Collin Klein talks Kansas State as he prepares Texas A&M for CFP

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Collin Klein walked up to the podium with “Aggies” across his chest as he addressed the Texas A&M media for the first time since he was introduced as Kansas State‘s next head football coach.

The moderator introduced him as Texas A&M’s offensive coordinator and Kansas State’s head coach, to which Klein smiled. He will call plays for the Aggies throughout their College Football Playoff run, which begins Saturday, Dec. 20, when the Aggies host Miami (Florida) at 11 a.m.

He was immediately asked about the difficulties of coaching the Aggies throughout the playoffs while also taking over his alma mater.

“It’s definitely a challenge,” Klein said. “There are things that are moving really, really fast. When things happen, they happen very, very quickly and, a lot of times, out of the blue. We’re very, very fortunate in this situation that me and Coach (Mike) Elko were able to communicate and have a plan right from the start on how we were going to walk things out to make sure we were on top of things and doing it the right way.”

Klein has been busy balancing his duties at Texas A&M and Kansas State since the Wildcats named him head coach on Dec. 4. The coach noted he’d fly back and forth between College Station and Manhattan, which has been the case, while Klein spent some time in The Little Apple last week.

So far, Klein has made a handful of moves within Kansas State’s staff, whether it’s retaining or releasing coaches from Chris Klieman’s staff as he builds his own. The Wildcats announced the signing of Trey Scott as their new general manager, with Stanton Weber also becoming K-State’s special teams coordinator. Buddy Wyatt will shift to a defensive line coach, while Kansas State will see the departure of offensive and defensive coordinators Matt Wells and Joe Klanderman, among others.

More coaches at Texas A&M could join Klein’s staff, as it’s been reported that Aggies tight end coach Christian Ellsworth will follow him to Manhattan. Klein declined on Tuesday, Dec. 16, to say if any other Aggies coaches would join, but it’s expected that more will.

Klein is trying to keep the Aggies’ focus on beating the Hurricanes.

“It’s about sending the right message to our team,” Klein said. “It’s about finishing and being right in the now wherever we are. We have some really, really good people in both places who have really helped me and helped us stay on track and do the job the way it needs to be done.”

Klein is facing a challenge that other coaches across the country are seeing as well, whether they’re preparing for the CFP or bowl games. Notably, Ole Miss will participate in the CFP without Lane Kiffin, who LSU hired, while Jon Sumrall will lead Tulane in the CFP as he balances his early duties as Florida’s next coach.

Such coaching moves have sparked a conversation about the sport’s calendar and potential adjustments. Kansas State’s new coach doesn’t think there’s a perfect one out there.

“I don’t think there’s a perfect time or a perfect calendar that anyone could come up with,” Klein said. “Change is always hard, but at the same time, it’s what we preach to our players from day one, with all the changes in their world in college football nowadays, that wasn’t the case even when I was playing. You gotta be in the now, you gotta be where your feet are, and you gotta do the very, very best that you can for those guys next to you because they’re counting on you.”

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: Collin Klein on challenges of coaching Kansas State, Texas A&M

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