Collin Klein
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Collin Klein (born September 19, 1989) is an American college football coach and former quarterback who played for the
Kansas State Wildcats The Kansas State Wildcats (variously "Kansas State", "K-State", or "KSU") are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Kansas State University. The official color of the teams is Royal Purple; white and silver are generally used as c ...
. He appeared as a wide receiver for
Kansas State Kansas State University (KSU, Kansas State, or K-State) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Manhattan, Kansas, United States. It was opened as the state's land-grant college in 1863 and was the first public instit ...
during the 2009 season, and made his first career start at quarterback in a win against the
Texas Longhorns The Texas Longhorns are the athletic teams representing the University of Texas at Austin. The teams are sometimes referred to as the Horns and take their name from Longhorn cattle that were an important part of the development of Texas, and a ...
during the 2010 season. Klein finished his college career ranked 15th all-time in career NCAA rushing touchdowns.


Personal life

Klein was born on September 19, 1989, to Doug and Kelly Klein. He played football for Loveland High School in Colorado and set school records for completion percentage and all-purpose yards. His younger brother, Kyle, was a wide receiver for Kansas State. His grandfather is a barber in
Estes Park, Colorado Estes Park is a statutory town in Larimer County, Colorado, United States. The town population was 5,904 at the 2020 United States Census. Estes Park is a part of the Fort Collins, CO Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Front Range Urban Corr ...
. When Klein was in kindergarten, he became interested in learning to play the
piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...
, and began taking lessons the next year. He would later learn how to play both the
mandolin A mandolin ( it, mandolino ; literally "small mandola") is a stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally plucked with a pick. It most commonly has four courses of doubled strings tuned in unison, thus giving a total of 8 ...
and the
violin The violin, sometimes known as a ''fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular ...
.


College career

Redshirted in 2008, Klein played either at wide receiver or on special teams for the entire 2009 season, catching six passes for 38 yards and one touchdown. He returned to the quarterback position in 2010, earning spot duty early in the year before making his first career start against the Texas Longhorns, a game which the Wildcats won 39–14 and in which Klein rushed for 127 yards and two touchdowns; he completed two of four attempted passes. Klein was one of two quarterbacks in the
Big 12 The Big 12 Conference is a college athletic conference headquartered in Irving, Texas, USA. It consists of ten full-member universities. It is a member of Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) for all sports. Its fo ...
with at least two 100-yard rushing games in the season. Klein became the Wildcats' first-string quarterback at the beginning of the 2011 season, taking over from a graduating
Carson Coffman Carson Coffman (born April 29, 1988) is a former professional football quarterback. Coffman was the starting quarterback for the Kansas State Wildcats in 2009 and 2010. He took over the starting position after the departure of Josh Freeman, an ...
. In the team's spring game, he passed for 358 yards and five touchdowns. Klein led Kansas State to victories over their first seven opponents of the season—the Wildcats' first 7–0 start since the year
1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shootin ...
—including four consecutive games in which Kansas State was considered an underdog. On September 24, 2011, Klein led his team to a 28–24 win against a
Miami Hurricanes The Miami Hurricanes (known informally as The U, UM, or The 'Canes) are the intercollegiate sports teams that represent the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida. The Hurricanes compete in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic A ...
team coming off a win against the defending
Sugar Bowl The Sugar Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game played in New Orleans, Louisiana. Played annually since January 1, 1935, it is tied with the Orange Bowl and Sun Bowl as the second-oldest bowl games in the country, surpassed onl ...
champion
Ohio State Buckeyes The Ohio State Buckeyes are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Ohio State University, located in Columbus, Ohio. The athletic programs are named after the colloquial term for people from the state of Ohio and after the state tree ...
. The next week, Klein passed for 146 yards in Kansas State's 36–35 upset of the
Baylor Bears The Baylor Bears are the athletic teams that represent Baylor University. The teams participate in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) as one of only two private school members of the Big 12 Conference. Prior to j ...
, a team then ranked fifteenth in the nation by the
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. That game would mark the first time since 2004 that a Wildcat quarterback rushed and passed for over a hundred yards in a single game. Following a 7–1 start, Klein would set career highs for passing yardage in consecutive weeks, first with 231 yards in a narrow 52–45 loss against third-ranked
Oklahoma State Oklahoma (; Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a state in the South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the north, Missouri on the northeast, Arkansas on the east, New ...
, then with 281 yards in a dramatic quadruple overtime victory at
Bill Snyder Family Stadium Bill Snyder Family Stadium is a stadium in Manhattan, Kansas. It is used for American football, and is the home field of the Kansas State University Wildcats football team. It is named after the family of head coach Bill Snyder. Over the past 31 ...
against
Texas A&M Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, or TAMU) is a public, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of the Texas A&M University System in 1948. As of late 2021, T ...
. Klein also rushed for a career-high five touchdowns in the 53–50 win. He was an Honorable Mention All-American selection by ''
Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellence twic ...
'', and earned First Team All-Big 12 honors as an all-purpose player from the Associated Press,
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, ''
Kansas City Star ''The Kansas City Star'' is a newspaper based in Kansas City, Missouri. Published since 1880, the paper is the recipient of eight Pulitzer Prizes. ''The Star'' is most notable for its influence on the career of President Harry S. Truman and as ...
'', ''
Fort Worth Star-Telegram The ''Fort Worth Star-Telegram'' is an American daily newspaper serving Fort Worth and Tarrant County, the western half of the North Texas area known as the Metroplex. It is owned by The McClatchy Company. History In May 1905, Amon G. Carter acc ...
'' and the ''
San Antonio Express-News The ''San Antonio Express-News'' is a daily newspaper in San Antonio, Texas. It is owned by the Hearst Corporation and has offices in San Antonio and Austin, Texas. The ''Express-News'' is the third largest newspaper in the state of Texas, with ...
''. He earned an All-Big 12 honorable mention from the league's coaches, and was a Second Team Academic All-Big 12 selection. His 27 rushing touchdowns during the 2011 season would equal two national records—most rushing touchdowns in a season by a Big 12 player, and most rushing touchdowns in a season by a quarterback in the
Football Bowl Subdivision The NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), formerly known as Division I-A, is the highest level of college football in the United States. The FBS consists of the largest schools in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). As ...
. These records had previously been set by
Ricky Williams Errick Miron (born Errick Lynne Williams Jr.; May 21, 1977) is an American former football running back who played 11 seasons in the National Football League (NFL) and one season in the Canadian Football League (CFL). After playing baseball an ...
and
Ricky Dobbs Ricky Dobbs Jr. (born January 31, 1988) is a United States Navy officer, politician and former college football quarterback for the United States Naval Academy currently serving as the District 1 Douglas County, Georgia Commissioner. During the 2 ...
, respectively. He also broke a 42-year-old school record for rushing touchdowns in a season, previously held by
Mack Herron Mack Willie Herron (July 24, 1948 – December 6, 2015) was a professional American football running back who played in the National Football League from 1973 to 1976. He played college football at Kansas State, where he finished second in the na ...
, who ran for 20 in 1969. Klein led the Big 12 with 317 rushing attempts, 67 more than the next highest player and the most in team history. Klein led the Big 12 conference and ranked third nationally with 162 points scored—a mark which was first among quarterbacks. In the
2012 Cotton Bowl Classic The 2012 AT&T Cotton Bowl Classic, the 76th edition of the game, was a post-season American college football bowl game, held on January 6, 2011 NCAA Division I FBS football season, 2012 at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas as part of the 2011– ...
, he threw for 173 yards and a touchdown while rushing for 42 yards and a touchdown. The Wildcats would start off the 2012 season 10–0, with Klein having made obvious improvements to his passing game during the offseason. On September 22, 2012, Kansas State would upset the sixth-ranked
Oklahoma Sooners The Oklahoma Sooners are the athletic teams that represent the University of Oklahoma, located in Norman. The 19 men's and women's varsity teams are called the "Sooners", a reference to a nickname given to the early participants in the Land Run ...
in
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, 24–19—the first time in
Bob Stoops Robert Anthony Stoops (born September 9, 1960) is an American football coach. He was the head football coach at the University of Oklahoma from 1999 through the 2016 season, and on an interim basis during the 2021 Alamo Bowl. He led the Oklahoma ...
's tenure as head coach that the Sooners lost to a ranked team at home. He went on to lead the team to an 11–1 record and K-State's first conference championship since
2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...
. They played the
Oregon Ducks The Oregon Ducks are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Oregon, located in Eugene. The Ducks compete at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level as a member of the Pac-12 Conferenc ...
in the
2013 Fiesta Bowl The 2013 Tostitos Fiesta Bowl was a postseason college football bowl game played on Thursday, January 3, 2013, at University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Arizona. The Kansas State Wildcats, champions of the Big 12 Conference, played the Oregon ...
, but lost 35–17. Klein completed 17 of 32 passes for 151 yards with one touchdown pass, and ran for another, but also threw two interceptions. Due to his accomplishments during the 2012 college football season, he was selected as a finalist for the
Heisman Trophy The Heisman Memorial Trophy (usually known colloquially as the Heisman Trophy or The Heisman) is awarded annually to the most outstanding player in college football. Winners epitomize great ability combined with diligence, perseverance, and hard ...
. He later played in the 2013 East-West Shrine Game, but struggled, completing 5 of 13 passes for 43 yards and an interception.


Professional career


2013 NFL draft

Klein was asked to work out with the tight ends at the
NFL Scouting Combine The NFL Scouting Combine is a week-long showcase occurring every February at Lucas Oil Stadium (and formerly at the RCA Dome until 2008) in Indianapolis, where college football players perform physical and mental tests in front of National Footb ...
, despite saying that he wanted to remain a quarterback.


Houston Texans

On April 27, 2013, Klein was invited to the Texans' rookie minicamp as a rookie tryout. Klein was not offered a contract at the conclusion of the rookie minicamp.


Montreal Alouettes

Klein signed a two-year deal with the
Montreal Alouettes The Montreal Alouettes (Canadian French, French: Les Alouettes de Montréal) are a professional Canadian football team based in Montreal, Quebec. Founded in 1946, the team has folded and been revived twice. The Alouettes compete in the Canadian F ...
of the
Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a ci ...
in 2014. He was released on June 15, 2014.


Coaching

Klein was a member of the Wildcats' football coaching staff in 2014 and 2015, where he was the assistant director of recruiting, a defensive quality control coach, and graduate assistant. Klein was the quarterback coach for the
University of Northern Iowa The University of Northern Iowa (UNI) is a public university in Cedar Falls, Iowa. UNI offers more than 90 majors across the colleges of Business Administration, Education, Humanities, Arts, and Sciences, Social and Behavioral Sciences and grad ...
as of the fall of 2016 but returned to Kansas State during the offseason to be the team's quarterbacks coach. In early February 2018 Klein was promoted to co-offensive coordinator in addition to his quarterbacks coaching duties. After
Chris Klieman Christopher Paul Klieman ( ; born September 27, 1967) is an American football coach and former player, and is currently the head coach for Kansas State University in the Big 12 Conference. He took over from the retiring Bill Snyder after leading ...
was named the successor to
Bill Snyder William D. Snyder (born October 7, 1939) is a retired college football coach and former player. He served as the head football coach at Kansas State University from 1989 to 2005 and again from 2009 to 2018. Snyder initially retired from the p ...
, Klein was removed from coordinator duties but still serves as the team's quarterbacks coach. In January 2022, Klein was promoted to Offensive Coordinator at Kansas State.


Career statistics


References


External links


Kansas State profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Klein, Collin 1989 births Living people American football quarterbacks Canadian football quarterbacks American football wide receivers American players of Canadian football Kansas State Wildcats football players Kansas State Wildcats football coaches Northern Iowa Panthers football coaches Montreal Alouettes players People from Loveland, Colorado Players of American football from Colorado