Kansas State football's Conor Riley puts a premium on versatility with offensive line

MANHATTAN — For two years now, Hadley Panzer has been a fixture at right guard on Kansas State football's offensive line.

So, it stands to reason that on a unit that lost its other four starters from the past two seasons, Panzer will be right back in the same position when the Wildcats open their 2024 season against Tennessee-Martin on Aug. 31.

Not so fast, says Panzer, who as a senior under veteran offensive line coach Conor Riley, has been around long enough to know that nothing is ever etched in stone. Not in the spring anyway

"We'll figure out a lot of it coming up this week and into spring ball," Panzer said the day before the Wildcats' opened spring practice on March 5. "Coach Riley is telling us, it's not where you start, it's where you end up, so everybody's got to be able to play multiple positions and be ready to go wherever."

Riley, who added the title of offensive coordinator during the offseason, doesn't want any of his linemen to get too comfortable during the spring. Even with the prospect of breaking in four new starters, he is less concerned with building continuity at this point than making sure the Wildcats are ready for all contingencies.

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"That's kind of the matrix it is as an offensive line coach, especially when your numbers aren't as heavy in spring ball," Riley said. "So yeah, I want to get continuity, but I also want to get challenged."

In other words, there is time to home in on specifics later. For now, he wants all his linemen to see the bigger picture.

"The way that I want to teach is I don't want to teach a left tackle on this play is doing this assignment," Riley said. "Let's teach it conceptually.

"And when they do play multiple positions, it is going to add value to our offense, which adds value to this football team. It's going to give them more opportunity."

Panzer knows about versatility. He played in nine games as a backup right guard his true freshman year in 2021, but then leading into the next year he worked at center and guard. It was only when starting right guard Taylor Poitier suffered a season-ending injury in the 2022 opener that he moved there permanently.

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Last year, when super-senior right tackle Christian Duffie was hurt to start the season, All-American left guard Cooper Beebe occasionally filled that spot, leaving Panzer to switch to left guard. He also has worked this spring at center along with junior Sam Hecht.

"It's very helpful," Panzer said of learning multiple positions. "It's good to play center, because then you've got to know what the left guard is doing, you've got to know what the right guard is doing. You've got to know what the left and right tackle are doing.

"And then when you go to right guard you've got to know what the center is doing. It's kind of a hallmark of here that you've got to be able to play multiple positions."

Even with the departure of multi-year starters Beebe, Duffie, left tackle KT Leveston and center Hayden Gillum, K-State returns several familiar names along the line. Senior Carver Willis started seven games at right tackle when Duffie was out, and Poitier was a regular part of the rotation at guard.

And then there are Hecht, sophomore John Pastore and versatile junior Andrew Leingang, who has battled injuries but played in 13 games over the past two seasons.

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"So, when you have limited numbers in the spring, continuity — I'll be honest with you guys and maybe people will say I'm terrible for this — is not the priority of that," Riley said. "It is figuring out where the best guys are going to fit.

"Because at the end of the day, I tell them all my job is to find the best five out there. Hopefully, we can get to seven like we had a year ago. I'd love to get to eight, OK, where we can rotate some guys in there. I tell recruits this all the time, 'You are going to play multiple positions because you need to learn to get comfortable being uncomfortable,' and it's pretty uncomfortable."

So where does Panzer see himself fitting into this puzzle in 2024?

"Wherever they need me," he said with a smile. "I'm a Swiss Army knife, so wherever you need me to play, I'll play."

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 prioritizes offensive line versatility