," Corbin says. "That's something that this group has gotten way more comfortable with in the last six months is expecting excellence from one another and holding each other accountable to those standards. Everybody wants to win. One of the things we said in the locker room the other day is, 'Everybody loves to eat, not everybody loves to hunt.' We want to hunt. We want to hunt every day. Just the consistency that the group has been able to show in the approach to what we're doing, the day-in and day-out and mundane — it's all about the process.

"If we're going to be a championship program, it's about doing the little things consistently well all the time. There's a real hunger from the group to want to do those things."

Won't be long before the Wildcats unleash their hunger on Oral Roberts. But first, the Wildcats head to face Missouri in a scrimmage on Wednesday. It's an ideal opportunity. And as Mohler points out, it's important to take advantage of every opportunity.

"Already I've been reflecting and thinking how grateful I am for my personal journey at K-State," Mohler says. "Colleen has made it evident that every time we step onto the field is a gift. We only get so many games. We have 19 guaranteed times we'll be on the field after our first exhibition. As a senior, that really hits home."

Meanwhile, Corbin prepares for her first match at K-State reared in what got her the job in Manhattan.

"I'm a winner," she says. "I like to win. Everybody likes to win, but in my experiences both as a player and coach I've been privileged to train and work under competitive coaches and to be in environments that operated at a very high level. We're all a culmination of our experiences. I've been mentored by incredible people. I've been fortunate to coach competitive athletes. Everything I do comes with intensity – good or bad – but I put a lot of value in the process and the journey in making sure there's joy in that. I tell the girls it doesn't have to be hyper-competitive or only fun. I believe you can mesh both at a high level.

"That's what we're seeking every day — to enjoy the grind."

The Wildcats believe that the wins will follow.

Kansas State University Athletics

Players Mentioned

Emerson DeLuca

Paige Dickson

Andra Mohler

Related Videos