K-State Previews Season Opener at Weekly Press Conference
Watch Coach Klein’s Press Conference | Listen to Coach Klein’s Press Conference | Listen to Player Breakout Interviews | Media Downloads
MANHATTAN, Kan. – Kansas State head coach Collin Klein and select players met with members of the media on Monday inside the Vanier Family Football Complex to preview Saturday’s season opener against Nicholls inside Bill Snyder Family Stadium. Links to video and audio of Klein’s press conference – which was streamed live on ESPN+ – are above in addition to an audio link of player breakout interviews. A transcript of Klein’s press conference is below.
COLLIN KLEIN, HEAD COACH
Opening Statement…
“Well, gameweek is here. It’s good to see you guys. The players are excited. They’ve been chomping at the bit to hit somebody else this time of year. You can kind of feel their edge. Even in practice last week it was taken a step up a notch. They are really, really excited to go. It’s been fun, and I think we still have some competitions at some spots. We’ll go through the depth chart that you have, and we can talk about that. I’m excited about that and how that’s going to look moving forward even as we get into these first couple of games. It was good to see a little bit of Nicholls on tape. I’m excited to play them. They’ve had a lot of success as a program over the years, and they’re doing a really, really good job. You can see how hard their players played the other night. So, I’m excited for the challenge and to get this thing kicked off and opened up. I’m excited for our players to start the season and get this thing off on the right note.”
On the state of the offensive line after the injuries…
“We've been moving a lot of guys around. It's definitely not like we projected it coming in, but I've also been really, really proud of how guys have worked through it. Ryan Howard and Tyler Johnson have had a really, really good week last week rotating through those tackle spots. You look at Charlie Adams and Chase Duarte, those guys are different players than when they got here in January, and that's why we took more at that point in time because it was such an unknown for us, even with some of those projections. So I’m very, very proud of how those guys have stepped up. I still think there is a chance and how things work out through the course of the year with Oliver Miller and his progression and what he was able to get done and put on tape when he gets back on the field, we'll do some very, very nice things. Same with Tanner Morley. So, it's been an interesting carousel for sure. I’m very proud of those guys, how they've attacked it, and how we're going to be able to move through it.”