K-State hires defensive coordinator from Mizzou with NFL experience, two other assistants

Chris Klieman has announced all but one of his Kansas State football coaching staff members after the hiring of a former Mizzou player and NFL assistant coach and two others on Friday.

Kleiman hired Ted Monachino as defensive coordinator and linebackers coach, Brian Anderson as running backs coach and Van Malone as cornerbacks coach.

Monachino comes to Kansas State after spending the past season as a senior defensive analyst at Missouri, his alma mater. He previously was the defensive coordinator for the Indianapolis Colts and the linebackers coach for the Baltimore Ravens from 2010-15. In Baltimore, he was on the staff that won Super Bowl XLVII and coached NFL legend Ray Lewis.

At Missouri, Monachino was a respected member of Barry Odom’s staff, where he helped mentor first-year defensive coordinator Ryan Walters and helped get an early jump on scouting MU’s future opponents. Walters recently said that the staff was searching for a full-time position for Monachino to prevent him from leaving for other jobs.

Before heading to the NFL, Monachino held college jobs at James Madison, Arizona State, Texas Christian and Boise State and Missouri State.

“I am pleased to have Ted, Brian and Van join our staff as all three have significant experience at the Power Five level in addition to Ted’s world championship as a member of the Ravens’ staff,” Klieman said in a release. “The nine total coaches that we have assembled to this point provide a great blend of familiarity with my philosophies as well as the K-State program, Power Five experience and background in recruiting territories that we feel are important to our continued success.”

Anderson coached Illinois State’s wide receivers this season. He also coached running backs at Minnesota from 2011-13 before moving to receivers coach. He worked for Jerry Kill, who served as an associate athletic director at K-State in 2016, as Minnesota and Southern Illinois.

Malone, a former Texas and Detroit Lions defensive back, was a Mississippi State defensive quality control coach this season and SMU’s defensive coordinator for three seasons. He also coached Oklahoma State’s safeties and cornerbacks.

Klieman has yet to announce a special teams coordinator. That position was held by former coach Bill Snyder’s son Sean before Snyder’s retirement following this season.

Sean Snyder spoke with Klieman for nearly an hour after the new coach’s hire and Klieman said during his introductory news conference that he looked forward to working with him.

That made it sound as though Snyder would be retained on staff the same way he was for three years under former coach Ron Prince when Bill Snyder retired for the first time in 2005. But Klieman later clarified that nothing has been finalized on that front.

“I want to continue to visit with Sean,” Klieman said. “He’s been a big part of this program, big part of this success … I want to continue those discussions next week.”

Klieman’s other staff hires are Courtney Messingham (offensive coordinator/tight ends), Joe Klanderman (safeties), Collin Klein (quarterbacks), Jason Ray (wide receivers), Conor Riley (offensive line) and Blake Seiler (defensive line).

The Kansas City Star’s Alex Schiffer contributed to this report

This story was originally published December 28, 2018 at 10:33 AM.