K-State Q&A: Chris Klieman, Deuce Vaughn, new contracts, TCU and the Big 12 title game
What does Lance Leipold’s new contract mean for Chris Klieman?
That was the first thing that popped into my mind when I read that Kansas had agreed to raise Leipold’s annual salary to $5 million next season as part of a lucrative extension. College athletics are silly sometimes. And this is sure to be one of those times. Klieman is set to earn $4 million next season with the Wildcats ... for now. But odds are high that K-State will find a way to make sure that number goes up in the near future.
There is no way K-State will stand by and watch KU pay its football coach more than it pays Klieman. The highest paid football coach in the Sunflower State has to reside in Manhattan. Those are the rules. The state’s highest paid basketball coach lives in Lawrence. Those are also the rules.
To be clear, there are no actual rules when it comes to these contracts. But there might as well be with some of the egos that are involved.
Klieman deserves a new contract after he guided the Wildcats to nine victories and a berth in the Big 12 championship game this season. He also gave Nebraska the stiff arm when the Cornhuskers expressed interest in talking to him before they hired Matt Rhule, according to insiders.
Earlier this season, Klieman said he had no interest in other jobs because he loved the program he was building at K-State and also enjoyed working for athletic director Gene Taylor. He was apparently speaking the truth.
It will soon be time for K-State to reward Klieman for his performance as a football coach and for his loyalty. We already know one thing to expect whenever a new deal is reached. He will be making more than $5 million per year.
I won’t be surprised if the Wildcats find a way to push his salary near the $6 million range, at least near the end of a new deal. His current contract will pay him an average of close to $4.3 million per year until it expires in 2026. He already triggered an automatic one-year extension by winning eight games this season.
A few weeks ago, I asked Taylor if a contract extension was in the cards for Klieman. His answer was a big, fat maybe. It has always been Taylor’s goal to keep Klieman comfortable in his job. That means a salary that is competitive with other Big 12 coaches. It’s unlikely he will ever be the highest paid coach in the league. But he should never be near the bottom.
We know how much eight of the Big 12 coaches earn each year in salary. As of now, Klieman ranks fifth ahead of Joey McGuire (Texas Tech), Matt Campbell (Iowa State) and Neal Brown (West Virginia). Mike Gundy (Oklahoma State) is the league’s highest paid coach at $7.5 million per season.
It’s a safe bet that K-State will work to make sure Klieman jumps Leipold and moves back into fourth, or maybe even third, whenever it comes time for a new contract.
This is kind of like when an elite NFL quarterback signs a new contract. The next one always ends up getting a little more.
There actually haven’t been all that many rematches in the history of the Big 12 championship game. At least not back when the conference was split into divisions.
Oklahoma beat K-State twice on its way to a conference title and then a national championship in 2000. The Sooners also beat Colorado twice in 2002 and Missouri twice in 2007.
Texas hilariously defeated Colorado 70-3 in a Big 12 championship rematch in 2005. Otherwise, it was mostly teams playing for the first time.
The lone revenge game occurred when Colorado dethroned Texas in the 2001 Big 12 championship game after losing to the Longhorns in the regular season.
Revenge victories in the Big 12 title game have been more common lately. Oklahoma beat Texas in 2018 despite losing to the Longhorns earlier that season at the Red River Shootout. The Sooners also took down Iowa State in Arlington after losing to them in Ames in 2020. Baylor also got some revenge when it beat Oklahoma State by a yard in last season’s championship game.
I guess that means it has happened in back-to-back years. That could be a good omen for K-State, which is looking to beat TCU after losing to the Horned Frogs back in October.
Yes, both K-State and TCU players will get a little something extra for playing in the Big 12 championship game.
It won’t be anything quite as extravagant as they will receive at the Sugar Bowl later this month. But it’s still something.
I’m told every player will get to choose one item from a gift suite at AT&T Stadium before the game. I can’t tell you what kind of gifts they will get to choose from, but I’m guessing it will be something like back packs and watches or maybe some clothes.
E-MAIL QUESTION: Hey Kellis, feel free to use this question in your next Q&A. The more I look at this Big 12 championship matchup, the more I think it is meaningless in the grand scheme of things. It sure seems like TCU will end up in the playoff and Kansas State will end up in the Sugar Bowl no matter who wins the game. Am I wrong? - Andrew B.
You could be right.
K-State is most definitely locked into the Sugar Bowl no matter what happens in Arlington. The Wildcats will either go to New Orleans as Big 12 champions or the second-place team from the Big 12 while TCU goes to the playoff.
There has been some confusion about how the Sugar Bowl selects its second-place team from the Big 12. I can tell you it’s not by the CFP rankings. The Sugar Bowl goes by regular-season record. So the Wildcats are in unless they somehow beat the Horned Frogs so convincingly that they make the playoff themselves.
Personally, I think TCU will make the playoff no matter what happens in this game. But that is up for debate with Ohio State and Alabama lurking at No. 5 and No. 6, respectively.
My thinking is that you can’t move the Frogs below Ohio State just because they lose one game against a top 10 team on a neutral field. The Buckeyes already have a loss, and it came badly at home against a team that will make the playoff. Why do they deserve preferential treatment?
Going undefeated in the Big 12 is rarely done. To me, that is deserving of a playoff berth.
Funny thing is, there is a scenario where Georgia, Michigan, TCU and USC all lose this weekend and all four still make the playoff. Even if some of those teams are booted out in favor of Ohio State and Alabama in that scenario, you will still be left with a playoff that doesn’t include a single conference championship.
How crazy would that be? All these league championship games might be meaningless. Playoff expansion can’t get here soon enough.
That being said, I’m sure K-State and TCU badly want a trophy. Conference championships are a big deal for both schools. It won’t feel like a meaningless game, even if it doesn’t technically have playoff implications.
And there is always a chance that TCU will get snubbed from the playoff with a loss. Remember, in 2014 it unbelievably dropped from No. 3 to No. 6 after beating Iowa State 55-3 in its final game.
I have heard some rumblings about other schools using back channels to let it be known they will have interest in speaking with both defensive coordinator Joe Klanderman and offensive coordinator Collin Klein after the season is over.
But I have also heard that Klanderman and Klein are content at K-State, at least for the time being.
K-State gave both of them raises and new contracts last offseason. The same could and probably should happen again this offseason. Both coordinators are currently earning around $600,000 in salary.
It’s not realistic to expect them both to remain K-State coordinators forever. Klanderman was nominated for the Broyles Award this season as one of the top assistants in the country. Klein is an up-and-coming offensive mind.
They won’t be here until they retire. Shoot, a life-changing opportunity could come up in the next few weeks.
But it will take an extraordinary job to lure either one of them away from Manhattan right now. I think they can get at least one more season out of Klanderman and a few more out of Klein, as he is younger and his kids were born here.
One other name to watch is cornerbacks coach Van Malone. He would make a fine coordinator or even a head coach at certain schools.
E-MAIL QUESTION: How in the #$%@#$ does Deuce Vaughn end up on the All-Big 12 second team? The media bias against Kansas State is real! - Jeff M.
First off, I have to point out that it was the coaches (not media) who voted on the All-Big 12 football team that came out earlier this week.
The media All-Big 12 team comes out next week, if you’re interested.
All I can say is that Vaughn is trapped in a conference with other outstanding running backs.
Bijan Robinson rushed for 1,580 yards and 18 touchdowns this season. I think he is the best running back in the entire country. Texas underachieved with him, but can you imagine how many games the Wildcats would have lost without him?
You could certainly argue that Vaughn was more deserving than Kendre Miller, but Miller played for the team that went undefeated and he put up similar rushing numbers to Vaughn.
Had K-State gone undefeated instead of TCU, Vaughn definitely would have been on the first team.
Maybe the media will vote differently.
Your best bet for the USMNT match against The Netherlands in the World Cup is probably to walk around the parking lot at AT&T Stadium and make friends with any tailgaters who have it on TV.
That match starts at 9 a.m. and the K-State/TCU game starts at 11 a.m. So it’s not like you can watch soccer somewhere else and then make it to the Big 12 championship.
Honestly, the best plan may be to watch the first half of the soccer match in the parking lot and the second half inside the stadium. Surely they will have it on somewhere.
The worst-case scenario is extra time at the World Cup. Win or lose, we all deserve that match to be over before the K-State/TCU game starts.
I haven’t heard of any DFW watch parties for the K-State/Wichita State basketball game. But I’m sure you can find one if you ask around inside the stadium. You could maybe even organize your own.
I can imagine what this K-State basketball team would look like without Florida transfer Keyontae Johnson on the roster. But I don’t want to. It’s not pretty.
Heck, he scored 20 points and grabbed 12 rebounds for the Wildcats earlier this week against Butler. And K-State still lost that game by double digits.
Johnson (and a much-improved version of Markquis Nowell) is the main reason why K-State got off to a sensational 6-0 start that featured a tournament championship at the Cayman Islands Classic.
He is averaging 18 points and 6.9 rebounds. He can score whenever he wants to. His teammates like to call Johnson a walking bucket, and that nickname is appropriate.
With him on the roster, K-State can dream about things like the NCAA Tournament. Without him, it probably wouldn’t sniff the NIT.
Kudos to Jerome Tang for finding a way to get him on campus.