Chris Klieman wants K-State Wildcats to own Kansas City recruiting footprint
As Chris Klieman analyzed the 15 recruits Kansas State added to its football roster on early signing day Wednesday, it was obvious what he liked most about this crop of incoming players.
Five of them are in-state prospects and one of them lives in Missouri.
Those are important recruiting territories for the new K-State football coach.
“Make no mistake, we need to win in the states of Kansas and Missouri,” Klieman said at a news conference. “We need to win with the Kansas City metro guys, and I believe that is something I can bring to the table. (I have) a lot of ties in the Kansas City area.
“The Kansas City area has phenomenal football. The state of Kansas has great football. The state of Missouri has great football. We want to really own that footprint.”
The Wildcats were successful enough in those regions to sign a pair of Lawrence players. Keenan Garber, an athletic three-star receiver, honored his commitment to K-State despite receiving recruiting attention elsewhere following Bill Snyder’s retirement. And he’s bringing teammate Jax Dineen, a 5-foot-11 fullback, with him.
Dineen is the younger brother of Joe Dineen, who starred at linebacker for the Jayhawks last season. Landing him was an important victory for the Wildcats, who figure to feature multiple blockers and ball-carriers in Klieman’s run-heavy offense.
The other in-state products to sign with K-State were Piper defensive tackle Cooper Beebe, Bishop Miege offensive lineman Taylor Poitier and Butler Community College kicker Ty Zentner.
K-State was able to sign those players despite coaching uncertainty in large part because of their familiarity to Klieman, who has recruited this region hard as the coach at North Dakota State.
“He watched them all and he liked them all,” K-State director of football operations Taylor Braet said. “He knew most of them because they recruit him. They were on Cooper Beebe early. They were on Dax early. He had a relationship with a lot of these kids already. Coach wants to be in Kansas City and it is going to be more prevalent now.”
Jaren Lewis, a 6-3 quarterback from Columbia, was another significant addition. He was previously committed to Klieman at North Dakota State and decided to follow him to Manhattan.
That gives K-State two quarterbacks in this recruiting class, along with dual-threat passer Chris Herron of Houston. Snyder rarely signed multiple passers in the same class, but it was a priority for Klieman.
“I have been a part of programs where if you lose a guy at quarterback and you don’t have a backup it doesn’t matter how good you are at other places you are going to struggle,” Klieman said. “Adding to the quarterback depth and adding to the competition is going to be really healthy.”
Expect Klieman to continue looking close to home for additional recruits as the Wildcats build toward traditional signing day in February.
Of course, that’s not the only region he recruits.
Much was made about Klieman’s lack of recruiting ties in Texas when he was hired as K-State’s new football coach last week, but he landed five players from the Lone Star State this cycle.
His biggest addition from that region is William Jones, a defensive back from Mansfield, Texas. The versatile defender was previously committed to California, but Klieman convinced him to flip to K-State after a long recruiting call Tuesday night.
It wasn’t a perfect day for Klieman, as the Wildcats lost a few recruiting battles. Previously committed recruits Khalil McClain and Yahweh Jeudy landed at Troy and Iowa, respectively.
Still, early signing day felt like a victory from the start when the Wildcats added Ball State running back transfer James Gilbert.
Gilbert will be eligible to play immediately next season as a graduate transfer. He will enroll at K-State after rushing for 2,806 career yards at Ball State, including 747 last season. He earned first-team all conference honors by rushing for 1,350 yards in 2016.
The Wildcats will likely lean on Gilbert in the backfield next season. It’s not a stretch to imagine him as the team’s new starting running back following the departures of Alex Barnes, Dalvin Warmack and Justin Silmon.
“We need some leadership and veteran guys in that room,” Klieman said. “I know (that position) is depleted ... He fit the skillset of what we were looking for in a running back. When I took over I reached out to him. He’s been looking at a lot of places. He saw our depth chart ... and it was a fit.”
K-State’s recruiting class won’t currently wow anyone, as it is ranked in the 70s nationally and ninth in the Big 12 by most recruiting services. But it was a solid start for Klieman, considering all the uncertainty K-State has dealt with this month.
It could provide him with a springboard into the next recruiting window when he has a full staff.
“We still have some work to do in January,” Klieman said, “and we will have 10 guys ultimately on the road once we get to January busting our tails for Wildcat nation to fill the rest of those spots. We couldn’t be more happy with the group we have signed today.”