How Kansas State kept its recruits amid Chris Klieman retirement news
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MANHATTAN — Even amid the chaos that broke out on national signing day with Kansas State football coach Chris Klieman’s sudden retirement, two recruits decided to flip their commitment from one school and join the Wildcats. On top of that? Every player who was committed to the Wildcats entering the day still decided to sign with the program.
That’s not easy to do when prospects thought they were signing up to play for one head coach, only to learn that they’d be playing for another.
Taylor Braet, in his 13th year as Kansas State’s recruiting director and 20th with the program, sat in front of a large crowd on Wednesday, Dec. 3, as media and members of the Kansas State community waited to hear from Klieman, who made a nearly seven-minute-long statement afterward.
Braet broke down the 23 players who signed with the program. He also explained the process of breaking the news of Klieman’s retirement and his message to each of them.
“I told them that they were coming here for 4-5 years, and during that time, with the landscape of college football and where it’s at, there was gonna be a change, whether it’s your position coach or a head coach, something was going to change while they were here,” Braet said. “This change came a little early. We obviously had a tremendous head coach who believed in all of us, our staff, and our kids.
“This change came quick, but now that it’s happened, let’s move forward and keep working.”
Wide receiver Kaprice Keith previously pledged to Iowa State, but changed his mind to play for Kansas State on Wednesday. Washington State commit Andy Burburija did the same, flipping to K-State and giving the program a defensive tackle who could make an immediate impact.
The Wildcats had also landed former Minnesota commits, wide receiver Derrick Salley Jr. and defensive tackle Michael Graham Jr., in the days leading up to signing day. The Wildcats’ early signing class included four juco signees and 19 high school prospects.
“We were all caught off guard today,” Braet said. “Between Coach (Bill) Snyder to Klieman, we had no head coach for about four days, and I was all over the world selling Kansas State. Kansas State sells itself because of the people, and I thought coach did a really good job talking to people about that today. There’s gonna be people that are going to touch your lives here, and it’s going to be in a community with people around you who are going to do it.”
Those who signed with the Wildcats could end up playing for Collin Klein, the Texas A&M offensive coordinator and former Kansas State star quarterback, who is expected to be named the program’s next head coach.
Klieman didn’t talk about signing day when he addressed the crowded room, but a social media post for signing day showed him delivering a message to the recruits.
“There are tons of people in here who are going to impact your journey,” Klieman said. “It’s not about one person. It takes a village.”
Wyatt D. Wheeler covers Kansas State athletics for the USA TODAY Network and Topeka Capital-Journal. You can follow him on X at @WyattWheeler_, contact him at 417-371-6987 or email him at wwheeler@usatodayco.com
This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Kansas State had successful signing day even with Klieman retirement
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