COLLIN KLEIN, OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR (Quotes courtesy of K-State Athletics)
What he wants to see from quarterback Will Howard in the spring…
“Will does such a great job of mastering his craft. The football game and the quarterback position, you could spend every minute, all day, every day looking at tapes, basic principles, drills, improvements and you would still be busy. So, for him, just keep pushing the limits of his own game, whether it’s footwork, progression discipline, or defensive recognition. I think – not that he wasn’t great on the line of scrimmage last year – but also just his level of comfort this year compared to this time last year of being able to manage and lead the offense. Whether it’s small tweaks here and there or massive game changes or whatever, he’s doing a fantastic job and just being able to push the envelope.”
When considering other career opportunities this off-season…
“Obviously it was a great honor to receive that call but I felt like going through the process again which the Lord has really put on my heart that there is still work to be done here. Knowing that my mission here was unfinished and my boys really are the two things that made me at peace with knowing that I was meant to be here.”
On Jake Rubley potentially being the No. 2 quarterback…
“It’s a competition. All three of those three main types behind him will compete throughout the duration. All three of these guys have done really, really good things. Jake obviously has a head start with his age and experience. But it’s a competition. Every one of these guys has to earn it every day.”
On the breakdown of the three guys behind Will Howard…
“You can definitely tell the game has slowed down a bit for Jake. He has tremendous arm talent. It comes from his hand and is accurate. He can really spread the field with his arm. As I said before, his comfort in attack allowed him to play faster and anticipate things better. Adrian Lara, who is now in his second year with the program, has tremendous arm talent. The field will be incredibly small when he’s back. He can dish it out with essays, with downfield passing play, from any platform at any time. His core strength is outstanding and he is a very natural passer. He’s still trying to get comfortable with offense and what’s going on around him, but he’s done a great job and even improved tremendously from mid-last fall until now. He’s done a great job. I would say Avery (Johnson) coming in is obviously just a way of learning the state of the country and trying to operate so he can use his skills. It obviously has the best bikes in the group, which is well documented. But again, all three of these guys have very strong arms, they are accurate, natural passers of football, all three of them are studying. I come here early in the morning before our meetings start and several guys are studying, drawing, asking questions and helping each other. I think this environment is really great for all of them as they go through this process.”
On Avery Johnson’s Weight Gain…
“Good. I think he’s gained about 10 pounds, more or less based on the date, since he got here. Coach Tru (Trumain Carroll) and his staff are doing an excellent job. I think for him he’s always on competed in anything, played so many sports in high school. So I think his physical growth is going to be pretty quick, just playing football and spending some time in the weight room. It comes together.”
If Will Howard is too heavy a weight…
“I think more body composition – sort of on your question. Scott Trausch, our team nutritionist, does an amazing job on body composition and has worked with the staff at Coach Tru to really refine each individual’s specific goals and how their weight program works within them. Will’s weight, we don’t want that to change drastically either way, he’s still working on his foot speed. Getting rid of a bit of body fat and leaning the weight a bit is something he’s working on and I think it’s going to help his game. Obviously, since these quarterbacks are resilient athletes, core strength and flexibility in this area are extremely important.”
What excites him most about getting back to work on offense…
“It was a learning process for all of us. It was extremely exciting. Of course, in every journey there are challenges and things that you must overcome. This time last year we were trying to really build and restore some things fundamentally, aggressively and how we wanted to do things. So if we’re able to build on that, so now not everyone is learning how to function, how to communicate and all those things, we can kind of get further into that second and third level of how we want to use what we’re doing now have. So it’s an incredible group to work with. Looking ahead, these guys are a charismatic bunch, they work their ass off and really set the tone offensively for all of us. Then you have the leadership and some of the skills that we have around you coming together, it’s extremely exciting. There are many, many players that we would like to try and, as a coaching staff, push and demonstrate again all their skills to make us successful.”
Source : kansasstate.rivals.com