Following some interesting comments from Kansas State head coach Chris Klieman in his Week 12 post-game press conference, fans began to question the health status of the Wildcats head coach.
On Monday, Klieman shot down rumors of a possible decision to retire at the end of the season and pushed back at the question.
“I don’t know where you got that from,” Klieman said on Monday when asked about the rumors. “I haven’t said that to anybody.”
Klieman has had some health issues this fall and mentioned a few weeks back that he had to depart the Sunflower Showdown game vs. Kansas to head to the locker room. That, paired with an emotional Klieman after the loss to Arizona State, sparked some debate about the overall health of the veteran head coach.
“I’m just hurting for those kids,” Klieman said after the loss. “It’s been a really, really, hard two weeks for me and I feel awful for those older guys that have my back. Like I told them, I let them down. It’s been rough.”
Here is the post-game video from the Arizona State game that had the K-State fan base buzzing.
As you can see, Klieman was moved to tears in his post-game presser and paused uncharacteristically long during the conversation at multiple points. While coaches typically lean into the coach-speak aspect of hard-hitting questions, Klieman seemed to be in much better spirits on Monday than on Saturday.
Regardless, the story will be one to watch this offseason as the Wildcats wrap up the 2024 season. K-State is now 7-3 on the season after two-straight losses and hosts Cincinnati this Saturday, with kick off set for 7:00 p.m. CT.
