Kansas State football assistant Matt Wells eager to work with old friend Chris Klieman
MANHATTAN — It should come as no surprise that Kansas State head football coach and Matt Wells someday would find themselves on the same staff instead of lining up across the field from one another.
The fact that it took 10 years was simply a matter of timing.
But here they are together at last, after Wells accepted Klieman's job offer as quarterbacks coach, co-offensive coordinator and associate head coach.
Klieman often expressed his admiration for Wells, who took the head coaching job at Texas Tech for the 2019 season, the same year Klieman moved from North Dakota State to K-State. But the two of them go back farther than that.
Related: Kansas State football offensive coordinator Collin Klein headed to Texas A&M
"It started in my early days at Utah State, becoming a head coach and really looking out there at potential defensive coordinators, and just studying what they did at North Dakota State and how tough they played and how they ran to the football and how they tackled," said Wells, whose first head coaching job was at his alma mater, where he compiled a 44-34 record in six seasons before taking the Texas Tech job. "That was important to me as an offensive guy being a head coach.
"And then I was like, 'Who's this guy coordinating this defense?' And then I found out and we started a relationship, and I offered him the defensive coordinator's job there at Utah State, and he said no. So, he turned me down and I said yes to him, so you have to fast-forward 10 years later."
Klieman turned Wells down in part because in 2014 he would get the head coaching job at North Dakota State, where he won four FCS national championships in five years before moving on to K-State. As luck would have it, K-State's come-from-behind 25-24 victory at Texas Tech on Oct. 23, 2021, would be Wells' last with the Red Raiders as he was fired the next day.
Related: Texas Tech fires Matt Wells eight games into season
Wells spent the 2022 and '23 seasons at Oklahoma as an advisor to coach Brent Venables and an offensive analyst. But he was itching to get back into a more hands-on role, and when offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Collin Klein left K-State in December for a similar job at Texas A&M, Klieman didn't hesitate to call his old friend.
While Klieman promoted offensive line coach Conor Riley from interim to permanent offensive coordinator after the Wildcats' 29-18 Pop-Tarts Bowl victory over North Carolina State, he still needed someone to coach the quarterback. He also figured that Wells' experience as a former quarterback and offensive coordinator could come in handy.
"I have known Matt for a very long time, and he is someone who will bring a lot to the table as a member of our staff — from head coaching experience to developing some of the top quarterbacks in the game," Klieman said at the time. "He will be a great addition to our offensive room and system, providing tremendous x’s and o’s experience as well as a recruiting prowess that mirrors our philosophy of identifying and developing talent."
When Klieman called him, Wells didn't hesitate.
Related: Kansas State football interim offensive coordinator Conor Riley on his offensive line
"For me, getting the opportunity to be an assistant again and get back on the grass (was important)," Wells said. "First of all, I wanted to go work for someone that I knew and that I respected. My respect for Chris Klieman and the job that he's done here, and the job that he did at North Dakota State, but also the man and the person, which I got to know a bunch over the last 10 years, to me supersedes that."
Wells, who coached Green Bay Packers quarterback Jordan Love at Utah State, has another potential star in the making at K-State with sophomore Avery Johnson, the most valuable player in the Pop-Tarts Bowl.
Avery is a guy that I think we know to be a competitor. I'm learning that.
"He's smart, he's driven, (and) he's got a great heart," Wells said of his impressions after meeting Johnson for the first time. "He's fast, but the kid can throw the football, he really can, and that's what he's been doing his whole life.
"And so, to see that and watch and I think I've went through it twice, the 200-some plays he's played this year, just to watch him. I think his best days are ahead of him."
Arne Green is based in Salina and covers Kansas State University sports for the Gannett network. He can be reached at agreen@gannett.com or on Twitter at @arnegreen.
This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Matt Wells welcomed coaching opportunity with Kansas State football
