Chris Klieman shows no interest in Nebraska coaching job: 'I love it here at Kansas State'

MANHATTAN — Don't look for Chris Klieman to jump in line for the vacant Nebraska coaching job any time soon.

Klieman made it clear that he's perfectly happy at Kansas State, even though his name has surfaced in media reports as a potential candidate after Nebraska fired head coach Scott Frost on Sunday on the heels of a 45-42 loss to Georgia Southern.

"I really like it here at Kansas State," Klieman said Tuesday during his weekly news conference. "I love our players, love our guys, and pretty simple for me.

"I just say one name and that's Gene Taylor. Gene's my guy."

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Klieman feels a kinship with Taylor, the athletics director who brought him to K-State in December 2018 as successor to legendary coach Bill Snyder. The two also worked together at North Dakota State, where Taylor served as AD from 2001-14 and Klieman won four FCS national championships before leaving for Manhattan.

Klieman is one of three current Big 12 coaches — Iowa State's Matt Campbell and Kansas' Lance Leipold are the others — whose names have been floated as possible targets for the Nebraska vacancy.

"For starters, Scott Frost is a friend of mine," Klieman said. "I hate to see it because that's part of the profession.

"I don't know what's going on at Nebraska or what has gone on. I have talked to Scott a few times during his time there."

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Klieman's in his fourth season at K-State after leading the Wildcats to eight victories. They take a 2-0 record into Tuesday's 2 p.m. home game against Tulane at Bill Snyder Family Stadium.

K-State has three former Nebraska players on its roster. Wide receiver Kade Warner is in his second season with the Wildcats, while quarterback Adrian Martinez and linebacker Will Honas transferred this spring.

"Still a lot of people there that I care for a lot, and you hate to see a man lose his job regardless," said Martinez, a four-year starter at quarterback for the Huskers before stepping into a similar role with the Wildcats this season. "And so, thoughts with him and thoughts with the guys and the coaches and all the support staff that are there, because many people are misplaced in this type of thing.

"You pray for their families and you hope things end up OK."

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Warner already has reached out to some of his former teammates.

"I've talked to some of the players, and they're definitely dazed," he said. "I feel for those guys over there because I have some buddies on the team that are going through one of their last years or two years and stuff.

"And you never want to see that happen to anybody, especially the players. I hope they bounce back and I hope they win a lot of games this year, because I have so many guys on the team that I really care for."

Arne Green is based in Salina and covers Kansas State University sports for the Gannett network. He can be reached at agreen@gannett.com or on Twitter at @arnegreen.

This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Kansas State football coach Chris Klieman shuts down Nebraska rumors