MANHATTAN – Kansas State Head Football Coach Chris Klieman met with members of the media for the first time during preseason camp on Tuesday inside the Vanier Family Football Complex.
CHRIS KLIEMAN, HEAD COACH
Opening Statement…
“Good afternoon everybody, thanks for coming. It's great to see everybody out here for the first time since Signing Day, February 2020 that we're all here together. Crazy how far we've come and where everything's at and we're all still masked up. It's good to have everybody here, not doing this all over Zoom. We're in through our first week and had our fifth practice today. All the days are running together, but we had our third practice in half pads, and then tomorrow will be our first day in full pads. The guys are doing a great job right now, just learning how to practice, the young guys. Older guys getting back acclimated to the practice of how we're doing things. They’ve had good energy, good tempo. Tomorrow is going to be the real thing for us to find out how far we've come as far as getting off blocks, tackling better, running with football, making something happen after a catch because we will do some live stuff tomorrow. Not a ton of it, but we'll do some live stuff. For us as coaches, we like where we're at and we think we're much better than we've been here, at least in the last two years. People understand the offense, understand the defense better. The fact that we've had everybody here for the winter, summer and start of fall, we're in much better shape in that respect, but tomorrow is going to be the big telling day of can we put all these things together and be a much better, more physical, more efficient, disciplined team? So, we'll open up for questions.”
On what he tells recruits about the future of the Big 12…
“Well, I haven't had a lot of those messages or a lot of those opportunities. Kansas State is still going to play football, and we're still going play Power 5 football, and we're going to have a great schedule. I'll let the people that are above me figure out how that's all going to happen. I don't think it's going to happen very quickly. I think this is something that all of us in the profession as coaches saw coming, probably three years ago, even five years ago I saw it coming, that there's going to be some drastic changes in the landscape of college football over the next three to five years, but it doesn't happen overnight. So, we've told our players, many of our players probably won't even see the effect of it, to be honest with you. I don't know how long Oklahoma and Texas are going to play, if they play for one year or four years, I don't know. But we've told recruits that same thing. We're going play Power 5 football. We're going to get a great schedule and have an opportunity to compete for championships.”
On his confidence in how K-State is positioned moving forward…
“The fact that we're committed. The administration is committed. The fanbase is committed. The program is committed. That we've got a new indoor coming. We have some of the best facilities in college football. So, once again, trying to get our guys ready to go in fall has been more of my main emphasis right now. Let the other people handle that stuff, but we've got great tradition here, a tradition of excellence, of top-notch, top-25, top-15, sometimes top-10 teams. So, I think we've got a great brand here.”
On wide receiver Chabastin Taylor…
“He started today. Today was his first day for us. He had surgery in December, so it’s going be a little bit of a process. He's cleared, which is positive. I just don't know if that's going to be him feeling comfortable and us feeling comfortable with him over the next two weeks, over the next four weeks, but he's making great progress. We’ll start to add more reps to his plate over the next couple of weeks and see how he responds.”
On recruiting with the uncertainty of the conference moving forward…
“I think the only disadvantage is the uncertainty in my mind. That's the only disadvantage, but people don't know what's going to happen. For the next three to five years, control what you can control, and that's what we have right now. And right now, all those teams are playing. Once again, are they going to be playing for three to four years? I don’t know. But that's the only uncertainty right now. There’s a cloud, but we're handling and talking to recruits. They want to come and play for K-State.”
On the linebacker position…
“I like what we're having with Daniel Green and Cody Fletcher. Those guys are seasoned guys that have played a ton of football for us, and they've really started to understand things much better, playing really well. The guy that jumps out at me is Nick Allen. Nick Allen is doing a phenomenal job. Nick, in my mind and coaches’ minds, is as much of a starter right now as Deuce and Cody are simply because the game has slowed down for him. He's much stronger, much quicker, understands it. So, I'm excited about what Nick's doing. We've got a bunch of guys from Austin Moore, Eric Munoz, (Ryan) Henington and Wayne (Jones) that are playing some inside as well as outside. We have more depth there.”
On who has caught his attention over the last several months…
“Nate Matlack from Olathe. He's put some weight on and some strength on. I think he's 240-plus now, and he's a guy that jumps out at me as somebody that has really transformed his body. Ben Sinnott is the same way. A young fullback/tight end that came in and maybe 210 pounds. He’s 245 or 250 now. He’s going to be a big factor for us. Those are just a couple guys on each side of the ball that are really young that have really changed their bodies.”
On the wide receivers…
“Well, it's hard to have a pecking order yet because of just being through a few practices and not having all the live reps and things, but Malik (Knowles) and Phillip (Brooks) take the lion's share of the reps. That's to be expected, the returning guys. I’m going to miss some names, but Keenan Garber jumped out at us. He’s done a really nice job. He's so fast and he's put on 10 pounds. He's stronger. He's going to be a factor for us. Landry Weber and Seth Porter are really going to be mainstays for us that are really good. Kade Warner is learning the offense but doing a nice job. Eric Hommel is getting better and learning the offense. Chabastin (Taylor), once he gets into the realm will be a good player for us. There's a lot of good young players that are coming up, Ty Bowman and Jaelon Travis, so we have great competition there. We have more depth there which is a positive. So, we'll see how it plays out over camp.”
On the difference in the offensive line from last year…
“We’re much, much better and have much more depth and a lot more versatility. We're putting a little bit more stress on guys like Cooper Beebe, KT Leveston, who are good enough to be in the top five that they have to swing and play both guard and tackle. So, I'm excited about having more depth there. Carver Willis is advanced and can help us at tackle, as well as Christian Duffie. Christian Duffie is the one that's staying at his spot at tackle, but then with Taylor Portier, Ben Adler and (Josh) Rivas and Noah Johnson, we have so many more guys on the inside. We should be able to play eight and nine guys for sure. And, based on a couple of young players, we could get up closer to 10 guys playing. So, we have more depth there.”
On the defensive front seven…
“Yeah, you lose a couple of great players up front, and it's tough with losing those guys, but Timmy Horne has stepped in and replaced Drew Wiley. It’s hard to replace what Drew has meant to the program, but Timmy’s done a nice job of that, plus you have Eli Huggins in there. (Jaylen) Pickle is stronger and more athletic, so we feel like we're in good shape there. Losing Wyatt (Hubert) at defensive end that was a drafted kid, an impact guy. We're playing a lot of guys, from Bronson Massie to Khalid Duke. Spencer Trussell is coming along. Spencer will play a lot of football for us. We need to have guys like Nate (Matlack) coming along and continue to get better. Felix Anudike is going to play a lot for us. We have depth there. I don't know if we have the person that's going to make those splash plays like Wyatt did, but we're going to play a lot of guys. We're going to try to keep them fresh, both at the d-tackle and the defensive end position.”
On defensive end Bronson Massie…
“For Bronson, it's keeping him healthy. He's played a lot of football, so we need to be smart and give him a little bit of a pitch count right now as far as how many plays he's playing because he's had some injury issues. He's fighting through them, and he's doing a great job. He's a guy that is a specialty guy on the pass rush, but he's going to have to play some every-down plays for us as well. If we can keep his play count manageable – now I don't know what that manageable means, if that means 45, if that means 30. It just depends on how everybody else develops because it's hard to replace Boom out there because Bronson has that experience and understands the game so well.”
On wide receiver Tyrone Howell…
“He has unbelievable hands, and he creates separation. He has great hands. He knows how to create separation, but because he arrived here in July, he didn't get all those reps in the spring, all the reps in summer, to understand the shifts and motions that we have, and how we're reading things with the quarterback and being on the same page of the QBs. He'll work at it, and we're excited that he's here because that kid doesn't drop any balls. If it’s in his area, he's got strong hands and he makes plays.”
On if he feels this team is more complete than the first two years at K-State…
“Well, it is because overall when we first arrived here. There weren't any running backs on scholarship. Now we've upgraded there and a lot of guys that can play. Same thing with the offensive line, getting Noah (Johnson) back and having the issue of having to play so many guys because of last year's COVID, we're better there. We've upgraded from a secondary standpoint, just with depth through some transfers and some guys have come into the program, but the mainstays are still going to be Jahron MacPherson. He's going to be the one that leads it back there. So, we're better because we have more bodies. We're better because when you go out there and watch those guys in the last three weeks of July, summer conditioning, we look bigger, we look stronger, we look more athletic. There's more guys at all those positions. So, is there a position of weakness, we're going to find out because there always is something we have to improve on, but we're going to need to see some of these padded practices and then, knock on wood, try to avoid an injury at a position that we could be thin at.”
On the transfer players in the secondary getting playing time…
“They will be. Reggie (Stubblefield) just gets the game. I've been really amazed at Reggie. He's playing corner for us. He just understands the game of football, so he just picks things up and you don't want to tell him many things twice. He just understands it. Cincere (Mason) is a little different. He's playing safety for us, which is a much more complex position to play. But watching what he's done – Coach (Joe) Klanderman talked about this yesterday – how far he's gone in three or four days of just kind of grasping some things. We're throwing everything at him, and at the offense and defense. We tried to heavy overload the install because our fall camp is just two weeks. So, we're trying to heavy overload the install on offense and defense, but I like what he's doing. He's got athleticism, he can move his feet, he can play man coverage. We're going to find out how well he'll do in some of the tackling stuff starting tomorrow, but he's going to play for us.”
On opening up the entire playbook this year…
“We have a lot more people to get the ball to, as well. We haven't had any issues of slowing down any of the installation, because of the two experienced QB’s coming back, as well as experienced offensive linemen coming back. If you have those two areas with experience, then you can throw more and more stuff at them. We had a couple of checks at the line of scrimmage, one that Will (Howard) made, a couple that Skylar (Thompson) made over the last couple days that leads us to believe we're going to be able to put a lot on these guys' plate to be able to put us in a great situation if we call a play and it doesn't look like it's the right picture. So, we're so much further ahead at this time than we were, obviously, the previous two years. Last year, everybody knows why we weren't ahead. Our first year we didn't install a ton. We have a ton more installation, which our offense is already difficult enough to defend with the trade, shift, motion. Now you do that and you play it so much faster – which our guys are doing right now – I'm excited to see where we can go.”
On if he knows the personality of the offense and defense…
“Not at all. I know we're better right now. Competition is really good, too. My concern – and I told the guys this is – we have had a really good offseason, bigger stronger guys. We were able to be around each other so we got a close-knit group of guys, had really good summer, all things were going well. How are we going to respond when adversity strikes? And is that adversity – offense kicking the defense's tail or defense kicking the offense’s tail; in practice to losing a key player, to losing a ball game. That's how we're going to be judged is, can we overcome adversity? We have really good leaders on this team. So, the leadership has to rise to the occasion to find out what kind of football team. Are we going to air it out more? Are we going to ground, grind it up a little bit more? Are we going to have to be a pressure team? Are we going to be more of a zone team? We're still trying to figure that out, just based on learning our personnel.”
On if the chemistry in the locker room is good…
“It is, until you hit adversity. It is, and how do we handle adversity? But with the guys that have been in the program now – and there's a bunch of them. There are five super seniors, but there's a bunch of them that have heard the same message through us as coaches, whether it's myself as the head coach, to Coach Mess (Courtney Messingham), to Coach (Joe) Klanderman, to Coach (Van) Malone, to Coach (Conor) Riley, they know the expectation. They know what we want out of them at practice and in meetings and in walkthroughs. So, it’s a comfort level for those guys to say, ‘Okay, we’ve just got to go out there and execute it. They're giving us the tools. They're giving us the opportunity.’ So, I like where we're at, but we've still got to overcome adversity.
On if there is a chance at playing time for quarterback Will Howard…
“We’ll have to find out. Knock on wood that Skylar (Thompson) stays healthy so he can have a great senior year, but we have the utmost confidence to play Will (Howard) at any time, whether that's Skylar is nicked up or a situation dictates that. It's one of those things that if Will can help us, we're going to play him the whole dang year. If we feel that Skylar is playing at such a high level that we have in our back pocket that he (Howard) could play four games, and still get that year back, that's something that we have to continue to evaluate as a staff. But, just like last year, that kid thought he was going to redshirt so every week he has to prepare like, ‘I'm going to play every snap of every game,’ because you just never know what's going to happen in this game. I know Will is attacking it that way as well. He came in the same way this year as he did last year. ‘I'm going to learn and get better every day and figure out what happens. And if something happens where I'm going to be thrust into that role, I'm much more ready now this year.’”
On how Skylar Thompson looks so far…
“He made some plays in the red zone today that were pretty special, scrambling out and keeping a play alive. One time he ran and made a big play, and another time he threw a dart to a guy for a touchdown, and you would have thought he was running. He does a really good job. The game has just slowed down so much for him, and he feels comfortable with the offensive line. He feels comfortable knowing where certain guys are going to be, between Phillip (Brooks) and Malik (Knowles) in particular, and Landry (Weber) and Seth (Porter), guys that he's worked with for a long time. Nick Lenners is healthy this year and playing at a nice level. I just see a comfort level out of him (Thompson), and a confidence level that I'm excited to see what he's going to do.”
On defensive back Julius Brents not participating during Saturday’s open practice…
“Just soft tissue. We don't think it'll be long term, but it has enabled Reggie Stubblefield, Ekow Boye-Doe, Tee Denson, Justin Gardner to take all the reps, and those guys are getting a bunch better. The main reason that a kid like Tee, who's going to play a lot of football for us, is Tee’s more confident, he's bigger, he's stronger, he's heavier than he was as a true freshman. Ekow, I think, has put on 12 pounds and is much stronger. Justin has put on some weight. Reggie is a fifth-year guy anyway in learning the position, but we have more depth there. I'm excited because guys like Ekow and Tee that made some splash plays, but the consistency maybe wasn't there last year. Those kids are playing at a much more confident level. So, when Julius comes back, great, but he's going to have great competition because we're getting better at that spot.”
On the program’s vaccination numbers…
“I know we’re over 80% now. We had a handful more that last week of July, first week of August that were able to at least get their first one. So, we're not out of the woods, as everybody else isn't. We're masked up in here for meetings. We’re masked up when we go through the line to get our food and in the training room and stuff. Then we don't have them on for practice, but we still want to make sure we don't have any kind of an outbreak, whether it's a vaccinated guy or an unvaccinated. I know there's been some vaccinated guys that have tested positive as well, so I wish we could say we're done with this, but we're not. I think we all know that, so we just have to make sure and follow whatever protocols that our medical staff wants us to follow.”
On Aamaris Brown at the nickel position…
“Splash plays but inconsistent. Aamaris is a phenomenal athlete. He can run, he’ll strike you, he's physical, he understands the game, but he's still a true freshman in my eyes because he missed so much time. He was one that missed an awful lot of time last year through the COVID protocols that he's still learning how our defense operates. Once it starts to slow down – and I think it will because he's a really intelligent football player – he'll play at a higher level. Right now, he's making three or four unbelievably splash plays in practice and then busts two coverages. He understands why he bust them. Once we get that corrected, I look for a really good year out of Aamaris.”
On the potential players for kickoffs and punters…
“Open competition right now, and we're going to have some really good competition drills here in the next couple weeks. Taiten Winkle is battling Ty (Zentner) for the field goal job, and I feel comfortable with both. Let's see who wins the job. Jack Blumer and Ty are battling for the punting job. Chris Tennant is in there as well, a young freshman that I just need to see more of, but he's a long kid with an explosive leg. Then kickoffs, you have Ty, you have Chris, you have Taiten. Hopefully we can give Ty a break somewhere so he's not doing all three. I know he wants to do all three, and I love that he wants to, and he might be able to do all three and might be the best at all three, but somewhere along the line we have to find somebody that can be winning one of those jobs so that Ty maybe doesn't have to do all three. But we have really good competition, and all of those guys are really good athletes.”
On how often Deuce Vaughn needs to touch the ball each game…
“We'll see. We'd like to be in that 15 to 25, but that's not just carries. It could be a kick returner. It could be a punt return. It's going to be some balls out of the backfield. It's going to be some jet sweeps. We have to find creative ways to move him around, but the only way we're going to be able to give it to him that many times is by other people making big plays. Jacardia Wright is much better right now. Joe Ervin is much better right now. Clyde Price is much better right now. That helps Deuce Vaughn. As those three guys continue to improve, it allows us to move Deuce around a little bit and play with some two or three tailback sets as well. So, other people have to step up, and we feel better about having more of those guys that can be playmakers. Maybe there's a game where Deuce only has seven to 10 touches because somebody else is making plays.”
On the running back depth…
“There’s going to have to be. (Jordan) Schippers is doing a nice job and he's new. We brought him from DB to running back last year, so he’s learning that position. Clyde Price is better. DJ Giddens and Devrin Weathers are young players that the game has not slowed down for them, but they're both talented young players. So, we'll see what happens over the next few weeks. They're going to have plenty of opportunities because we're probably not going to hit Deuce a whole lot from a live standpoint. I want to see what some of those younger backs can do. Joe (Ervin) missing last year, I want to get him in some more live action. Joe Ervin, I don't know if he's the fastest kid on the team, but he plays the fastest on the team right now. It's fun to watch him because he is an electric kid, and man does he go a million miles an hour. He’s a guy that we can get the ball to, and he can do some good things.”
On getting a chance to see some of the newcomers last year as a high school football parent…
“It does, it helps. Especially last year, with all those other guys we never saw at all. So being able to watch those kids live just gave me a little bit of a different perspective. Hopefully I can do the same thing again this year, but all of us coaches will be out, knock on wood, this year to watch games and stuff. That's a big deal. When you don't get a chance to do that, you don't really know what you're getting sometimes as they walk in the door.”
On defensive back Justin Gardner…
“It's consistency for JG. He's a really physical guy. He’s has great length and is aggressive. He's another one of those guys that we feel better because we have more guys at corner, and Justin can be a difference maker. Absolutely he can be, especially with his length. Let's see how it plays out over these next three weeks because there's going to be some really good competition at corner.”