K-State Q&A: Do the Wildcats have a transfer problem? Plus recruiting, ISU and more
It’s been a while since Kansas State has given us a more polarizing topic than its recent string of football transfers.
Some fans are steadfast in their belief that what’s going on in Manhattan is no big deal. Others insist that it is a serious problem that could hurt the Wildcats for years to come. And there doesn’t seem to be much middle ground between either side.
I will do my best to settle the argument once and for all here, but I’m not sure there is a definitive hot (or cold) take that will satisfy everyone. For now, my thoughts are in the middle.
It’s certainly not nothing. But it doesn’t seem worthy of a panic button, either.
Before we jump to any conclusions, let’s take a step back and analyze the roster attrition that has taken place over the past few months. K-State has lost 10 players to the NCAA transfer portal this season. They are Walter Neil, Thomas Grayson, Matthew Pola-Mao, Jonathan Alexander, Will Jones, Ronald Triplette, Tyrone Lewis, Joshua Youngblood, DeMarrquese Hayes and the late Derick Newton.
Four of those players chose to “opt out” before the season began and later decided to transfer for various reasons. The other six chose to look elsewhere after games began.
When asked about those transfers earlier this week, K-State football coach Chris Klieman downplayed the situation by saying “I think it’s just 2020.”
Defensive coordinator Joe Klanderman pushed back much harder when asked about it on Thursday.
“This program isn’t for everybody,” he said. “We are going to do things a certain way to try and achieve a certain standard, and not everybody is able to adhere to that standard. It just is what it is.”
A few more details before I share my thoughts:
- Six of those players were part of the 2019 recruiting class that was filled halfway with Bill Snyder recruits. Klieman scrambled to sign the rest in a matter of weeks while he was splitting time between K-State and North Dakota State.
- Only 12 members of that recruiting class are currently on the roster.
- Only Alexander, Neil, Jones and Youngblood were contributors. None of them were starting when they entered the portal.
- It’s reasonable to assume many of these transfers boiled down to a lack of playing time, but that’s never the whole story. Sometimes players are encouraged to leave for disciplinary reasons.
- K-State lists more than 140 players on its roster, so 10 transfers is about 7% of the team.
- Transfers are up everywhere this season, not just at K-State. The NCAA transfer portal is reportedly approaching 650 names, which is believed to be about triple the normal number.
- New legislation is expected to pass in the near future allowing all college football players to transfer once to a new school without sitting out a season, making the decision to transfer easier than ever.
- Frozen eligibility will help coaches replace some of these transfers with returning seniors.
The biggest problem here seems to be that K-State has lost half its 2019 recruiting class already. If the 10 transfers were more spread out in age, they would be easier to stomach. Losing transfers hasn’t hurt the team’s starting lineup much this season, and it has barely weakened its two-deep. But depth is becoming a concern at certain positions, and making up for all those departures will put pressure on future recruiting classes.
That is why you shouldn’t just sweep this under the rug and call it nothing.
Otherwise, the departures can all be easily explained without pointing to some kind of hidden issue that is driving players away. There could certainly be something going on behind the scenes, but it’s not like they’ve lost a bunch of starters.
I only get alarmed by transfers when they are big names. Everyone struggles to keep scout-team players happy. But it shouldn’t be that hard to keep your star players feeling good. In this case, Youngblood and Jones are the only two that make you scratch your head.
The sky is not falling, in other words.
The majority of these transfers are young, out-of-state players who are attending college during a pandemic. The normal experience isn’t possible right now. Classes are all virtual. Hanging out with friends is frowned upon. Going home during off weeks is forbidden. The only thing close to normal happening for them on campus is football.
It’s easy to see why a young player that is far from home and isn’t seeing much action would choose to transfer, especially when you consider this season doesn’t count against anyone’s eligibility. Being away from home was hard on me as a college freshman. Take away the fun things I did outside of class and you can bet College Kellis would have thought about transferring somewhere closer to a Whataburger. There’s a reason why transfers are up everywhere.
How big of a deal are all these transfers? A few weeks ago my response was “meh.” Now I’m more like a TV judge responding to a lawyer’s objection. I want to see where this going.
The answer will ultimately depend on how Klieman responds to it. If he convinces a few key seniors to return for another year, brings in some quality recruiting classes and lands a few incoming transfers then few will remember the players that left in 2020. If not, then this could become a lingering issue.
And with that, let’s get to your questions. Thanks, as always, for providing them.
Teams are allowed to sign 25 new players each year. That number includes all high school seniors, junior-college transfers and traditional transfers. They all count the same.
So if K-State looks to add five incoming transfers during the 2021 recruiting cycle, it would only be allowed to sign 20 high school players.
There are some ways to get around the 25-person limit, such as enrolling early (can count toward previous year’s total), using grayshirts (delaying enrollment a semester) and using blueshirts (delaying scholarship money a semester). So schools can sometimes sign 30 recruits/transfers and spread them around multiple classes.
Teams are usually also limited to 85 scholarship players, but some rosters will exceed that number next year if a lot of seniors decide to return for an extra year.
I don’t anticipate Klieman bringing in 10 transfers to replace 10 transfers, if that’s what you mean. He prefers to recruit mostly high school players and develop them. But I do think he will bring in more transfers than usual.
Somewhere around five could make sense, especially if they are at positions of need like receiver, linebacker or defensive back.
There will be more available on the market than ever before.
Transfers have helped K-State during Klieman’s two years in Manhattan. Briley Moore, Kiondre Thomas, Jordon Brown and James Gilbert have all made big contributions.
EMAIL QUESTION: Hey Kellis. I noticed Iowa State is wearing all black uniforms against Kansas State this Saturday. What are your thoughts on those? Will they have any impact on the game? - Andrew B.
Black alternate uniforms aren’t my favorite things in the world, unless black is somehow usually involved in a team’s colors. But I don’t hate them, either.
Teams have been wearing white as a natural road color for years. It makes sense that black can also be used for a home color now that alternate uniforms have become so popular.
I like both of Iowa State’s dominant colors (cardinal and gold) and would rather see the Cyclones go all-in on one of those colors. All gold sounds amazing to me.
But I’m not the target audience for most jersey designs. Though I do own more than half a dozen soccer jerseys, I have never spent much money on football jerseys. These alternate looks are predominantly for the players themselves.
Black uniforms have become somewhat of a good-luck charm for the Cyclones in big home games over the years. That seems to be the main reason they are wearing them this week. Anything to win Farmageddon!
Will they impact the game? No.
If any type of equipment impacts this game, it will be cleats. K-State coaches have mentioned a few times this week that they are concerned about players establishing good footing on natural grass on the frozen tundra of Jack Trice Stadium.
This is a great question. Kudos to you for asking it.
You could make a heck of a case for either coach in that scenario.
Chris Klieman: A victory would once again prove that he is capable of leading K-State to a road upset while missing players due to COVID-19 and injuries. It would also improve his record to 2-0 against both of the Wildcats’ main football rivals — Iowa State and Kansas.
Matt Campbell: This seems like the year Iowa State may finally break through and reach the Big 12 championship game Campbell has upgraded talent in Ames since he took over as coach and the Wildcats will have their hands full with Brock Purdy and Breece Hall. A win here would mean the world to ISU and its fans. But a loss could spoil the season and further validate Campbell as a slightly overrated coach that can’t seem to do any better than 8-5.
After further consideration, I think a loss would say more about Campbell than a victory would say about Klieman. If Iowa State can’t win Farmageddon this season when is it going to happen?
There are almost too many wild victories from K-State in this series to choose from.
Should I go with the Paul Rhoads meltdown in 2015? What about the blocked extra point in 2009? Who can forget Skylar Thompson’s walk-off pass to Isaiah Zuber in 2017?
Give me Thompson to Zuber, if for no other reason than it gives me an excuse to link to Stan Weber’s over-the-top radio call afterward.
On the Iowa State side, the victory that coincided with a streaker in 1993 was quite memorable. But I like Iowa State’s wild 42-38 comeback in 2018 better.
The Cyclones came from 17 points down in the fourth quarter to show the Wildcats what that kind of loss felt like. It was also Snyder’s final game.
K-State vs. national media is always a good one.
K-State vs. preseason polls is also a heated rivalry.
But you’re probably looking for an actual team for both of those sports. It’s an interesting question. I can’t say K-State has too many teams that come anywhere close to being rivals outside the Big 12. But there are a few candidates.
Give me Wichita State for basketball. I was tempted to say Texas A&M, because they seem to play every dang year even though the Aggies left the Big 12 nearly a decade ago. Or maybe Wisconsin, because they always meet in the NCAA Tournament. But I like the Shockers as a rival better.
The Wildcats and Shockers have three games coming up on future schedules, and those should be a lot of fun. It will be fascinating to watch who Wichita State hires to replace Gregg Marshall full time. Regardless, it will be cool to see K-State and Wichita State play every season.
They used to play all the time. They never should have stopped.
Give me Nebraska for football. Is there any team outside the Big 12 that K-State fans root against more than the Huskers? It’s been delightful for them to watch Nebraska bicker with its Big Ten brethren the past few months.
I’ve got some bad news here. I won’t be making the trip to Ames, Iowa this weekend. So Chris Klieman will need to find someone else to play tight end against the Cyclones on Saturday. The good news is K-State coaches are expecting Briley Moore to play.
But whenever I do return to the field, I will try to emulate the best two pass-catching tight ends I have seen during my time on the beat — Travis Tannahill and Moore. I have no interest in blocking, so that rules out just about every other K-State tight end I’ve covered.
If Jake Waters is throwing me passes, I can probably catch a few of them.
My TD celebration would very closely resemble Eric Fisher’s from the NFL playoffs last season.
The only difference is I would drink the beer, instead of just splashing it around.
I go back and forth between smoking a turkey on Thanksgiving and frying a turkey on Thanksgiving.
As the proud owner of both a Kamado Joe and a turkey fryer, I feel compelled to use them both.
This year I’m planning on frying a turkey. If you haven’t tried it before, it’s something that I strongly recommend. The frying process is super easy and something every dad should try at least once. It makes the dark meat taste really good and gives the skin a nice kick you don’t get from the oven.
Smoking a turkey has also always worked out great, but that is more of an everyday method for cooking turkey. There is something about a fryer that feels more like Thanksgiving.
My preferred sides are stuffing, green bean casserole, rolls and mashed potatoes with gravy. Keep cranberry sauce and yams off my plate!
For dessert, I need multiple pies. It’s not Thanksgiving without both pumpkin and pecan pie. Add a coconut cream pie into the mix and you’ve really got a good holiday going.
This story was originally published November 20, 2020 at 5:00 AM with the headline "K-State Q&A: Do the Wildcats have a transfer problem? Plus recruiting, ISU and more."