Texas A&M OC Collin Klein hired as Kansas State football coach after Chris Klieman retires

Kansas State announced Thursday it has officially hired Collin Klein, the school’s legendary former quarterback, as its next head coach.

Klein, a Heisman Trophy finalist in 2012 and former K-State assistant, has served as Texas A&M’s offensive coordinator for the last two seasons. He will continue in that role during the Aggies’ upcoming appearance in the College Football Playoff, the school said.

Klein agreed to a five-year contract with an average base salary of $4.3 million. He succeeds Chris Klieman, who announced his retirement Wednesday after seven seasons leading the Wildcats. Upon Klieman’s departure, The Athletic confirmed Wednesday that Klein was a likely successor given his ties to the school.

“We are excited to welcome one of our all-time greats back home to Manhattan,” Kansas State athletic director Gene Taylor said in a statement. “Collin is a tremendous leader who cares deeply about his players. The grit, toughness and aggression he displayed as a player still fuels him today as a coach, and he is determined to carry on the tremendous success this program has achieved.”

As a player under Kansas State legend Bill Snyder, Klein led Kansas State to a 21-5 record in two seasons as the starter in 2011 and 2012. That included an appearance at No. 1 in the Associated Press poll, a Big 12 championship and a berth in the Fiesta Bowl. In 2012, he finished third in the Heisman Trophy voting behind Texas A&M quarterback Johnny Manziel and Notre Dame linebacker Manti Te’o.

He joined Snyder’s staff in 2014 and spent nine of the next 10 seasons serving in various capacities on the staff under Snyder and later under Klieman. Klein was K-State’s quarterbacks coach from 2017 until 2021, and then assumed offensive coordinator duties in 2022 and 2023. Klein was part of K-State’s staff when the Wildcats won the 2022 Big 12 championship.

Klein moved to College Station in 2024 to join Mike Elko’s first Texas A&M staff as offensive coordinator. This season, the 11-1 Aggies rank in the top 32 nationally in scoring offense, total offense, rushing, passing, first downs and fourth-down conversion percentage. They’ve allowed the fewest tackles for loss per game and the 11th-fewest sacks per game.

“My family and I could not be more grateful for the opportunity to come home,” Klein said. “Thank you to President (Richard) Linton and Gene Taylor for believing in us to lead the Cats into a new era. The position of head coach at Kansas State has a long legacy of service, hard work, determination and competitive greatness that I am honored to carry forward.”

Kansas State has not yet decided whether it will participate in a bowl. The Wildcats (6-6) are eligible, but Taylor said recently he would leave it up to the players. There have been conversations but no formal vote on whether to play in a bowl if invited, a team source told The Athletic. If K-State plays in a bowl game, Klieman would serve as the coach for it. If Kansas State declines a bowl game, the spot would fall to teams with 5-7 records, in order of their Academic Progress Report (APR) score. That order starts with Rice, Auburn, UCF, Mississippi State and Florida State, according to an NCAA source.

Klein, a member of K-State football’s ring of honor, will be introduced as the Wildcats’ new coach Friday afternoon. The No. 7 Aggies are in position to host a first-round game in the Playoff, which would fall on either Dec. 19 or Dec. 20, but their final ranking and CFP destination won’t be finalized until Playoff selection day Sunday.