Why K-State football coach Chris Klieman will wait to hire new offensive coordinator
It may be a while before the Kansas State football team hires a new offensive coordinator.
Even though two weeks have passed since the Wildcats relieved Courtney Messingham of his play-calling duties, head coach Chris Klieman is in no rush to interview replacement candidates.
When asked where that job search ranked on his to-do list earlier this week, Klieman had a short answer.
“Way down,” Klieman said.
He has a reason for that.
“I had been on the road for a week and then we made the decision,” Klieman said. “Then I was on the road for another week, and now we’re only at Wednesday and it’s signing day. I haven’t talked to anybody. I haven’t given it much thought at all.”
Bringing in a new offensive coordinator won’t become a major priority for Klieman until after K-State plays LSU at the Texas Bowl on Jan. 4 in Houston. That means players will likely have to wait another month to learn who will be in charge of the offense next season.
In the meantime, former K-State quarterback Collin Klein will get an audition of sorts for the job as he takes over as interim offensive coordinator for the bowl season.
If things go well for the Wildcats against the Tigers, it’s not hard to envision Klieman considering him as a candidate for the full-time position.
Klein is one of the most respected people on campus given all he has done for K-State. As a player, he led the Wildcats to a pair of major bowl games and one Big 12 championship before finishing his career as a Heisman Trophy finalist. As an assistant coach, he has tutored K-State quarterbacks since 2017 and even briefly held the title of a co-offensive coordinator in his final season working under Bill Snyder.
Perhaps he is ready to start calling plays.
“I’m going to spend a lot of time with Coach Klein during this during this period of bowl prep,” Klieman said, “and that offensive staff and learn a little bit more about the things that we’re doing that we really like and the things that I would like to see us make some alterations on. Then we’ll evaluate it after the ballgame.”
Other names that have been connected to the opening are Wyoming offensive coordinator Tim Polasek, who previously worked for Klieman at North Dakota State, and former Texas Tech head coach Matt Wells.
If Klieman looks to hire an outside candidate, other names are likely to appear on his radar after the bowl season when assistants are attending coaching conventions and making plans for next season.
He wants to focus on other things first.