FRISCO, Texas — Kansas State head coach Collin Klein addressed the media Wednesday afternoon in his first Big 12 Media Day since taking over the program back in December.
Klein, along with quarterback Avery Johnson, running back Joe Jackson, linebacker Rex Van Wyhe and safety Wesley Fair, made the trip down to The Star, the Dallas Cowboys’ practice facility in Frisco.
Here’s what the first-year coach said:
COLLIN KLEIN: Thank you all for being here. Thank you for all that you do for the greatest sport in the world. It’s great to be back to the Big 12. I grew up a Big 12 kid and being able to be part of this conference as a fan, as a player, as a coach and now being part of helping move our game and our conference forward is absolutely tremendous to be a part of.
I thank the Lord every day that I get to come to work at a place that has impacted my life tremendously, and our program at Kansas State, my two predecessors have been so much — it’s been so much bigger than just the game of football.
Yes, we’re going to do football well, but the impact that we want to have and they have had on young men in setting the trajectory for the rest of their lives at an incredible angle, being able to teach them the lessons and give them the opportunity to compete is something that I don’t take for granted.
This is home for me. It’s a dream come true and so grateful for our administration and our players and all the effort that has been put in in the last six months as we build this thing and move it forward.
We have four of our players with us here today and just how they have led our football team and bought into what we are doing and what we are building is absolutely tremendous. It’s incredibly exciting for the future of Kansas State Football, and I’m excited for the season to get started.
Q. You mentioned your two predecessors. You were a quarterback for one and a coach for the other. You had great success. How much will you rely on what you learned from each and sort of putting your imprint on the program?
KLEIN: I think it’s an incredible situation top to bottom. I think starting most recently with Coach Klieman, I think our relationship is very unique. I think it’s very genuine. I think both of us have come at everything through the different course of our professional journey what is best for the other person.
I think that is something that, again, I don’t take for granted. He’s been there every step of the way, if I’ve needed something or had a question, with, I know, my and our program’s best interest at heart.
Coach Snyder has been tremendous. Again, I’d be here all day if I was going to go through all the ways that his fingerprints have been on my life and probably a big reason I got into coaching, you know, to be perfectly honest with you. All of those little things that I didn’t even know he was teaching me at the time, being able to apply those and have those come to fruition through the course of my journey is incredible.
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