Rapid Recap: First Kansas State spring ball updates

RETAINING KLEIN AND THE OFFENSE

Kansas State offensive coordinator Collin Klein considered other offensive coordinator positions in the offseason, namely the one at Notre Dame that was heavily reported on by various media outlets, and I asked Chris Klieman to address those few days.

The K-State head coach acknowledged that time and shared that they had conversations about what they could still accomplish together in Manhattan, more about his career path and his love for the school and his players.

Klieman noted that it just wasn’t the right time for Klein to leave because he decided he had more to prove and some unfinished business. Receiver Seth Porter said it was an uneasy few days, and they just knew they didn’t want Klein to leave at all.

Now that he is remaining in Manhattan, it has allowed them to expand on what they did in year one. There’s no installation occurring. As offensive linemen KT Leveston and Hayden Gillum revealed, they are only fixing, tightening up and fine-tuning the offense.

It has allowed Klein to feed more into his creativity as a coach and work with Kansas State quarterback Will Howard on a few of those things. Klieman even admitted that the success of the offense would be more dependent on Klein’s creativity, which has been on full display in the Spring because they are further into his tenure.

KANSAS STATE NEWCOMERS

The four transfer additions are already on campus for K-State. Klieman did speak about three of them on Tuesday.

In regard to Treshaun Ward, they mentioned pursuing him aggressively and holding off plenty of other programs in their recruitment of him. He loved the plan that Kansas State had for him. Unfortunately, he’s a little dinged and will be a non-contact guy in the Spring.

Receiver Keagan Johnson actually reached out to the Wildcats as soon as he entered the transfer portal. He was very deliberate in his intentions with K-State. He is a fluid athlete that impressed Klieman with how he came in and out of his breaks on the first day of practice.

Jevon Banks picked the Wildcats late, but he is on campus. They are excited about him because of the versatility he can provide Kansas State. The head coach mentioned that he anticipates Banks playing the nose guard and defensive end spots.

Quarterback Avery Johnson was the one freshman he did discuss, and it wasn’t as if he was placing a bunch of pressure on the newcomer to perform in immediate fashion. They have Will Howard for that. But Johnson’s competitiveness and work ethic has already showed up in Manhattan. He’s up 15 pounds in the last two months.

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— K-State Football (@KStateFB) March 7, 2023

NEXT STEP FOR PROGRAM

According to Klieman, the hardest thing to do is not to win the conference title. The challenge will be for the defending Big 12 champions to remain on the perch. That kind of continuity and consistency year after year is the most difficult thing to do as a program.

But they are aspiring to be that annual championship contender at K-State and embracing the test. They do not need to discuss the goals. Everyone in the building knows they want to win the Big 12 every year. They’re raising the standards and expectations to where they are regularly competing for rings.

K-STATE INJURIES

Although they are not nearly as banged up as they were this time last year, Kansas State still isn’t at 100 percent as some recover from offseason surgeries or are just resting in general. Klieman even noted that some of the multi-year starters and fifth and sixth-year guys would do very little in the Spring.

Both Ward and DJ Giddens in the backfield are only doing individual work and are not cleared for contact. Taylor Poitier is further along than he was this time a year ago but won’t be cleared for contact for a few more weeks.

Kobe Savage won’t be participating in much, but he has rehabilitated in rapid fashion and is already running at full speed in a straight line. Klieman also revealed that they are the thinnest this Spring at tight end and defensive end because of who is unavailable.

HIRING MIDDLETON

After a few different interviews that were conducted by both Klieman and Klein, they hand-picked Matthew Middleton as the school’s next wide receivers coach. As Porter told me, it is his fifth different position coach in six years.

They felt like Middleton was a perfect fit for them at K-State. The players loved him when they were introduced to him. He connects well to young people and has a knack for being an exceptional teacher according to his peers in the industry.

He’s a ball of energy, and the older Porter specifically stated that he has been excellent with the younger players in the program that are still learning how to play college football at a high level the way that they demand it at Kansas State.

DUKE’S MOVE

As KSO has hinted at for months, Klieman noted that Khalid Duke is mostly viewed as a defensive end at this point and will help to replace the loss of Felix Anudike-Uzomah. Though, to be clear, the K-State head coach shared multiple times that there isn’t any replacing Felix or Deuce Vaughn.

Those two were special.

But Duke will move down to the defensive front to help mitigate what is lost with Anudike-Uzomah. The Wildcats will also work to depend on guys like Brendan Mott and Nate Matlack. Matlack is finally healthy, and that should help him make more of a mark.

They also want to continue to add wrinkles and tweak the 3-3-5 scheme in the offseason, and some of that is composing packages and special sets to highlight Duke and have him in promising spots with great matchups.

KANSAS STATE LEADERSHIP

Jerome Tang once told the media that the great teams get old and stay old. Well, Kansas State has kind of done that on the football side. They added some of those older transfers already mentioned, and they return the entire starting offensive line, linebacker Daniel Green and receivers Phillip Brooks and Porter.

Many of them have a come a long way in their leadership and have written wonderful stories because of it, specifically Leveston, and that will be a huge asset in the offseason as they incorporate so much more into both sides of the ball, in the locker room to have powerful voices and during preparation during the week.