THE ILALIO FILE

PERSONAL

Year in Coaching: First in 2026
Year at K-State: First in 2026
Hometown: Manhattan, Kan.
Education: Kansas State, 2025 (Bachelor's in athletic training and rehabilitation sciences)
Wife: Morgan
Children: Oakley, Phoenix

COACHING EXPERIENCE

2026: K-State (Defensive Graduate Assistant)

POSTSEASON EXPERIENCE

2021: Texas Bowl (K-State)*
2022: Sugar Bowl (K-State)*
2023: Pop-Tarts Bowl (K-State)*
2024: Rate Bowl (K-State)*
* As a Player

A four-year letterwinner for the Wildcats who played in 41 games with 28 starts over the last four seasons, Damian Ilalio is in his first season as a defensive graduate assistant in 2026.

Ilalio enters the coaching profession immediately after helping the Wildcats earn a combined 34 wins over the last four years, including a 2022 Big 12 Championship thanks to a 31-28 overtime win over No. 3 TCU. In that game, Ilalio was in for the stop on 4th and Goal inside the one-yard line in overtime, which eventually led to K-State’s game-winning field goal.

A 2025 All-Big 12 honoree, Ilalio came away with 65 career tackles, 8.5 tackles for loss, 3.0 sacks, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery. In 2024, the Manhattan, Kansas, native produced 34 tackles, 4.0 TFLs and 2.0 sacks over 461 defensive snaps. It was the most tackles by a Wildcat interior defensive lineman since 2017 and the most TFLs and sacks since 2021. Included in that total was a safety against Kansas.

Ilalio, who was voted a team captain as a senior, was a two-time Academic All-Big 12 performer. He obtained his undergraduate degree in athletic training and rehabilitation sciences from Kansas State in December 2025. He and his wife, Morgan, have two children, Oakley and Phoenix.