Kansas State football coach Chris Klieman's new contract a sign of mutual respect

MANHATTAN — When Kansas State and Chris Klieman agreed on a new eight-year, $44 million contract two weeks ago, they made one thing abundantly clear.

Namely, that the university and its head football coach are in this relationship for the long haul.

In their fourth year with Klieman at the helm, the Wildcats were coming off their first 10-win season and first Big 12 championship in a decade. Throw out the 2020 COVID year and they also have played in three bowl games, highlighted by a 2022 Sugar Bowl appearance.

"Obviously you want consistency, you want longevity," K-State athletics director Gene Taylor said Monday during a Catbacker Tour gathering at the Wildcats' new Shamrock Practice Facility. "We want to make sure that we feel that the coaches feel like they're getting paid at fair market value, and we want to make sure Chris is comfortable that what he's doing for our program is being recognized.

"Not just him, but his assistants as well."

More: Kansas State and football coach Chris Klieman agree on 8-year contract with hefty raise

Chris Klieman 'excited about the commitment' by K-State

Klieman, who has led the Wildcats to a 30-20 record — he is just the fifth head coach in school history to reach 30 victories — was just as eager to get a new deal done.

"I appreciate president (Richard) Linton and Gene Taylor for working with my representation and getting it done," Klieman said. "It was something that we had talked about, probably since shortly after the Big 12 championship. But I know it takes a long time to do those things, and his is a great place and I love it here at K-State.

"My family loves it at K-State. I like what we're building, and even though we won the Big 12 last year, we think there's more to do here. We know there's more to do here, and I'm just excited about the commitment that they've made to all of us in our staff and look forward to many more years to go."

With the new contract, K-State and Klieman tore up the old pact, which would have paid him $4 million this coming season and maxed out at $4.3 million in 2026. The eight-year deal, which puts him under contract through 2030, starts in July and pays him a base of $4.3 salary million ($3.3 directly and another $1.2 million to an LLC) while topping out at $6.5 million in the final year.

More: Kansas State and football coach Chris Klieman finalizing contract extension

Success on the field will trigger contract extension

Furthermore, any time in the first three years that K-State wins eight or more games and goes to a bowl, it triggers a one-year extension to the contract at the top figure of $6.5 million. And that's not counting a list of bonuses tied to victory totals, position in the Big 12 standings, conference championships and coaching honors.

The new contract puts Klieman's salary in the top half of Big 12 head coaches and even higher by the final year, especially after Texas and Oklahoma leave the conference in 2024. "You look around the Big 12 and we're not going to pay the top, top, because there's some coaches that have been around a little bit longer," Taylor said. "But we want to make sure Chris comes to work every day feeling pretty good about how he's being recognized.

Arguably just as important, Klieman's staff was rewarded for the team's success as well with raises totaling close to $1 million. Defensive coordinator Joe Klanderman and offensive coordinator Collin Klein, who recently was courted by Notre Dame, now both will make $825,000.

"That's big, and that's going to be a constant, too. Because of the talent, people are going to come after them, not only for other coordinator positions, but even some head coaching opportunities," Taylor said. "We're probably not going to discourage (head coaching opportunities) necessarily, we just don't want to lose a coordinator to another school at a coordinator position."

More: Why offensive coordinator Collin Klein wasn't yet ready to leave Kansas State football

Increasing the assistants' salaries has helped keep Klieman's staff mostly intact.

"The first thing, before my contract was going to get done, was the staff increases," Klieman said. "And I know that they put in over $1 million for us to divvy out with staff, and I thought that was really important.

"Because we've got great staff here and I've even learned throughout this process of the last four or five months that people will help. If somebody is looking to leave, don't let them leave because people want to help. I think that's really important."

One clause in Klieman's contract that demonstrates his commitment to the current administration relates to the buyout cost should he decide to leave K-State. If he terminates the contract with five or more years left, he has to pay $6 million, a number that shrinks to $3 million with two to four years remaining.

But should either Linton, the university president, or Taylor leave for any reason during that time, the buyout drops to $1 million.

"It's not anything that I've done before in terms of if we were to leave that his buyout goes down," Taylor said. "I think what it says is we're committing to stay here.

"I'm committing to stay here and the president obviously being a new president is fine with it. It just says, 'Hey, we're going to be in this all together,' and that's a good thing."

More: Jerome Tang taking steps to keep Kansas State basketball moving forward in second season

New contract for basketball coach Jerome Tang next

With the football coaching contracts done, Taylor has now turned his attention to a new deal for basketball coach Jerome Tang, who took the Wildcats to the NCAA Elite Eight in his first season.

"We're talking, but it takes a bit of time," Taylor said. "I think we're in a pretty good spot financially with that agreement. It's just now the details of the contract in terms of some language.

"It's going fine. It's just everybody's busy and his agent and our attorney and (Tang) being gone and then being able to say, 'Coach, what do you think about this?' So it's just a timing thing right now, but we hope to get it wrapped up soon."

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: Kansas State football coach Chris Klieman's contract ensures stability