Texas A&M making push to hire offensive coordinator Collin Klein away from K-State
Kansas State offensive coordinator Collin Klein is once again a hot name on the job market.
For the second year in a row, big-name college football teams are expressing interest in hiring Klein away from the Wildcats.
The latest possibility: Texas A&M.
Sources have confirmed reports that Klein has emerged as the preferred choice for the Aggies and new head coach Mike Elko as they search for an offensive coordinator.
Those same sources said Klein interviewed with Texas A&M on Tuesday and is now torn on how to proceed. Even though he appears in no hurry to leave his alma mater, K-State can not pay him nearly as much as Texas A&M, which has some of the best resources in all of college football.
Klein is currently earning $825,000 in salary with the Wildcats.
The Aggies can afford to pay their coordinators more than some head coaches.
Klein was in a similar situation earlier this year when Notre Dame made a push for him. He interviewed for the position but ultimately decided to return to K-State.
This season, he guided the K-State offense to 37.8 points and 446.1 yard per game, as the Wildcats went 8-4 and earned an invitation to the Pop-Tarts Bowl.
It won’t be a surprise if Klien makes up his mind on the Texas A&M opening in a short amount of time. When Notre Dame courted him in February, he asked for his name to be withdrawn from consideration the morning after he interviewed with the Fighting Irish. He was later rewarded with a raise from K-State in April.
His reasoning: “I felt like after going through the process that the Lord really put it on my heart that there was still work to do here.”
Klein has spent the vast majority of his coaching career with the Wildcats. He started out as a quarterbacks coach under Bill Snyder and worked his way up to being offensive coordinator for Chris Klieman.
Before he got into coaching, he was a star quarterback for the Wildcats. He was a Heisman Trophy finalist as a senior in 2012 and also guided K-State to a Big 12 championship.
This story was originally published December 5, 2023 at 9:23 PM with the headline "Texas A&M making push to hire offensive coordinator Collin Klein away from K-State."