5 years ago

Collin Klein remains the only holdover from Bill Snyder's Kansas State staff. He will stay on Chris Klieman's staff as coach of the quarterbacks.

BIO:
A 2012 Heisman Trophy finalist and one of the greatest quarterbacks to ever don a Kansas State uniform, Collin Klein enters his third season as the quarterbacks coach in 2019.

Klein was the co-offensive coordinator in 2018, and for a the second-straight year he was forced to play multiple quarterbacks due to injury. A majority of the starts in 2018 went to sophomore Skylar Thompson, who threw for 1,391 yards and nine touchdowns in 10 starts. Thompson enters his junior campaign ranked fifth in career completion percentage (59.45) and ninth in career passing efficiency (130.56).

In just his first season as a K-State assistant coach, Klein helped the Wildcats earn their eighth-straight bowl berth despite being forced the start three different quarterbacks due to injury. K-State finished the year ranked 13th in the nation in passing yards per completion (14.48), while the Wildcats’ 141.7 passing efficiency mark ranked eighth in school history.

Under Klein’s tutelage, Jesse Ertz put together the fifth-best pass efficiency mark in a season (150.22) while his 129.5 career mark ranked ninth in K-State history. He also set the school record for lowest interception percentage (1.92) and became the 21st passer in school history to eclipse the 2,000-yard mark in a career.

Klein also helped develope Thompson – then a redshirt freshman – who started the final four games of the season and passed for 689 yards, the fourth most by a freshman in school history. Thompson’s season was highlighted by a Wildcat victory at 10th-ranked Oklahoma State where he threw for 204 yards and three touchdowns on 10-of-13 aim, good for a 274.89 pass efficiency rating to rank fifth in school history.

Additionally, Alex Delton helped lead the Wildcats to victories against Kansas and Texas Tech in 2017, while he came off the bench against UCLA in the Cactus Bowl to rush for 158 yards and three touchdowns to earn Offensive MVP honors.

Klein entered the coaching profession as an assistant director of recruiting operations and quality control coach at K-State in 2014 before taking over as an offensive graduate assistant the following year. He helped guide Jake Waters to a school-record 3,501 passing yards in 2014 and assisted Joe Hubener and Kody Cook in leading the Wildcats to a bowl in 2015 by splitting time at quarterback.

The 2012 Johnny Unitas Award winner, Klein finished his Wildcat career ranking in the school’s top 10 in 34 different game, season and career record categories. He was the first quarterback from a Power 5 school since 1998 to rush for at least 20 touchdowns and pass for 10 scores in consecutive seasons by doing so in 2011 and 2012.

Klein led the Wildcats to a combined 21-5 record as the starting quarterback in 2011 and 2012, which culminated with a No. 1 national ranking, Big 12 Championship and Fiesta Bowl berth in 2012.

Klein’s first job as an assistant coach came when he served as the quarterbacks coach at Northern Iowa in 2016. During his lone season in Cedar Falls, Klein tutored a pair of quarterbacks that split reps in Eli Dunne and Aaron Bailey.

Dunne finished the year throwing for 1,175 yards and seven touchdowns, which was highlighted by a 418-yard, two-touchdown outing against Missouri State en route to FCS National Performer of the Week honors. Bailey totaled 882 yards and six touchdowns through the air, while he rushed for six scores.

Klein obtained his undergraduate degree from K-State in December 2011 in business financial services and controllership. He is married to the former Shalin Spani, a former Wildcat women’s basketball player. The couple has one son, Beric.

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