K-State strength coach Chris Dawson leaving for new job after 12 years with Wildcats
A long and successful era is coming to an end inside Kansas State’s football weight room.
Chris Dawson, who has served as director of strength and conditioning for the Wildcats since 2010, is leaving Manhattan to become the new strength coach at Central Florida, the school announced Friday.
Dawson helped K-State reach nine bowl games and win one Big 12 championship during his time in charge of the Wildcats’ strength and conditioning program. Along the way, he was linked to various other openings at Washington State and, most recently, Alabama, which drove his K-State salary up to $400,000.
He was one of the nation’s 25 highest paid football strength coaches, according to the USA Today salary database.
But Dawson remained at K-State for more than a decade to work under former football coach Bill Snyder and current coach Chris Klieman until the opportunity to work for Gus Malzahn and the Knights came up this month.
Dawson is well known in the Sunflower State. Before he arrived in Manhattan, he spent seven seasons as the head strength coach for the Kansas Jayhawks under Mark Mangino. He was part of a successful run in Lawrence, as well. Dawson helped KU reach four bowl games between 2003 and 2008, including a trip to the Orange Bowl at the end of the 2007 season.
An Oklahoma graduate, Dawson got his start as an assistant with the Sooners in 1995 and also spent two seasons at Minnesota.
This story was originally published February 19, 2021 at 8:42 AM with the headline "K-State strength coach Chris Dawson leaving for new job after 12 years with Wildcats."