JOE KLANDERMAN, DEFENSIVE COORDINATOR
On defensive back Julius Brents...
"I think he's been outstanding. In the transfer market, I think we went 4-for-4 in terms of the leadership characteristics and certainly the on-field play that we're getting out of those four guys. Julius is somebody that established himself right away as a dominant athlete, an alpha-male type of athlete. He's learned what we're doing and has transitioned really well in what we're doing. He's made plays. He's not a guy that just does it right but can make the play and finish when he gets the opportunity. He's going to be a good one. He's going to be someone that people will know."
On reloading the secondary...
"Obviously we addressed a couple of needs with transfers. We're still in shambles a little bit. We still have several guys out who had offseason surgeries and whatnot. I think getting TJ Smith back into the mix will help us. He's a guy who was starting to come on before his injury. The transfer market has helped us. Then just guys maturing in what we do and maturing with their bodies. There were a couple of guys we had that were good players. They just weren't physically ready to go. A couple of examples are Tee Denson and Ekow Boye-Doe. They're good players and are solid athletes. They were just 168 pounds or whatever. To play in the Big 12 with that, you're going to struggle. You'll go up against a 6-foot-5 receiver that's 230 and can run just as fast as you. We're addressing some of that with strength and conditioning. We addressed some of that with the transfer market. Guys are starting to get more confident in who they are and what they can do."
On the linebackers...
"Honestly, if I had to say right now, I'd say our linebacker room is probably our deepest room. We've had some guys that have really come on there. Obviously, Deuce (Daniel) Green and Cody Fletcher are guys that have played a number of snaps for us, but when we made the move in the middle of last season to put Ryan Henington at linebacker, it was a work in progress with him because he had never played defense before, let alone linebacker. We moved him from safety, and he's had a tremendous spring. We moved Wayne Jones to a spot where he's a little more comfortable in the things he's doing. He's down there working in that spot. Austin Moore is a kid that's come on. Nick Allen is a kid that's been in the program that's come on. Kienen Gaskin, I can name a lot of guys. We have a lot of good competition in that room, so I feel very comfortable with the athleticism we have in that group and the toughness we have in that group. That's a group where we're going to have some depth."
On the defensive alignment...
"Our focus this spring, and rightfully so – I don't know how we got away from it – but our focus has just been on the fundamentals and just getting better at what we do. Our focus has been on defeating blocks, tackling, tracking and playing with great effort. Those are things that are staples in whatever you do. We've tried to get ourselves in the best structure possible, but we haven't gone crazy with anything this spring that's insanely different from what we've seen. We want to get better at the things we do. Last year we fell into a little bit of a trap of we're going to scheme this and that. Scheme, scheme, scheme and best-laid plans fall apart when you lose two guys on a Friday or you get put in a position where the lineup you have out there just can't physically do some of the things you're asking them to do. We've experimented with a couple of things, but, by and large, we're just doing what we do and trying to do it better."
On defensive back TJ Smith...
"He's just been cleared to be a full go in individual and non-contact kind of a guy. He's not getting any team reps right now, but he's moving around really well. Change of direction, he has no pain. After practice, he's not a guy that's sore for two days. I think he's been conditioning really hard with Coach Tru (Trumain Carroll) during the practices. He's going to be ready to go in the summer full go by the time we get back again after finals. As far as where he fits, I'm really pleased with Russ Yeast, a guy we picked up in the transfer portal. In some way, shape or form, we'd like to get those three guys on the field, Russ, TJ and Jahron McPherson at the same time."
On Wayne Jones moving to linebacker...
"One of the things Wayne struggled with as a safety was tackling in space. It was never his deal. We moved him into a spot a lot of times at safety that would bring him into the box and to be part of the box fit. We always felt like he had a really good feel for that. Really good footwork and was able to keep himself square and make tackles in close quarters and be physical and get off blocks and be slippery in there. When we backed him up, there were times where he struggled to make some of those plays. I think his body wanted to do one thing and he wanted to do another in order to keep himself as a safety. We just kind of let him go, and he's put on 15 pounds of pretty good weight here in the offseason. He has a real good natural feel for what we're doing in there. The idea originally was to just get him closer to the ball and get him around the action a little bit more. He's a phenomenal communicator. He gets things orchestrated and aligned in there. He's able to control the defensive line with some of his communication, so it's been a good move for him. He's had a good spring."
On the defense adjusting to the players they lost...
"This is the best buy in we've had since we've been here as a staff on the defensive side of the ball for sure. This is the most together this group has been since we've been here. We lost some great players, and we're replacing them by committee, honestly. It would be great to have a Wyatt Hubert. Great to have some of those guys that make some of those splash plays, but I feel like we're playing better as a unit now than we ever have. Part of it is the practices we're having right now. There's no question about that. That's what we're going to be moving forward. We're a developmental program. We lose one, somebody has to replace that one. We lost Wyatt Hubert. You can't replace him right now, but I'm telling you Felix Anudike is having a phenomenal spring. He's a guy that's going to play a ton of ball for us. Nate Matlack, a guy that didn't play at all last year, is going to have a role in what we do. Spencer Trussell, a guy who had a minor role in what we did last year at defensive end, is going to have a major role. Khalid Duke is getting better. Bronson Massie is getting better. We're improving across the board. We're going to lose players. That's what it's going to be. That's the mark of a good program is that you're going to replace those players with new guys."
On the defensive tackles...
"I think we struck gold with Timmy Horne. I'm really pleased with him and where he is. He's a physical kid that can move and has length and is big and has some football intelligence. He's fit right into that room. I thought at the end of last year that Eli Huggins was playing at a level as good as anyone in the league. Happy to have him back, and he's a lot healthier than he was at the end of last year. There were some issues he was having in November in December of last year that he probably wasn't the same player he was earlier in the year. Jaylen Pickle has gotten a lot better. He probably had his best practice of the spring yesterday as far as being the most disruptive and being the most twitchy and active that we've seen. We moved some different pieces in and out of there from the defensive end room to get ourselves a little more athletic. Another guy that's come on a little bit is (Robert) Hentz. We're putting him in a position where he can have a little bit more success. He was kind of thrown into that last fall, hadn't really played in this type of system before and was really a fish out of water for most of the season. We didn't get as much out of him, being the explosive athlete that he is, that we might've been able to get. He's had a really good spring, especially these last three, four and five days. I think it's a room that's maybe a little bit deeper than it was last year. Obviously, you lose a guy like Drew Wiley. You'd love to have him. I think we've replaced him by committee there. We're solid at that spot."
On the depth across the defense...
"It's just unproven depth. I think we can get things done. There is something to be said for game minutes, though. That's something as some of these guys get in there. They have the ability to do what we're asking them to do. They just need to go out there and do it and get confidence in doing it and understand that they can do it against anybody. Nate Matlack has never been in a game before. I think I know how he'll react. I think he knows how he'll react, but you just have to go out there and react, get those few snaps under your belt and then you're off and running."
On if there are any changes to the scheme...
"We're trying to minimize that as much as we can. In fact, we've tried to make things a little bit simpler and try to get away from the scheme aspect of it. Just teach the core values of discipline, toughness, commitment, selflessness, and again just work on our block destruction, work on our tackling and continue to play with great effort and intensity to the ball. That's what our emphasis has been. Yes, we've made some adjustments and some tweaks to try to get ourselves in some better structure situations than we were last year. We didn't get a chance to do that much last season, kind of just rolled with what we had. I think we're in a spot now where we're able to make some of those moves and we're excited about it. We're excited about the direction we're going."
On how the offense is looking...
"From my perspective, they're taking a lot of tackles for loss and sacks and throwing a lot of interceptions (laughs). Across the board there, too, we're just getting better. We're getting better on the o-line, which is something we needed. We have to deal with Deuce Vaughn every day. That's a tough situation. Skylar (Thompson) and Will Howard have gotten a lot better. There's just more competition across the board. Everybody that's seeing this daily, it's plainly obvious. You can see what the product looks like in the fall."
On defensive back Jahron McPherson returning...
"Great from a leadership standpoint, first and foremost. There's a guy that attacks his business. I'll tell you that every year we've been here, he's become more mature. From that first year, he was just a guy that went about his business to last year being so much more intentional with the things he did in terms of taking care of his body, in terms of film study, in terms of what he needed to do to get himself to a position where he could succeed, to this year even taking it to another level. I don't know if there's a guy on the roster that does as much extra work as he does. I don't know if there's a guy on the roster to go out of his way as much to spend time with young guys as he does. We obviously know that he's a great player that can help us, but, if nothing else, he's providing a great example of what we want those young guys to look like in the future."
On the challenges of the last couple of games last season...
"I don't know what you are talking about. I was on COVID protocol those last few ones (laughs). Yeah, it was tough and when you throw in the injury situations on top of some of the guys we were missing. It was what it was. I think that we're using that. We don't talk about that a whole lot, that's in the back of everybody's mind that that's not us. That's not our identity. We got away from the things that we want to be about, which are toughness, physicality, running the football, being great communicators. We had signs of that early in the season. If you were to watch our last couple of games, you wouldn't have seen that. We can say it's for this reason or that, but that's not what K-State defense is going to be."
On the nickel options...
"We're actually using Wayne Jones in that role a little bit. Him and Ryan Henington have had some yeoman's duty of playing an in-the-box linebacker position and then we're using them as a nickel sometimes. It doesn't hurt them to go out there and play some man and do some different things. It doesn't hurt them to understand a couple of different positions. But right now, in the secondary, we're just not in the position. Matthew Maschmeier is taking some spots in there. But in the secondary, we're really thin with some of the surgeries and things that we have. We're not fully whole at that position right now."
On adding any other players to the secondary...
"It's very possible. We're always on the look. I think in order to do that, though, it's got to be the right guy. I think that's where we hit, as I mentioned before, I think we hit a home run with the four guys we brought in because not only are they great fits on the field, but they are great fits off the field. They are guys in the locker room that we love. They are guys that have come here and fit in. They are guys that are buying into the virtues that make you a K-State football player. To a man, any one of those guys has the ear and the respect of anybody that has been here for years. We're looking for a guy like that. So, if there is a guy like that out there then, yeah, we'll give him a look."
WAYNE JONES, JUNIOR LINEBACKER
On his reaction to moving to linebacker...
"I was excited. Just blessed with another opportunity to expand on what I can do as a player. I'm really excited about being in the box. I'm comfortable down there and I feel like it's a good fit."
On what he likes most about linebacker...
"Just probably the physical part about it. Being in the trenches and seeing what those guys are doing every play. I just love the contact and things like that."
On if he has made any big hits this spring...
"Maybe a couple like in the hole, not like a kill shot or anything. Actually, I did have one. Yeah, I did have one now that I think about it. It was a zone drop, and I just broke down on an under route in 7-on-7 and made the play."
On who else is standing out at linebacker...
"We've got a room full of guys who have been competing all spring. From Austin (Moore), to Deuce (Daniel Green), to Henny (Ryan Henington), to Eric (Munoz). Even the young guys like Beau (Palmer), Kienen (Gaskin). We've just got so many guys competing. I feel like our whole room has been just good working together."
On how he has transformed his body...
"Playing linebacker, you've got to be a bit bigger. So, I put on 15 pounds over the Christmas break and over the course of this semester. Just getting used to playing at that weight and being heavier."
On how he gained weight…
"I definitely had to change up my diet because I like to eat but not all food is good when you are trying to gain weight. So, cleaning up my diet was probably the biggest part I had to focus on."
On the secondary…
"I feel like our secondary has been playing really well this spring. We've got a lot of new guys, a lot of young guys. But, overall, they've showed up to practice and they are getting better every day."
On last season…
"I think last year was a big maturity year for myself. I think I went through some things that I needed to go through, and it has matured me as a man and a player. When you go through things at the moment, I feel like you look at it as bad. But, once you get through it and you see what it was meant for it's not looked at as bad anymore. So, I'm kind of glad I had that year last year with the struggles I had and everything."
On if the position switch gives him a new beginning…
"You could kind of say that, yeah. I've always loved being in the box, so when they asked me if I wanted to play linebacker, I was all for it. Whatever could help the team."
On what he is eating now with his new diet…
"Chicken breast. Chicken breast and broccoli. Steak and Broccoli, that's probably my top two meals."
On what excites him about the defense this season…
"I think as a defense, overall, we've got a lot of guys who have bought into what the coaches want, our core values. I'm just excited to see what we can do with a group of guys who are bought into each other and bought into this team and to this program. That's probably what I'm most excited about."
ELI HUGGINS, SENIOR DEFENSIVE TACKLE
On replacing Drew Wiley...
"Drew is a great player, so we've got some big shoes to fill when it comes to him. Luckily, we've got some new guys. We've got Tim Horne coming in. Jaylen Pickle has been doing great. So, hopefully between the three of us – D. (Robert) Hentz the fourth – hopefully we can pick up the slack there. So, I think we'll be alright, but Drew was an incredible player and had a great career here."
On Timmy Horne...
"Tim is a great player. He played a lot of ball at Charlotte and he's a very experienced player. He's going to be a very good player here. He's a very explosive, big dude, strong dude. So, I'm excited to see what he's going to do this season."
On young defensive linemen stepping up...
"I wouldn't say that the light wasn't necessarily on for this guy, but Felix (Anudike) is definitely getting way better. He's had a good spring so far. He looks great out there on the field, and I expect he'll probably do some very big things this fall."
On the offensive line...
"The offensive line is experienced. They've got a lot of good dudes. Cooper Beebe has looked great this spring. Josh Rivas, he's been in there for a few years, he's always been a great player. Noah Johnson has been battling inside. There's been a lot of dudes that have been impressive so far this spring and have had good spring practices."
On using the final games of last season as motivation...
"Yeah absolutely. No one wants to end a season that way, especially how we started out. We thought we had it rolling and then it just kind of abruptly stopped. So, I think that's in the back of everyone's minds every single day we're going out there, every lift we're going to, every workout we're doing. I think that's some extra motivation that we'll have going into this season."
On the transfers...
"We've just got a good group of guys here. Everyone is very accepting here. Everyone gets along great. So as soon as those guys came in, everyone just accepted them, talked to them, became friends with them, hanging out with them inside of the complex and outside. So, yeah, everyone has adapted, it seems, very well and very quickly. I think we're going to have a very tight-knit and good team this year."
On the buy-in of the team...
"You can feel it. Something is just different out there this year. When you're out at practice, it's just way more competitive, way more energy. People just want to be out there really bad. It's something you've just have to be here and feel. It's definitely different this year. People are way more motivated and way more bought in this season."
On first impressions of Trumain Carroll...
"Coach Tru is awesome. He's been so cool so far. Workouts have been tough. He's been a great motivator. He's been a lot of fun to be around. I think he's a great addition here at Kansas State."
On a defensive player standing out...
"Julius Brents. I think he's going to be a great player here. Everything I've seen so far, he's a big dude out there at corner and he's looked incredible out there at practice. So, I expect a big year out of him."
JAYLEN PICKLE, JUNIOR DEFENSIVE TACKLE
On where he's improved the most during the offseason...
"I think I've improved the most in my leadership skills. We have a lot of young guys coming in this spring. I've been a better leader on and off the field. I've definitely grown in that aspect of football."
On needing to be more of a leader...
"It's definitely needed. I was kind of in the middle leadership, and I had to step up and play a bigger role in leadership. I've taken in young guys, not just in my position group but on the whole team. We've all been through it, and it's tough. I had to step up. Losing Wyatt (Hubert) and Drew (Wiley) on the d-line, more people have to step up and be leaders."
On replacing the players who are gone...
"Those are pretty big shoes to fill, but we're going to fill them. I'm completely certain we are going to fill those shoes."
On the emphasis on culture in the program...
"I've seen great strides in our culture, to be honest. I feel like we all, as a whole team, took that to heart. We realized that we had to be better."
On what is needed to improve during the final spring practices...
"I would say technique as a whole unit – offense and defense. That's what spring is for, just cleaning up our technique. I feel like we all have to get a little bit better every day with our technique."
On what the defense is emphasizing...
"We've been preaching aggressiveness, coming off the ball as hard as we can and being more physical."
On who stands out on the offense...
"To be honest, the whole offensive line. They've definitely made huge strides as a group. People want to say they were young last year, but that wasn't an excuse for them. They just kept working."
On the identity of the football team...
"Toughness. We went through a lot with COVID. That's not an excuse, but toughness. I feel like we handled adversity very well throughout the season, and we just have to keep growing on that."
On the expectations for this team...
"Anything is realistic. If you just put the work in, you can be anything we want. It just depends on if everyone wants to do the same thing – win a national championship – that's what we have to do. Everything is realistic."
On if things are closer to normal than what they were last season...
"Yeah, as a whole world I feel like it is. Here, we're still doing the same stuff. We have our masks on whenever we are in the building. I'd say it's getting closer to normal here too. We're worried about COVID, but we're not as much as how we were. We're just playing football now."
On handling the COVID situation after dealing with it last year...
"It's just next man up. If one person is out, the next person has to be ready to do what they have to do. Everyone has to be prepared from 1-to-5 deep because the next week, you never know, you might lose five d-tackles. It just is what it is. I feel like we have to be better there. It's next man up, and everyone has to know they can play at any given moment."
On the safety measures for the team...
"It's definitely a sacrifice. It's college, but on the weekends, you have to sacrifice. During the weekday, you can't just go hang out with your girlfriend and all your friends. You're on a football team and everyone has to sacrifice for the team. The team is bigger than one person."
DANIEL GREEN, JUNIOR LINEBACKER
On replacing all the leadership from last year...
"It's always tough to replace guys that have been a part of the program for as long as they were. I feel really good about the newer leadership amongst the linebacker core and amongst our defense. That's part of it, next man up and people learning new roles."
On how much more leadership he's taking on...
"For sure a lot more. Me and Cody (Fletcher) are the guys that most people in the room are looking towards that are going to lead because we've played the most football out of that room. So yeah, for sure a bigger role for me."
On his biggest steps forward...
"Just my mindset towards the game. This is going to be my third year coming in. Just understanding how I'm supposed to practice, how I'm supposed to take care of my body. Being an older guy now and trying to show the younger guys how to do it."
On his first impression of Wayne Jones at linebacker...
"He should've been there the whole time. He's a great football player in the box. Playing strong safety, it's not a big difference. The only big difference was his responsibilities pass coverage wise. His run fits and stuff like that he was a lot of times in the box just like us. It wasn't a big jump for him to come down an extra five or six yards and come play with us."
On his offseason goals...
"Just how I'm approaching everything. Practice and extra work. Watching film and trying to get better. Hold guys accountable, leadership wise trying to push guys. I feel like our linebacker group I'm very excited about because we've been competing every day and pushing each other. I feel like that's a big thing for me this year, just pushing guys and trying to get better."
On transfer linebacker Eric Munoz...
"He's fit in well with us. Everyone loves Eric in that room. We're really excited about him too. That's another guy that came to our room. It's more competition. More guys that are going to push each other and work hard and we needed that."
On who is the leader defensively...
"It's spring ball right now. A lot of guys are trying to become a leader amongst the defense. Guys like JMac (Jahron McPherson) and Eli Huggins, guys that have been here a long time, of course they are going to have tremendous leadership amongst the defensive. But I've been seeing a lot of other guys step up in bigger roles. Even newer guys like Julius Brents, he's been showing leadership from the corner. He's a new guy, so right now we're all coming together and pushing each other to be better. It's a team effort when it comes to leadership right now."
On the players catching his attention...
"Up front, d-Line, Tim (Horne) at d-tackle because I see him, obviously, in front of me every play. I love seeing him in front of me. He makes everything easier for me. Nick Allen, Julius Brents. Actually, there have been a lot of guys. There have been a lot of guys stepping up this spring. I'm very excited to see what we're going to do this fall. We've got a lot of work to put in, but I like what I've seen so far."
On the fun returning to football...
"If you love the game, it's always going to be fun. But yes, this spring guys are very excited to get back out here and compete. That's a big change from last year. Guys are just competing and pushing each other. That's a big thing I've been seeing this spring that's a lot different than last year. Newer guys coming in and pushing guys that have been here and competing. There's a lot of competition in each room and that's something that we needed on the defensive side of the ball. Guys just competing."
On him gaining experience last year...
"It paid off a lot, getting those types of reps and playing a lot of football going into this year. The approach of the game, the mindset of the game, how to watch film and what to watch. Things I need to work on. Being able to see myself out there in games and watch film on myself and critique myself and all those types of things. Just the recovery aspect, playing a lot of snaps like that, you need recovery and taking care of your body. Certain things that you eat, how you stretch, sleep all that. It really helped me."
On becoming the leader on the defense...
"Yes sir. That's what I came here to do."
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