First-year Kansas State football coordinators Sean Gleeson and Jordan Peterson said the Wildcats looked toward the NFL for inspiration when it came to how to structure new head coach Collin Klein’s inaugural coaching staff.
In the past, K-State’s coordinators have also been position coaches. Former defensive coordinator Joe Klanderman was the safeties coach for Chris Klieman, and offensive coordinators Matt Wells and Klein were in charge of the quarterbacks, while Conor Riley remained the offensive line coach after getting promoted to OC heading into the 2024-25 season.
Bill Snyder’s various coaching staffs worked under a similar model.
But Klein, along with Gleeson and Peterson, is shaking things up.
Up until 2024, schools were limited to an 11-member coaching staff for on-field instruction. They could add off-the-field analyst and quality control coaches, but they weren’t allowed to provide technical and tactical instruction to football student-athletes during practice and games.
But when that rule changed, coaching staffs around the country started to grow, and Klein’s inaugural staff in Manhattan is no exception.
There are 17 different position coaches on K-State’s roster, including a handful of assistant position coaches who will work under the main position coach.
Above all of them are Peterson and Gleeson, who will oversee their respective sides of the ball while the position coaches handle the more minute details.
“I’ve always thought that the NFL had it right,” Peterson said. “You want to have a coordinator that, yes, has an area of expertise. The secondary is my baby. But to make decisions for the betterment of the team as a full unit by taking your bias of a certain position group out, you can make decisions that are best for the unit.
“And so, although I’m obviously going to be heavily involved with the back seven, I’m not going to directly have a position. … We have a great staff, like an unbelievable staff, and this allows me to kind of take a big picture and make sure we’re making decisions that are right for the unit.”
While that gives K-State an advantage in practice, it will also allow the coordinators to sit in on different positional meetings, giving Gleeson and Peterson a more holistic picture of where the team is at during the week of game prep.
“Obviously, my background is working with the quarterbacks, but what (Klein) and I have talked about a little bit is (getting) that kind of 10,000-foot view,” Gleeson said. “Going into meetings that are not of my background, learning the way the guys learn in those different environments. And at practice, instead of being stuck with the quarterbacks, being able to go around and see some things from a different lens, which I’m super excited about.”
Gleeson also confirmed that Klein will be the team’s primary offensive playcaller when the fall rolls around.
Spring football is just around the corner, and the 2026 season kicks off just a couple of months later, when K-State hosts Nicholls on Sept. 5.