Collin Klein was near another job before returning to Kansas State football

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MANHATTAN — Collin Klein praised God’s timing multiple times throughout a day in which he was announced as Kansas State‘s next football coach, and it seems like he was close to accepting another coaching position until the job at his alma mater opened up.

“There were a couple others, and the timing was tight,” Klein said. “But it all happened the way it was supposed to be.”

Klein was introduced on Friday, Dec. 5. He replaces Chris Klieman, who announced his retirement on Dec. 3 after seven seasons in charge of the program. The Wildcats acted quickly, with athletic director Gene Taylor saying that Klein was the only candidate he considered.

Klein has established himself as one of the top play-callers in college football after two seasons as Texas A&M’s offensive coordinator. The former Kansas State quarterback’s name was mentioned in several openings, including a Big 12 rival.

He was connected to Oklahoma State before it hired North Texas coach Eric Morris. His name was also mentioned for South Florida’s opening, according to TexAgs.com reporter Billy Liucci, who reported that Klein was the likely pick to replace Alex Golesh, who accepted the Auburn position. USF ended up with Ohio State offensive coordinator Brian Hartline.

Other available jobs when Klieman announced his retirement included Penn State, which also hired Iowa State’s Matt Campbell on Friday. Other jobs included quality Group of 5 openings like Memphis and Tulane.

None of that matters now. Kansas State got its guy.

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 football almost lost out on Collin Klein

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