Texas A&M Wanted Collin Klein and Avery Johnson as Packaged Deal: Report
While former Kansas State Offensive Coordinator Collin Klein caused some loud outrage among Wildcats fans on Wednesday by accepting a new job at Texas A&M, according to a recent report from Kevin Kietzman of the Kevin Kietzman Has Issues Podcast, Klein went to bat for his former team one last time before leaving.
Kietzman joined Pete Mundo on 95.7KCMO Talk Radio in Kansas City on Friday morning and mentioned that Texas A&M was interested in bringing in both Collin Klein and his talented sophomore quarterback Avery Johnson as a packaged deal, which Klein immediately shot down.
Kietzman spoke on the situation saying, “You know they tried to bring the quarterback along with him, and my people are telling me Collin Klein said, ‘I’m not even talking to you if this involves taking a player from Kansas State. You can talk to me about being a coordinator, but we’re not taking any players from K-State.'”
Since the loss of Klein at Kansas State, Avery Johnson‘s name has continuously popped up in transfer portal rumors. With Johnson being a hot commodity for the majority of college football programs across the country, the former four-star prospect released a hype video on Thursday reaffirming his commitment to Kansas State.
While Kansas State lost a fan favorite coach, player, and local icon in Collin Klein with the decision to join Mike Elko at Texas A&M, the loss of Avery Johnson would have put Chris Klieman in a horrendous spot to rebuild from. The Avery Johnson era had just officially kicked off in Manhattan at the time of the coaching change, and after seeing three quarterbacks including Will Howard hit the transfer portal this offseason, losing a fourth quarterback, especially one with the upside of Johnson, would have been a disastrous turn of events for the Cats.
While Kansas State will now have to conduct a search for a new offensive coordinator to replace Collin Klein, the team can rest assured knowing that Johnson is happy in Manhattan and that Collin Klein still has love for his alma mater.
Editor’s note: After the publication of this story, a member of the Kansas State football program reached out to Heartland College Sports and refuted the report, saying it was “100 percent not true.”
