Keep an eye on these names as K-State coach Chris Klieman searches for new coordinator

There is a reason why Chris Klieman waited a week after the Kansas State football team finished its regular season to inform Courtney Messingham that he was not going to be retained as offensive coordinator.

He needed seven days to clear his head, talk things over with athletic director Gene Taylor and make sure it was the right call.

“I didn’t want to make any quick decisions,” Klieman said on Sunday. “I thought about it long and hard. I was on the road all last week, which probably helped me get away and clear my mind and decide on what’s the best thing for Kansas State University. Came back and had a conversation with Gene, and it was my decision. I thought we needed to make a change.”

That was not an easy realization for Klieman.

Messingham is one of his oldest friends. They grew up together, played alongside each other at Northern Iowa as college students and later won FCS championships together at North Dakota State before they both made the move to K-State.

“That was very, very difficult as you can imagine with as close as Coach Mess and I are,” Klieman said. “But I came here three years ago to get a program ready to go compete for a Big 12 championship. This is not about Chris Klieman. It’s not about Courtney Messingham. It’s about Kansas State football, and I felt we needed to make a change. So we did.”

Klieman also didn’t retain Jason Ray as the team’s fullbacks/tight ends coach, which created a pair of openings on his staff. Those have been filled at the interim level by a pair of K-State analysts. Brian Lepak will handle fullbacks and tight ends as the Wildcats prepare for LSU at the Texas Bowl. Will Burnham will coach receivers.

Collin Klein will come up with an offensive strategy and call plays in Houston.

It will be interesting to see who Klieman targets as the team’s next offensive coordinator. Despite fan criticism, Messingham’s offenses ranked in the top half of the Big 12 in several metrics and operated at the methodical pace that Klieman prefers. But he might be open to new ideas after the Wildcats ended the year with a 20-10 loss to Baylor and a 22-17 loss at Texas.

A few candidates have already emerged. Here is a look at some assistant coaches who might make sense as K-State’s new offensive coordinator.

Audition time for Collin Klein

It’s not hard to imagine the Wildcats promoting from within to fill this vacancy.

Few people are more respected than Klein on the K-State campus. As a quarterback, he led the Wildcats to a Big 12 championship in 2012 and earned a trip to New York that season as a Heisman Trophy finalist.

Since then, he has tutored K-State quarterbacks while working behind offensive coordinators Dana Dimel, Andre Coleman and Messingham. Perhaps he is now ready to call his own plays.

He will get an opportunity to prove it on national TV against a traditional powerhouse.

“I’m excited for Collin and the offensive staff,” Klieman said. “But I know we’re not going to reinvent the wheel in three weeks. I don’t want him to think I’m judging solely on what happens here in this three week prep and one game. So, for me, it’s more the leadership, the organization, how he interacts with the coaches and players. I’m going to kind of be a fly on the wall a lot with those offensive coaches to see the plan that they come up with. They’re excited about the challenge.

K-State players seemed to respond favorably to Klein when they began bowl practices on Saturday.

“I know people are excited for Collin,” Klieman said. “The amount of respect Collin Klein has within our program with the history of Kansas State, I know they’re really, really excited for him.”

The longer this search goes, the better for Klein. If K-State drops 50 points on LSU next month, he could end up with the gig full time. His salary is currently $325,000.

Reuniting with another old friend

No one should be surprised if Wyoming offensive coordinator Tim Polasek is in the mix for Kansas State’s next play-caller.

Polasek served as Klieman’s offensive coordinator for three seasons at North Dakota State, and the Bison went 40-5 with a pair of FCS championships during that time.

He left Fargo to become the offensive line coach at Iowa. Then, last year, Craig Bohl hired him away from the Hawkeyes and put him in charge of the Cowboys’ offense.

Polasek runs the slow-paced system that Klieman seems to prefer, as Wyoming ran the ball nearly 41 times per game this season and averaged 4.8 yards per rush. But the Cowboys only averaged 165.7 passing yards per game, a number that ranked ahead of only 14 teams nationally.

This seems like a good option if Klieman is only looking to shake things up on offense a little bit. But he will need to interview other candidates if he wants a brand new look.

This former Big 12 head coach is available

Klieman cringed when Texas Tech decided to fire Matt Wells two days after K-State defeated the Red Raiders 25-24 earlier this season.

Wells is one of his closest friends in the coaching profession, and Texas Tech had five wins at the time. Klieman said it was an unfortunate development. Well, he could coach alongside him next season if he brings in Wells as K-State’s new offensive coordinator.

His time at Texas Tech ended with a 13-17 record, and zero wins against K-State, but he led Utah State to a 44-34 record and five bowl games before moving to Lubbock.

The last time he was an offensive coordinator, Utah State had the nation’s 26th ranked scoring offense in 2012.

Wells would likely be one of the most expensive candidates on K-State’s radar, but bringing in a former Big 12 head coach might excite the fan base.