He coaches for K-State, she recruits for OU. Their football teams are about to meet

Zach and Annie Hanson are a one-of-a-kind couple who are about to face a one-of-a-kind challenge.

On Oct. 27, they will have no choice but to put their jobs before their marriage for about three hours when Kansas State takes on Oklahoma at Memorial Stadium in Norman.

Zach is the tight ends coach for the Wildcats. Annie is the executive director of recruiting for the Sooners. On any other day, they would support each other and cheer for both teams. Their relationship, which they affectionately call Team Hanson, always comes first.

But they can’t both win on this upcoming Saturday.

“That part will be hard, because we are not out for bragging rights,” Annie said. “When Oklahoma wins or Kansas State wins, we are just elated and excited and overjoyed for one another. The same holds true when we lose and our heart breaks for the other team.

“Obviously we would love to have a draw for our marriage’s sake, but we understand the rules of the game and have done a big job of respecting each others institutions and laying out ground rules. We know there are things we can’t talk about beforehand, and that one of us is going to win and one of us is going to lose. That is just part of being in the business that we are in.”

Zach and Annie Hanson are about to add a new twist to the history of family matchups in college football. Unlike brothers, who go head-to-head all the time, or fathers and sons, it’s rare for a husband and wife to end up on opposite sides of a football game.

In many ways, they are entering uncharted territory. How should the winner embrace the loser? How long should they discuss the game when it’s over? Is gloating allowed? There’s no couple for them to turn to for advice.

For now, Annie isn’t worried about any of that. She’s looking forward to snapping a pregame photo with Zach on the field that will work perfectly for their family Christmas card. The game might not be too bad, either.

“It is one those things we have both been looking forward to in a weird way,” Annie said, “just because of how poetic it really is going to be with each of us having come full circle. We both used to compete for our respective institutions. Now we getting to represent those same institutions in the way that we are. It’s just really going to be a special day for our family that we are excited to play a role in.”

Winding roads

They both took fascinating journeys to this point.

Zach Hanson is a former offensive lineman at K-State. He helped the Wildcats reach the Cotton Bowl as a senior in 2011. After that, he jumped right into coaching as a graduate assistant on Bill Snyder’s staff.

Annie Hanson, formerly Martin, is from Clay Center and a former standout athlete at Riley County High School. A skilled distance runner, she enrolled at Georgia Tech and later transferred to Oklahoma. When her college athletic career was over she began helping football teams as a recruiter.

Their paths crossed a few years later when they agreed to go on a blind date while Annie was in the Manhattan area visiting family. They went to an Eric Church concert and fell in love quickly. They got married in July 2016 and then moved east to North Carolina, where they each found jobs on Larry Fedora’s coaching staff.

They had a good thing going with the Tar Heels, but Annie left for Oklahoma when coach Lincoln Riley offered her a job last year that both Zach and Annie felt like she couldn’t refuse.

“When a position came open here she was somebody who was definitely in my mind,” Riley said. “She has been tremendous. She works very hard, she is very gifted and very personable. She brings a very personal touch to recruiting, which I think is so important and in line with what we wanted as a program.”

Annie’s contributions are hard to ignore. She helped Oklahoma land the nation’s eighth-rated recruiting class last year, per Rivals, and the Sooners currently rank fifth in the 2019 rankings.

Zach and Annie have made a long-distance relationship work, but the distance between them is not what it once was. As Zach finished out his final season at North Carolina, he only saw Annie once. And that was because Riley surprised her with time off and a free flight. Zach later took a job on Dana Dimel’s staff at Texas-El Paso, but left after a few days when Snyder unexpectedly offered him a job coaching tight ends.

All of a sudden, Zach and Annie were 275 miles apart, close enough for them to make regular visits. Annie has an apartment about one mile from Oklahoma’s stadium, but she shares a house with Zach on the west side of Manhattan. They have learned how to make the drive in about four hours, and it never feels that long because they talk on the phone the entire way. Sometimes, they meet in Wichita.

Last week, during Oklahoma’s bye, Annie was in town for K-State’s home game against Oklahoma State. She watched the Wildcats win with family and friends from Zach’s office overlooking the north end of the stadium. She also made it to Manhattan for the UTSA game.

“I really have to thank Lincoln Riley for being so accommodating,” Zach said during a preseason interview. “He understands our situation and is awesome with us about it.”

Annie has made it to three K-State football games this year. After Oklahoma lost to Texas in Dallas two weeks ago she drove to Waco for K-State’s game against Baylor. The Wildcats’ lost on a last-second field goal.

“The things you do for love, right?” Annie said. “I felt like I got kicked from all sides.”

Love and football

The biggest downside to their arrangement is on the horizon.

Working for different teams in the same conference isn’t easy. Going head-to-head might be hard.

“I’m sure it’s somewhat awkward, but we haven’t dealt with it that way,” Snyder said. “That’s her position and she’s a very confident and talented young lady and does what I’m assuming is quite well. I don’t really ask about it because I would never want to put her in a compromising situation, nor Zach for that matter. I think they both handle it extremely well.”

There is no reason to suspect otherwise.

Zach and Annie Hanson don’t compete in anything that often, but when they do they end up trying to help each other. A few weeks ago, they went to Topgolf and Zach spent most of the evening acting as Annie’s swing coach. They hit lots of golf balls, but didn’t play mini games or keep score. They both left happy.

Perhaps Team Hanson can do the same next Saturday when the stakes will be much higher.

“I don’t think either of us are worried about that,” Annie said. “We are both very competitive people. I bleed crimson, he bleeds purple and we are gunning for each others teams. But we approach everything in life as teammates. One football game isn’t going to change that.”

This story was originally published October 18, 2018 at 4:04 PM with the headline "He coaches for K-State, she recruits for OU. Their football teams are about to meet."