Here’s what Collin Klein said to fire up K-State fans on Day 1 as football coach
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- K-State produced a spectacle to unveil Collin Klein, energizing a huge crowd
- Klein accepted a five-year deal averaging $4.3M and promised toughness, scheme
- He will recruit and build staff for K-State while finishing A&M offensive duties
Every time Kansas State hires a new football coach, the introductory news conference is an event.
Things were different with Collin Klein.
This was a spectacle.
K-State introduced him to a huge crowd as music blared, lights dimmed and pyrotechnics shot off behind him in the corner of the school’s volleyball arena. It felt like the start of an NBA game instead of a meet-and-greet. The Wildcats couldn’t do that for just anybody. But they felt like they had to go big for Klein, a beloved former quarterback who led K-State to a Big 12 championship with toughness and leadership more than a decade ago.
“I didn’t get this many people to show up to my press conference,” K-State athletic director Gene Taylor said. “But hats off to our staff. They knew this was going to be the case, and we knew this was the venue we would need to help people celebrate him.”
K-State did more than just celebrate their new head coach, who is taking over for Chris Klieman after his surprise retirement earlier this week.
The school sold purple jerseys with Klein’s No. 7 on the front and back. It also showed highlights of his playing career in addition to some of his best moments as an offensive coordinator. Many prominent figures in the K-State community came out to support him, including former coach Bill Snyder.
“I just keep waiting to wake up,” Klein said, “because this has been such a dream come true on so many levels. It’s such a full circle moment for us and our family.”
Things felt particularly surreal for Klein because he was close to accepting “a couple” other head-coaching jobs before K-State reached out to him at the start of the week. Had the Wildcats waited even a few extra hours, this might not have been possible.
But he was all-in as soon as he heard this was an option. He told Taylor he would take the job before they discussed money, and he ultimately agreed to a five-year contract that will pay him an average base salary of $4.3 million.
“The timing was tight,” Klein said. “But it all happened how it was supposed to.”
Klein has never been known for giving powerful speeches, at least as a coach.
During his tenure as K-State’s offensive coordinator, his weekly news conferences could be described as vanilla. He rarely made any bold comments about any subject.
But he projected a powerful voice on this occasion. Klein spoke about instilling the values that Snyder taught him into future teams. He talked about how much toughness he planned to bring to the Wildcats. He also said that the coaching staff would provide “a schematic advantage.”
“We’re going to push the edge of everything we can attack the other team with,” he said.
“We are going to be known for how hard we compete,” he said.
“We’re going to take this program where it hasn’t been before,” he said.
Klein was then asked why he still thinks coaching the game the way Snyder did years ago will work in today’s ever-changing climate that features NIL dollars and the transfer portal.
“I don’t think kids are any different now,” Klein said. “I really don’t. I think it’s a completely different landscape. We have to attack it completely differently, a different strategy about that entire process. But at the end of the day, that’s why you have talented teams that don’t succeed. If there’s not the relational connectivity on your football team, if there’s not the development ... you’re going to get beat out. You’re not going to be a good football player, and your team is going to suffer.
“I think players respond to being challenged like that when you know what you’re talking about and you can provide value to them and bettering them across that development journey. If they don’t, that’s fine, but we’re going to attract those type of guys that have that mindset and that desire to be really, really good.”
The next few weeks will be hectic for Klein.
He plans to continue working for Texas A&M as offensive coordinator while the Aggies move forward in the College Football Playoff. But he will also recruit for K-State and build a coaching staff.
His days will be dedicated to his old team. His nights will be dedicated to his new team.
It will be fascinating to see how he handles life as a first-time head coach. But K-State fans are excited to see what happens next.
Klein fired them up with his words on his first day home.
This story was originally published December 5, 2025 at 6:46 PM.