K-State Q&A: Chris Klieman, football recruiting and basketball concerns
It’s time for another K-State Q&A.
This edition of everyone’s favorite mailbag is a little different than usual. For the first time this month, it’s not all about football. We have basketball topics to discuss, too. This will also be the last Q&A of the year.
I’m taking next week off to drink eggnog and watch holiday movies.
So let me say this to each of you: Merry Christmas ya filthy animal, and a happy New Year!
Now, let’s dive into your questions. Thanks, as always, for asking them.
Alex Barnes led K-State in rushing this season, and I suspect James Gilbert will do the same for the Wildcats next season.
That’s where the similarities probably end.
Gilbert is exactly what K-State needed. The graduate transfer from Ball State will be here for spring practice and provide valuable experience and leadership next season. With Justin Silmon, Dalvin Warmack and Barnes all exiting the program, he looks like the new starter unless Mike McCoy gets physically cleared to play. But he’s no Barnes, who led the Big 12 with 1,355 rushing yards as a junior.
Gilbert was an all-MAC running back as a sophomore, so he’s no slouch, but he has been unable to regain that form. He was part of a running back committee last season at Ball State and reportedly struggled with pass protection. He rushed for 659 yards and seven touchdowns.
The thing to remember about Chris Klieman’s offense, though, is that North Dakota State typically spreads its carries around. Five different players have eclipsed 500 rushing yards for the Bison this season.
Expect K-State to spread the wealth next year, too. I like the look of incoming freshman running back Joe Ervin and think he could contribute next season. Cornelius Ruff could get some looks, too.
Bill Snyder left the new coaching staff with very little at running back, so that will continue to be a position of need as traditional signing day approaches in February. I won’t be surprised if they add a junior-college transfer.
Blake Seiler and Collin Klein will both be on Chris Klieman’s coaching staff. That’s not in doubt. They are simply working to decide on job titles.
I asked both assistants on Wednesday if it was an easy choice for them to stay and work under a new coach. They both emphatically answered yes.
“Cut me with a knife and it comes out purple,” Seiler said. “We are still working through all the details there, but this is my home, this is my alma mater and K-State is a special place to me.”
Seiler was the primary defensive coordinator last season, but he will probably shift into a co-coordinator role and coach linebackers or defensive linemen next season. It seems like Klieman, a former safety and defensive coordinator, has his own guy in mind for the main DC spot.
Klein was one of three co-coordinators on offense last season and the quarterbacks coach. He could continue coaching that position or switch to running backs, tight ends or receivers. Anything really. It just depends on the specialties of the rest of Klieman’s staff.
North Dakota State offensive coordinator Courtney Messingham seems like a logical choice to lead the offense. He has experience in the Big 12 (as the OC at Iowa State) and has done impressive work with the Bison this season. Klein said he is already busy studying their offense so he can best coach to its tendencies next season.
Seems like a decent bet Messingham will be the new offensive coordinator here. Conor Riley (offensive line), Joe Klanderman (safeties) and Jason Ray (receivers) could follow him from NDSU, too.
K-State defensive backs coach Brian Norwood has been actively helping Klieman recruit. There’s a chance he’s retained. Not sure what the future holds for Sean Snyder, as Klieman didn’t use a special teams coach at NDSU.
Klieman told John Kurtz during an interview on KMAN radio he will hire 3-5 coaches without any connections to K-State or NDSU. We should receive some clarity on his coaching staff soon.
Giddy is a strong word, but it’s used well here.
Chris Klieman has been a breath of fresh air from a media perspective. When I drove up to Fargo last week to learn more about him and check out a North Dakota State playoff game I asked for a few minutes of his time to talk about K-State and he was happy to help. Then, at his signing day news conference, he gave us real answers about the incoming recruits. And then he let us speak to two assistants (Blake Seiler and Collin Klein) and his director of recruiting (Taylor Braet).
Snyder would not have allowed anything in the above paragraph. So, yeah, I guess you could say Christmas came early. Fans are the real winners here, though. Not only are you getting more access to K-State football information through traditional media, you’re getting more from the school’s social media team in the form of behind-the-scenes videos.
It’s the start of a new era.
Give me the over.
K-State signed 15 players during the early signing window. That’s a good start, but the Wildcats are low on scholarship players due to recent attrition and need a large recruiting class to offset those dwindling numbers.
My guess is Klieman will aim for at least five more players and push for 10 more if he can find that many solid recruits.
One thing the old coaching staff did well was establish a recruiting pipeline to Lawrence.
When left tackle Scott Frantz committed to K-State in 2014, I wrote a story about him being the first football player from Lawrence to suit up for Bill Snyder. That’s how rare it was for the Wildcats to pull a recruit out of KU territory.
K-State director of recruiting Taylor Braet said Wednesday that the Wildcats sold him on being a trend setter, and he has paved the way for more Lawrence commits.
Since then, the Cats have added defensive back Ekow Boye-Doe, receiver Keenan Garber and fullback Jax Dineen.
That’s certainly not a good look for the Jayhawks.
Bruce Weber is coming off an Elite Eight, his team is 8-2 and he just signed a contract extension. Get out of here with this question.
But let the record show that Weber doubters are beginning to resurface.
The era of #ConfidentBruce may already be over. He was still acting kind of confident this week, blasting the AP voters for dropping K-State out of the rankings after picking up a win over Georgia State.
But he’s not nearly as bullish as he once was on this team. Losing to Tulsa, getting smoked by Marquette and watching Dean Wade go down with another foot injury has dimmed what once looked like a bright season.
The team is 8-2, though. It’s not quite time to panic. The Vanderbilt game on Saturday will be big. Win that one, and the Wildcats probably enter Big 12 play at 10-2.
Nine feels like a good number.
Before the season, when Dean Wade was healthy, the Wildcats seemed like a lock for 12 or 13. But without their best player, there’s no guarantee they can finish .500 in conference play.
I just scrolled through their Big 12 schedule and projected them to go exactly 9-9.
The way the Wildcats are playing right now, that could be a stretch. You have to score to win basketball games, after all. But they will likely improve and they will eventually get Wade back. The bottom won’t fall out as long as Barry Brown and Xavier Sneed stay healthy.
Kansas and Texas Tech look really good. Oklahoma already has 10 wins. Iowa State has improved from last season. Outside of maybe Oklahoma State, every team is going to present a challenge.
If I were a betting man I would bet the over.
This question is probably moot. Wade has already played in nine games and he has a recovery timetable of 3-8 weeks. Unless things change and he’s ruled out for the season, a medical redshirt won’t be on the table. Even then, he may have already played in too many games. Seems like a longshot.
Still, both sides are better off with Wade returning this season. If the Wildcats can claw their way into the NCAA Tournament they can make some noise with him in the lineup. Wade doesn’t need another year of development. He will be ready to play professionally after this season.
No way. He had a great shooting performance against Southern Miss, scoring a season-high 18 points and leading K-State to a come-from-behind-victory, but he’s too streaky of a shooter to depend on consistently.
Barry Brown will lead the team in scoring, followed by Xavier Sneed. Then Stokes.
The Wildcats are honestly better off with Stokes being more of a facilitator. He played great on Wednesday, but also finished without an assist and four turnovers. He needs to flip those stats.