Chris Klieman, Lance Leipold bring welcome coaching stability to Sunflower Showdown
Little more than two years have passed since Chris Klieman strapped on a headset for his first football game at Kansas State, so most understandably think of him as a relative newcomer in Big 12 coaching circles.
But that is no longer an accurate way to describe his tenure with the Wildcats.
There has been so much recent coaching turnover in the Big 12 that Klieman, believe it or not, has been at K-State longer than all but three current Big 12 coaches have been at their respective schools.
“I didn’t realize that.” Klieman said during his weekly news conference on Tuesday.
Klieman has shot up the list despite only coaching 31 games for the Wildcats, because so many of his peers have been replaced over the past three seasons. TCU coach Gary Patterson and Texas Tech coach Matt Wells were both dismissed in the past two weeks, coincidentally after each of them lost to K-State.
Mike Gundy, who was hired by Oklahoma State in 2005, is now the longest tenured coach in the conference ... by more than a decade. He is followed by Iowa State’s Matt Campbell (2016) and Oklahoma’s Lincoln Riley (2017). West Virginia coach Neal Brown and Klieman were both hired in 2019.
Half the conference has replaced a head coach since then. Tom Herman, Les Miles, Matt Rhule, Patterson and Wells are now doing something else.
There has been so much coaching turnover that KU coach Lance Leipold has been around the Big 12 longer than a pair of interim coaches, and the Jayhawks waited until April to hire him.
“It’s a part of the business,” Klieman said. “It’s the unfortunate part of the business that we all sign up for, not just us head coaches. It’s a lot of support staffs and families and assistant coaches and other people that are involved. It’s unfortunate, but we also understand it’s part of the business.”
“But I didn’t think I would be one of the longer tenured coaches already in just three years. It’s been hard for me to believe I’m already in the middle of our third season here.”
Klieman appears committed to K-State for the foreseeable future. Last year, he signed a contract extension that runs through 2026 and raised both his salary and his buyout.
The Wildcats (5-3, 2-3 Big 12) are on a two-game winning streak, and they can secure bowl eligibility with a victory on Saturday against the Jayhawks (1-7, 0-5). He has them heading in the right direction.
Leipold also appears safe at KU in the near term. Unlike Wells and Patterson, he doesn’t have to worry about losing his job if the Jayhawks lose to K-State on Saturday.
The Jayhawks seem committed to letting him build something in Lawrence after they churned through six different coaches, including one interim, since Mark Mangino was forced out in 2009.
Klieman is 2-0 against Kansas and the Wildcats have won the Sunflower Showdown 12 straight times, but several years of Leipold could make the rivalry more competitive.
“I’ve seen him at different conventions and have so much respect for him and for what he’s done at all different levels,” Klieman said of Leipold. “He has success winning national championships himself. I have so much respect for him and everybody does in the profession, because he’s got a great body of work.”
Klieman (FCS North Dakota State) and Leipold (Division III Wisconsin-Whitewater) both won national championships at lower levels before they made the move up to the Big 12.
They haven’t matched those heights at their current programs, but, unlike some other coaches across the conference, they appear to have time on their side.