Another Phase Complete as the Season Gets Closer
Jun 24, 2026 | Football, Sports Extra
By: D. Scott Fritchen
Collin Klein, on his 200th day on the job as Kansas State head football coach — a whirlwind six-month journey featuring little sleep and lots of detailed step-by-step planning — made an announcement at the Wichita Catbackers event on Monday afternoon.
K-State football had completed another step along its path.
"There have been so many 'next steps' that we've made the entire cycle, from building a staff to hitting the ground running in the transfer portal, to winter workouts and getting our team positioned to have a good spring, to getting through the spring, and then entering the spring cycles with our coaches gone for a month all over the entire country," Klein said to the gathering of several hundred people who filled Chicken N Pickle.
"Today is our first day off the 30-day official visit and camp cycles, where we had 70-plus families through our building, and probably over 2,000 kids of all ages through the camp and through our building in the last 30 days, and we all made sure we do all that the K-State way."
The 36-year-old Klein brought 13 years of college coaching experience, including 10 seasons as a member of the K-State coaching staff, to Manhattan, when the 2012 Heisman Trophy finalist and one of the greatest players in K-State history was hired as head coach on December 4, 2025, after two ultra-successful seasons as offensive coordinator at Texas A&M.
Klein replaced Chris Klieman, who retired after a seven-year stint that included six seasons with at least eight wins and five bowl appearances. Klieman had replaced Hall of Famer Bill Snyder, who between the late 1990s and early 2000s was one of three coaches in Division I history to win at least 11 games in six of seven seasons, and who had the Wildcats on the doorstep of two national championship games in 1998 and 2012.
Klein's mission? Simple.
"If we want to go somewhere where you've never been, you have to be willing to do something you've never done before," Klein said. "That's the mindset of all of us as we try to improve in every single area."
"You know who raised me now and the level of detail that has gone into every level of our program that I was able to live and see and feel as a player and then as a graduate assistant and then as a coach," Klein said, offering a nod to Snyder. "To be able to bring my experiences at a couple other places in my journey and then be able to put our — this team's, and this program's, and my own — stamp on that, to some extent has been a lot of fun.
"I tell our staff all the time that the K-State way is special and being able to share that in the recruiting space and impact our players and ultimately build the program in place to impact them and their faith and their family as a student-athlete and be able to set the trajectory for the rest of their lives is so much fun."
Klein was quick to praise his coaching staff and support staff while offering a special shoutout to defensive coordinator Jordan Peterson and special teams coordinator Stanton Weber, who along with general manager Trey Scott and director of player personnel Taylor Braet, were among the first handful of hires for Klein's staff.
"Those are some of the big pillars," Klein said. "I knew I was going to be heavily involved in the offense. That's my baby, and that's what I love to do. I knew we had that anchored. Stanton was a teammate and a dear friend who bleeds purple and has worked himself professionally to be as good as any special teams coordinator in the country. That's important when you're making those decisions to find the right fits for your program. It doesn't matter his history, but rather is he the best fit for your program now. Being around the guys that has and the work that he did to position himself, that was a great fit and great timing."
The 32-year-old Weber, an Overland Park native and three-time First Team Academic All-Big 12 selection at K-State, during a three-year stint at Toledo was a finalist for 2024 Special Teams Coordinator of the Year.
"Jordan Peterson, our defensive coordinator, was a big decision in him being able to complement me well," Klein said. "I'm working very, very hard with the offense. His energy and detail and watching his defensive players the last two years improve — it's about development and there's a difference between a 22-year-old football player and an 18-year-old football player. It doesn't matter how talented they are — do they get better?"
The 38-year-old Peterson, who has spent six years with Big 12 Conference teams, guided a unit that ranked No. 19 nationally in total defense while he served on the same staff as Klein, who's offense ranked No. 19 nationally in averaging 33.8 points per game — key ingredients in helping Texas A&M to an 11-2 record and spot in the 2025 College Football Playoff.
"(Peterson) developed his entire room, and they got better year in and year out — everybody in the room from the best player and the last player," Klein said. "That was really, really good. Vision wise and schematically it really fit and was complementary to what we want to be on offense."
Exactly what will a Klein-led offensive look like in the fall?
"It's going to be an aggressive style of play on offense," Klein said. "We're going to control the ball on offense while also being explosive. That'll be a really good fit."
Look no further than senior quarterback Avery Johnson and junior running back Joe Jackson for keys to explosiveness within the K-State offensive attack in the fall.
Johnson, a Wichita native who Klein recruited for three years, is tied for the K-State all-time record with 48 touchdown passes, ranks sixth all-time with 5,576 passing yards, fourth among all K-State quarterbacks with 1,378 rushing yards, third all-time in being responsible for 70 touchdowns, and fifth all-time with 6,954 total offensive yards.
"We have 48 new guys on the roster this year and every year that team has to work really, really hard to create that identity," Klein said. "In particular with our quarterback, and his wide receivers, tight ends and running backs — all the things that go into making things look like you want it, there's a level of continuity and comfort there. I'm in the room and am on the same page, and there are some things that aren't brand new so we were at a head start for sure, but watching that process take place and his confidence and comfort with those guys around him, and then getting more comfortable in that new system, too, definitely took shape the last little bit.
"We have a long way to go, and I'm very proud of the work they're putting in during the summer."
Jackson, a native of Haines City, Florida, was also recruited by Klein to K-State in 2023, and he ranks seventh all-time in K-State history with 5.37 yards per rushing attempt and has 1,139 rushing yards in his 24-game career. Jackson's 293 rushing yards at No. 12 Utah on November 22, 2025, broke Darren Sproles' school record of 292 rushing yards in 2004, and it was the second-most rushing yards by an FBS player in 2025.
"You could even see on some of the tape in some of the last half and last quarter of the season his confidence grow," Klein said. "In the Utah game and in Oklahoma State, he had a big moment there that was pivotal in that ballgame, and you could see his platform and confidence take that next step.
"Joe is one of our best leaders. When you look at somebody who has that type of energetic personality and is able to raise his level around him, and his level of care in wanting K-State and our team and our program to be successful, is as good as anybody we have in that locker room. He just always has a smile on his face and does it in such a generous way. I think he's going to have a big year."
Time continues to tick on the debut of the Klein era at K-State, which officially begins when the Wildcats open their season against Nicholls on September 5 at Bill Snyder Family Stadium, and the step-by-step process continues as the fall nears.
"We've had about six or seven guys join us in June, which has been good to get them up and going," Klein said. "I'm proud of our guys. They took care of themselves pretty well over the break. The calendar aligned that they were able to get away a little bit at the end of May to get refreshed a little bit. They've really hit it hard. Our head strength coach, Jeremy Jacobs, has them grinding well in the weight room. We're excited to just put our head down and get down to work. From a blue-collar work ethic, toughness, grit, physicality — all those things are what we're building in the weight room and what we were able to build through the winter conditioning program. I'm excited for that to continue to take shape.
"We have a couple other last, final phases that we have to finish well, but it is exciting and it's definitely coming up fast."
Collin Klein, on his 200th day on the job as Kansas State head football coach — a whirlwind six-month journey featuring little sleep and lots of detailed step-by-step planning — made an announcement at the Wichita Catbackers event on Monday afternoon.
K-State football had completed another step along its path.
"There have been so many 'next steps' that we've made the entire cycle, from building a staff to hitting the ground running in the transfer portal, to winter workouts and getting our team positioned to have a good spring, to getting through the spring, and then entering the spring cycles with our coaches gone for a month all over the entire country," Klein said to the gathering of several hundred people who filled Chicken N Pickle.
"Today is our first day off the 30-day official visit and camp cycles, where we had 70-plus families through our building, and probably over 2,000 kids of all ages through the camp and through our building in the last 30 days, and we all made sure we do all that the K-State way."
The 36-year-old Klein brought 13 years of college coaching experience, including 10 seasons as a member of the K-State coaching staff, to Manhattan, when the 2012 Heisman Trophy finalist and one of the greatest players in K-State history was hired as head coach on December 4, 2025, after two ultra-successful seasons as offensive coordinator at Texas A&M.
Klein replaced Chris Klieman, who retired after a seven-year stint that included six seasons with at least eight wins and five bowl appearances. Klieman had replaced Hall of Famer Bill Snyder, who between the late 1990s and early 2000s was one of three coaches in Division I history to win at least 11 games in six of seven seasons, and who had the Wildcats on the doorstep of two national championship games in 1998 and 2012.
Klein's mission? Simple.
"If we want to go somewhere where you've never been, you have to be willing to do something you've never done before," Klein said. "That's the mindset of all of us as we try to improve in every single area."
"You know who raised me now and the level of detail that has gone into every level of our program that I was able to live and see and feel as a player and then as a graduate assistant and then as a coach," Klein said, offering a nod to Snyder. "To be able to bring my experiences at a couple other places in my journey and then be able to put our — this team's, and this program's, and my own — stamp on that, to some extent has been a lot of fun.
"I tell our staff all the time that the K-State way is special and being able to share that in the recruiting space and impact our players and ultimately build the program in place to impact them and their faith and their family as a student-athlete and be able to set the trajectory for the rest of their lives is so much fun."
Klein was quick to praise his coaching staff and support staff while offering a special shoutout to defensive coordinator Jordan Peterson and special teams coordinator Stanton Weber, who along with general manager Trey Scott and director of player personnel Taylor Braet, were among the first handful of hires for Klein's staff.
"Those are some of the big pillars," Klein said. "I knew I was going to be heavily involved in the offense. That's my baby, and that's what I love to do. I knew we had that anchored. Stanton was a teammate and a dear friend who bleeds purple and has worked himself professionally to be as good as any special teams coordinator in the country. That's important when you're making those decisions to find the right fits for your program. It doesn't matter his history, but rather is he the best fit for your program now. Being around the guys that has and the work that he did to position himself, that was a great fit and great timing."
The 32-year-old Weber, an Overland Park native and three-time First Team Academic All-Big 12 selection at K-State, during a three-year stint at Toledo was a finalist for 2024 Special Teams Coordinator of the Year.
"Jordan Peterson, our defensive coordinator, was a big decision in him being able to complement me well," Klein said. "I'm working very, very hard with the offense. His energy and detail and watching his defensive players the last two years improve — it's about development and there's a difference between a 22-year-old football player and an 18-year-old football player. It doesn't matter how talented they are — do they get better?"
The 38-year-old Peterson, who has spent six years with Big 12 Conference teams, guided a unit that ranked No. 19 nationally in total defense while he served on the same staff as Klein, who's offense ranked No. 19 nationally in averaging 33.8 points per game — key ingredients in helping Texas A&M to an 11-2 record and spot in the 2025 College Football Playoff.
"(Peterson) developed his entire room, and they got better year in and year out — everybody in the room from the best player and the last player," Klein said. "That was really, really good. Vision wise and schematically it really fit and was complementary to what we want to be on offense."
Exactly what will a Klein-led offensive look like in the fall?
"It's going to be an aggressive style of play on offense," Klein said. "We're going to control the ball on offense while also being explosive. That'll be a really good fit."
Look no further than senior quarterback Avery Johnson and junior running back Joe Jackson for keys to explosiveness within the K-State offensive attack in the fall.
Johnson, a Wichita native who Klein recruited for three years, is tied for the K-State all-time record with 48 touchdown passes, ranks sixth all-time with 5,576 passing yards, fourth among all K-State quarterbacks with 1,378 rushing yards, third all-time in being responsible for 70 touchdowns, and fifth all-time with 6,954 total offensive yards.
"We have 48 new guys on the roster this year and every year that team has to work really, really hard to create that identity," Klein said. "In particular with our quarterback, and his wide receivers, tight ends and running backs — all the things that go into making things look like you want it, there's a level of continuity and comfort there. I'm in the room and am on the same page, and there are some things that aren't brand new so we were at a head start for sure, but watching that process take place and his confidence and comfort with those guys around him, and then getting more comfortable in that new system, too, definitely took shape the last little bit.
"We have a long way to go, and I'm very proud of the work they're putting in during the summer."
Jackson, a native of Haines City, Florida, was also recruited by Klein to K-State in 2023, and he ranks seventh all-time in K-State history with 5.37 yards per rushing attempt and has 1,139 rushing yards in his 24-game career. Jackson's 293 rushing yards at No. 12 Utah on November 22, 2025, broke Darren Sproles' school record of 292 rushing yards in 2004, and it was the second-most rushing yards by an FBS player in 2025.
"You could even see on some of the tape in some of the last half and last quarter of the season his confidence grow," Klein said. "In the Utah game and in Oklahoma State, he had a big moment there that was pivotal in that ballgame, and you could see his platform and confidence take that next step.
"Joe is one of our best leaders. When you look at somebody who has that type of energetic personality and is able to raise his level around him, and his level of care in wanting K-State and our team and our program to be successful, is as good as anybody we have in that locker room. He just always has a smile on his face and does it in such a generous way. I think he's going to have a big year."
Time continues to tick on the debut of the Klein era at K-State, which officially begins when the Wildcats open their season against Nicholls on September 5 at Bill Snyder Family Stadium, and the step-by-step process continues as the fall nears.
"We've had about six or seven guys join us in June, which has been good to get them up and going," Klein said. "I'm proud of our guys. They took care of themselves pretty well over the break. The calendar aligned that they were able to get away a little bit at the end of May to get refreshed a little bit. They've really hit it hard. Our head strength coach, Jeremy Jacobs, has them grinding well in the weight room. We're excited to just put our head down and get down to work. From a blue-collar work ethic, toughness, grit, physicality — all those things are what we're building in the weight room and what we were able to build through the winter conditioning program. I'm excited for that to continue to take shape.
"We have a couple other last, final phases that we have to finish well, but it is exciting and it's definitely coming up fast."
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