Kansas State Wildcats College Football Pregame Quote, 12/04/2022

COACH SABAN: Our team is really excited about having the opportunity to play in the Allstate Sugar Bowl against a really, really good opponent in Kansas State. They’ve just come off a great win to win their conference. And Coach Chris Klieman has done a fantastic job there with their team, and this is certainly going to be a challenging game for us. They play great on defense. They’ve got two really good quarterbacks. They’ve got a really great running back, and there’s a lot of diversity in what they do. They’re a very well-coached team.

You know, our team needs to bounce back and show they’re excited about the opportunity that we have to play against a top-notch team who’s a conference championship.

Just in terms of what you’ve discussed earlier today about potential opt-outs and you can’t speculate on that, between those and some of the players that have gone into the transfer portal, just where do you see the depth of your roster and some of the numbers of your roster going into this game?

COACH SABAN: Well, I think we’re going to coach the players that are there. We’re going to try to coach them to do the best possible job that they can. We certainly have a great amount of appreciation and respect for the guys who are going to finish the season with the team. And we’re going to do the best job that we can to help those guys ‚Äì put those guys in a position where they have a chance to be successful. There will be some opportunity for some new guys, no question. But we’re looking forward to the challenge.

I know you’re maybe still learning about Kansas State this early on, but what are your first impressions of the Wildcats?

COACH SABAN: Well, I mean, we really haven’t had an opportunity to look at them at this point. Didn’t have an opportunity to watch the game yesterday, although that was an outstanding victory for them. And, you know, we have recruits in this weekend. So we’re working on recruiting; so we didn’t get a chance to see the game. We have a chance to review the film, but we have a tremendous amount of respect for their accomplishments, their players, their coach, and what they’ve been able to do this season.

I know that this team had an idea for the playoff and wanting to get in there, but the Sugar Bowl, how satisfied is it that you get the New Year’s Six, you get the Sugar Bowl, and you’re playing against a really good team?

COACH SABAN: Well, you know, obviously, there’s going to be some disappointment that we didn’t get in the playoffs, but we sort of had a season that was a little up and down for us. We finished strong. Hopefully, we can do a great job of embracing the challenge that we have playing in a classic ‚Äì to me, when you’re talking about the Sugar Bowl and how exciting it is to be a part of it ‚Äì and that our players will embrace that and want to go do a great job sort of having the opportunity to prove who they are as a team.

Obviously, you were campaigning pretty hard for the guys to make the playoffs. And, obviously, as you just mentioned, the Sugar Bowl is still very prestigious. How much do you guys view this as an opportunity to really cap off what’s been a great season even though it’s not the way you guys hoped it would be?

COACH SABAN: We’re looking forward to it. It’s exciting. It’s a challenge for us to sort of prove against a really, really good team what kind of team we really are. And I think our players will be excited about the challenge. It’s certainly an honor for us to be in the Sugar Bowl.

I noticed you haven’t really had an opportunity to catch up on this year’s K State team. This is first time that these programs are going to be playing each other in the history of the sport. What’s your impression of Kansas State as a whole from what you know?

COACH SABAN: Well, we’ve always had a tremendous amount of respect for Kansas State. They play with a lot of toughness. They’re very well coached. They’re a really disciplined team. They’re ball hawkers. They attack the ball. I had a lot of respect for Coach [Bill] Snyder when he was there and the great job that he did for many, many years. Chris [Klieman] has certainly picked up and built what has turned out to be an outstanding team for this year.

With bowl games, how much do you see it as an opportunity to build for the next season with players who maybe haven’t seen as much playing time this season?

COACH SABAN: I think there’s going to be opportunities created for the bowl game. And, you know, it’s a good opportunity for players to look forward not look backward in terms of what they have a chance to accomplish, what they have a chance to do and how we can use this time to help their development.

If players come to you seeking your advice for what they should do, whether to play or not play, what would be your advice to them?

COACH SABAN: I think that’s a decision that every player has to make. I don’t think it’s up to me. I think that just about every player on our team can create value for himself by how he plays. I know when you play against their opponents that you get evaluated really strongly based on how you play against really good opponents, and we’re going to be playing against a really good opponent. So this is really an opportunity for everybody on our team to create value for themselves and, you know, answer any questions that anybody might have about them.

Players opting out for bowl games has not been a problem for you in the past. Again, like you said, you’re leaving it up to them this time. How is this different an approach for you than maybe you’ve had in the past, that you don’t have the playoffs at stake. what do you hope for your team to get out of it?

COACH SABAN: We’ve had one situation like this, and I think we had two players that didn’t play in that game. I think the culture and dynamic of college football right now is a lot different than it’s ever been before. So I think this is much more challenging to get players to understand how they can create value by playing in a bowl game.

You know, we said long ago that the bigger the playoffs get, the less significant the bowl games might be. And I think that’s happened to some degree. But this is still a tremendous opportunity to play against a really, really good team. And we have a lot to prove as a team in terms of who we are and what’s the legacy of this team, how are we going to be remembered.

So it’s each guy’s choice as to what they do. We ‚Äì and they have a lot of choices now. Players have a lot of choices. So hopefully they’ll make choices that will create value for themselves and their team and their teammates, and that’s pretty much what we’re going to encourage them to do.

Not sure if you are willing or able or if you know, but any word on if Bryce Young or Will Anderson are going to play in this game?

COACH SABAN: No. We have a 5:00 sort of little awards ceremony. I haven’t had the opportunity to talk to either one of those guys yet. They participated in the workouts that we had last week, and we’ll get an opportunity to talk to them at some point in time this week.

So just talk about how this season has progressed and just what kind of things have you noticed with the weaknesses and how you can use that to turn those into strengths in this bowl game, given that you’ve got a really powerful Kansas State team that you guys are going to be playing against.

COACH SABAN: I think every adversity creates an opportunity, and I certainly think that we had some adversity throughout the season. I think it started when Bryce [Young] got hurt at Arkansas and then playing the A&M game and was not probably full strength for the next month of the season.

And we didn’t make the progress that we would have liked to have made during that time, but we lost two really tough games on the last play of the game in both instances. And, you know, we had opportunities in both of those games that weren’t able to take advantage of it. I think our team learned a lot, you know, from that. And I thought we played well as a team in the last three games. So hopefully we can continue to build on that.

JOHN SUDSBURY: Thank you very much for your time, Coach. We appreciate it. Look forward to seeing you down here in New Orleans in a couple of weeks.

COACH SABAN: Thank you. Appreciate you.

JOHN SUDSBURY: And we’ll next be going to Kansas State Head Coach Chris Klieman shortly.

Thank you very much for joining us this afternoon, Coach. We really appreciate it, and congratulations on being selected to play in the Allstate Sugar Bowl this year.

COACH KLIEMAN: Appreciate that. We’re excited about the opportunity.

JOHN SUDSBURY: We’d like to start off today by asking you to make a brief opening statement, and then we’ll go ahead with question-and-answer.

COACH KLIEMAN: I’m so excited for our football team, our players, coaching staff, support staff. It’s been a great year, a long year, had some ups and downs. But guys came together but believed in each other. Had great player ownership and found a way to play really good football, especially on the road, especially late in the season, being able to get some key road wins, allowing us to stay in the race. And then played a really good TCU team in the Big 12 Championship game, and it was a slugfest toe to toe, and found a way to get a big-time stop in the goal line stand, third and fourth down, and get a first down and be able to kick a field goal to win the Big 12 championship.

It was a goal of ours. It was something that I don’t think a lot of people thought that K state would be in that Big 12 championship game, let alone win it. But our guys always believed that we would and could if we continued to rise up and play to our opportunities. And lo and behold, we were able to do it. And excited for our guys. We’re looking forward to coming to New Orleans for the Allstate Sugar Bowl.

You talk about the excitement of coming down. Yesterday looked like such an emotional game for your team and all. Now you get to turn around and play, as Deuce [Vaughn] talked about today on TV, one of the blue bloods of college football. Do you worry about having any problem about getting your team emotionally and physically ready to play an Alabama?

COACH KLIEMAN: If it were this week, maybe. But we’re going to get a good chunk of time where us as coaches are on the road and the guys are away from football a little bit to be able to rejuvenate and recharge a little bit, to come back and have a couple of good weeks of preparation that I know our guys will be excited about a heck of a challenge to play an awesome program like Alabama.

So much respect for Coach [Nick] Saban and what he’s done for college football in general. I know that when the time comes to lock and load for the game plan and being ready to play that our guys will be ready. But without a doubt, we need a little bit of time right now.

What’s it do to K State football and Manhattan to play a traditional powerhouse like Alabama?

COACH KLIEMAN: I think it’s a great opportunity for our players, for starters, to be able to play a great opponent like Alabama out of the SEC. And, you know, our league is pretty good. I think top to bottom the Big 12 is still one of the top conferences. And proven out with TCU going to the CFP and us get a chance to play in one of the New Year’s Six bowls in the Sugar Bowl.

So I think it ‚Äì I know our guys, when they saw Alabama come up, they were excited about getting a chance to play one of the traditional powers for decades in college football. Especially in the time that Coach [Nick] Saban has been there, they’ve won championship after championship. And it will be a big task for us.

Just on Alabama, what’s your first impressions on what they’ve done this season? And also I wanted to know if you had an update on Malik [Knowles] and Ekow [Boye-Doe] and how they’re doing after yesterday.

COACH KLIEMAN: With regards to Alabama, obviously, they had a really good year. Lost a couple of games on the last possession or last play, which, you know, if not, they’d probably be in the CFP. So it’s going to be a great challenge to us.

We believe that Ekow and Malik will be able to play in the Sugar Bowl. Obviously, if we played in the next two weeks, they probably wouldn’t. But because we have some time, our reports would indicate that they will be available.

What was the kind of – I know you guys have got to get home and get to – going to be presented at a halftime of the basketball game last night. Just kind of walk us through the emotions of that and how cool that was to be able to do that.

COACH KLIEMAN: Yeah, it was great that our basketball team played at home against Wichita State. They got a big win. Congratulations to Coach [Jerome] Tang and his players for a big win. It was an electric crowd, which I was so excited. Our basketball team deserves that with the start that they’ve had, especially with so many people being at AT&T Stadium yesterday. For our kids to walk onto that court and see a packed house, I thought was terrific.

I want to also thank Coach Tang, his staff, his players for greeting our guys. We were at the end of the tunnel when they were going into the locker room at halftime. Every one of those coaches and those players of the basketball team were generally excited for our guys, high-fiving, hugging. And it just goes to show you how important athletics are and the support that each team has for each other with all of our sports here at K State. It was pretty cool and special moment for those guys to take that Big 12 trophy out onto the court last night.

Coach [Nick] Saban talked about not knowing exactly who’s going to be available and not available with the current nature of opt-outs. Can you explain how that maybe alters your preparation a little bit for a game like this?

COACH KLIEMAN: It’s for all of us, to be honest with you. Coach [Nick Saban] is right. Nobody knows what’s going on, what representation are talking to guys, what will happen. I think that’s going to play itself out over the next three weeks. And so everybody will ‚Äì we’ll know probably by that game week or ten days before who’s going to play.

But that’s the nature of college football right now. And whether or not a guy is going to go and prepare for the draft and not risk the injury, those are all personal decisions that everybody has. And we’ll take those on our team as they come as well, just like, you know, Coach will do with his team. And that’s just ‚Äì that’s where we’re at in college football right now.

I was just curious if you can maybe walk us through the last 24 hours. I know it’s been probably pretty interesting for you.

COACH KLIEMAN: Yeah. We got back and went to the basketball game. And once I left there, I came home and visited with my wife for a little bit and crashed and burned as fast as I could. Got up this morning, and we had a lot of meetings with our current staff just kind of planning out the next week, because we’re on the road out recruiting. And we’ve got official visits next weekend and a little bit of practice and just planning out the whole month of December, really, leading up to the Sugar Bowl.

So it’s been a ‚Äì I don’t know ‚Äì somehow it’s 4:18 here Central Time, and it’s been a busy day, but a good day, a day that we’re excited about.

Didn’t see any of the announcements of the top four. I kind of knew who the four were going to be. Didn’t see all the stuff with bowl announcements. We were in meetings literally most of the morning and afternoon. But we kind of knew what the plan was.

If this was a 12-team playoff, you would have had a bye, a first-round bye into the playoff. How do you feel about the expanded playoff coming, and what does that all mean to you?

COACH KLIEMAN: When it happens, it happens. It didn’t happen this year; so really don’t have an opinion or have a comment on it.