After Kansas State football’s standout offensive line coach and offensive coordinator, Conor Riley, was hired by the Dallas Cowboys as its new offensive line coach, a chain reaction of changes hit the Wildcats’ offense staff. 

Matt Wells, offensive coordinator

Wells completed his first season at K-State as the program’s Co-OC, quarterbacks coach and associate head coach in 2022, and now transitions into the primary OC role for the Wildcats while keeping his previous titles. 

“It is such an honor to coach here at K-State, and I am thankful to coach Klieman for this opportunity,” Wells said in a press release. “I have grown to love this school and our players throughout this past year. I am excited for this upcoming season and looking forward to building upon this offense with our players and staff.”

Wells hit the ground running in his first season on staff, tutoring Avery Johnson to a school-record 25 touchdown passes, while his sophomore signal caller ranked fifth in school history in passing yards (2,712) and completions (217). Additionally, Johnson was one of only five players in the nation and one of three from Power 4 schools to record at least 2,700 passing yards and 600 rushing yards.

“We are fortunate to have someone experienced on staff in Matt, who I have known for 12-plus years and will seamlessly transition into the offensive coordinator role,” head coach Chris Klieman said. “He worked closely with Conor last season and had a big part in our offensive production. His resume speaks for itself, and his relationship with and development of Avery Johnson and our other quarterbacks will help our offense continue to grow.”

Wells came to Manhattan after spending the previous two seasons at Oklahoma as an advisor to the head coach/offensive analyst. Before that, he served as the head coach at his alma mater, Utah State, from 2013-2018 and at Texas Tech from 2019-2021.

Another of Wells’ success stories tutoring quarterbacks was Jordan Love at Utah State, who is now the starting quarterback for the Green Bay Packers. 

In addition to coaching quarterbacks during his 27-year coaching career, he also spent time tutoring wide receivers and tight ends. In total, Wells has contributed to 14 bowl teams and two conference championships.

Brian Lepak, offensive line coach

During his college coaching career, including six years at K-State, Riley was widely respected as one of the top offensive line coaches in the country by peers and players alike. He leaves large shoes to fill for Lepak in tutoring the Wildcats’ offensive front. 

After serving the last three seasons as K-State’s tight ends coach, Lepak will move into the role. 

“I am grateful that coach Klieman and coach Wells have the faith in me to take this next step in my career,” he said. “I am excited to get back to coaching the offensive line and building on the many things I learned from coach Riley.” 

Lepak found quick success during his first three years as a full-time coach for the Wildcats, tutoring Ben Sinnott to All-Big 12 First Team accolades in both 2022 and 2023, while the Wildcats had two tight ends pick up All-Big 12 honors in 2024 with Garrett Oakley (second team) and Will Swanson (honorable mention). It was the first time since 1997 that the Wildcats had a pair of All-Big 12 tight ends in the same season. 

Under Lepak’s guidance, the K-State tight end unit combined for a nation-leading 13 touchdown receptions in 2024. 

Lepak spent the previous three seasons as a graduate assistant at Oklahoma, assisting with an offensive line which helped pave the way for two Heisman trophy winners, three consecutive Big 12 Championships and College Football Playoff appearances. In 2018, the offensive line was honored with the Joe Moore Award for the nation’s most outstanding offensive line unit. 

Drew Liddle, assistant offensive line coach

Liddle, a former K-State football player and staff member, returned to Manhattan for his second coaching tenure for the 2024 season as an offensive analyst, and will now serve as the assistant offensive line coach.

“It was also important to have two coaches work in the trenches with our guys, and elevating Drew to assist Brian provides us stability and allows for a smooth transition,” Klieman said. 

Liddle worked the previous two seasons as the tight ends/fullbacks coach at UTEP, while he was the offensive line coach at Abilene Christian during the 2021 season. 

While at ACU, Liddle served on the same staff as K-State’s current Director of Roster Management Clint Brown and Director of Scouting Dimitri Donald. Under Liddle’s guidance, the ACU offensive line ranked No. 19 nationally in fewest sacks allowed.

A veteran of 26 games throughout his four-year K-State career, Liddle was an offensive graduate assistant at K-State for the 2015 and 2016 seasons before working as an offensive quality control coach and assistant director of recruiting for the 2017 through 2020 seasons.

Luke Wells, tight end coach

Luke Wells, brother of Matt Wells and a veteran offensive coach, worked for three prior Big 12 programs and was hired to work with the Wildcat tight ends.

“Luke brings an extensive amount of coaching experience and recruiting energy to our tight end room, which of course has been a big piece to our recent offensive success,” Klieman said. “I have known Luke for quite a while and even visited with him during previous position openings, and we are thrilled to have him and his family in our program.”

Luke Wells, who both played and coached for the Sooners, most recently coached in college at Tulsa in 2022, and also spent time coaching receivers and tight ends at Iowa State and Texas Tech.

“I am grateful for the opportunity from coach Klieman to help this staff and be a part of the winning culture at K-State,” he said. “I can’t wait to get to work with our talented group of tight ends.”

Five of K-State’s nation-leading tight end touchdowns came from Oakley, which tied for the second-most in school history by a tight end and third by any sophomore. Oakley enters his junior campaign of 2025 with seven career receiving touchdowns to rank third in school history among tight ends.

“[Luke Wells] is getting a group that is extremely coachable and gave Kansas State their very best the last three seasons,” Lepak said. “I cannot thank those guys enough for all they have done for me.”