Kansas State University announced the retirement of football head coach Chris Klieman on Wednesday, Dec. 3 after seven seasons with the Wildcats.
“My entire coaching life, I’ve put other people first, and for the first time ever, I’m putting Rhonda, Devin, Haley and Colby first,” Klieman said.
In his 32nd year of coaching and 13th year as a head coach, Klieman has achieved many accomplishments — especially during his time representing the purple and white.
Klieman has a 54-34 coaching record during his time with the Wildcats. Across active Big 12 programs, Klieman has brought in the most wins. The Wildcats have appeared in six total bowl games, tied for the most in the conference. Over the last five seasons, Klieman has led the Wildcats to be one of two Big 12 programs to advance to the postseason.
Throughout Klieman’s seven-year tenure, he extended the winning streak in the Sunflower Showdown to 17 consecutive seasons, keeping the Governor’s Cup in Manhattan. Klieman has also guided the Wildcats to a 2022 Big 12 Championship and six bowl games in seven seasons.
“We did it with hard work; we did it with dedication,” Klieman said. “We did it with the right kind of people, and we had everybody with both feet in all the time. And that’s not just players; that’s coaches, that’s support staff, that’s everybody.”
While Klieman is a prominent figure for Wildcat football, he acknowledges that the sport itself is more than just competing.
“Leadership to me is how many people you can impact on a daily basis and make sure that’s a different person every day,” Klieman said. “And as I retire after close to 35 years in this business, I’ve already visited with our players, but I’m one of the lucky ones.”
Klieman made his career debut as a graduate assistant at his alma mater, Northern Iowa. Then, the journey began as Klieman coached at Western Illinois, Kansas, Missouri State, Loras College and North Dakota State, before arriving at K-State in 2019. In 1990, Klieman earned a bachelor’s degree in health education from UNI, along with a master’s degree in physical education in 1992.
Klieman’s decision to retire from the Wildcats football team was a hard loss for many K-Staters, including director of athletics Gene Taylor, who hired Klieman as the head coach.
“He talked about his family and his health,” Taylor said. “And then I just stopped in the tracks. I just said, ‘You know what? This is your decision.’ I’m not going to try to talk you out of something that he [Klieman] feels [is] that important for you [him] and your [his] family.”
The hunt for a new head coach is on for K-State and Taylor, but he is confident in his ability to find the right fit for the Wildcat family.
“We’re going to go find the best coach for this program and this culture in this institution,” Taylor said. “We’re going to do it the right way, and that’s going to be the major focus.”
Despite rumors that Texas A&M offensive coordinator Collin Klein is taking over as K-State’s head coach, Taylor denied saying K-State has not had any contact with Klein at this time.
During Klieman’s statement of his retirement, he was emotional, grateful for the Manhattan community and everyone who has been involved over his seven years.
“I can’t thank all of you enough for being the people who you are and for allowing the Kliemans to come into Manhattan and build something here,” Klieman said.
