He's taking photo after photo inside the white-walled studio on Monday morning, a parade of head shots in suit attire, in polo shirts and quarter-zips, the Kansas State football team photographer getting every possible angle just to be sure. In a way, the career of Christian Ellsworth, announced on December 21 as new quarterbacks coach under head coach Collin Klein, is like a photo album, with each stop along his journey telling a story of this 28-year-old's quest to one day work alongside his old quarterbacks coach at Northern Iowa.
There were no fireworks to commemorate the final game of the 2025 calendar year for Kansas State after its 94-85 win over Louisiana Monroe on Sunday that concluded the non-conference season for the Wildcats. But as the Big 12 Conference season prepares to drop in the Little Apple, head coach Jerome Tang says, "I'm excited to see how we can take this thing up."
Nick McClellan, a first team all-state honoree at Christian Brothers College (Mo.) High School and one of the finest two-way players in the country, had starred in big games in his decorated career. But perhaps the 6-foot, 195-pounder never shined brighter than on October 3 in a meeting between undefeated teams as the Cadets visited Rabun Gap-Nacoochee High School in Georgia.
We're in the back corridor of the T-Mobile Center prior to his official unveiling to Kansas City as a member of the Kansas State Wildcats, and preseason All-American PJ Haggerty, a native of Crosby, Texas, is talking about his fateful eighth-grade summer camp at Baylor when he first met Jerome Tang — and then Haggerty fast forwards and describes recently preparing pizza in Tang's kitchen one warm night in Manhattan.
Newsletter
Love K-State?
Join the K-State newsletter to receive Sports Extra stories, updates, ticket information, special offers and more!