Chris Klieman addresses how Kansas State will replace Deuce Vaughn

Chris Klieman and the Kansas State Wildcats have the unenviable task of replacing star running back Deuce Vaughn in 2023.

Sitting in AT&T Stadium — Vaughn’s new home in the NFL with the Dallas Cowboys — Klieman explained how difficult it’ll be, and that the former Wildcats running back is simply a player that doesn’t just grow on trees.

“Well, you don’t replace Deuce Vaughn,” started Klieman. “And if you want to come here on Sundays, he’s going to be playing here every Sunday, and he’s going to be having a heck of an NFL career and I love the kid because of his passion for football.

“Him allowing me to be in his life, what a great, great young man, a great football player but a better person, a better family. We probably aren’t going to be able to do that with one guy.”

Nevertheless, Klieman is excited for his running back room to get their shine next season, and he specifically mentioned Florida State transfer running back Treshaun Ward as someone who can breakout for Kansas State this season.

“We’re excited about our running back room. Coach Brian Anderson does a great job with those guys. DJ Giddens I think is a rising star. He played sparingly behind Deuce because you didn’t want to take Deuce off the field very often, but when he did he was very productive and had a couple of good games for us,” stated the Kansas State leader. “We went out and got Treshaun Ward who was really productive at Florida State. And we didn’t get to see a bunch of Treshaun during spring ball because he was recovering from an injury. He’s full go now. I’m excited to see what a number of those guys can do, but those are two guys, DJ Giddens and Treshaun Ward, that we were believe can split some of the load, carry some of the load that Deuce has.

“And those guys just need to be themselves. All of our running backs in that room just need to be themselves. They don’t need to be Deuce. There’s only one of those guys, and everybody saw that in college football the last three years.”

Kansas State won’t replace Deuce Vaughn, as Chris Klieman said, that’s basically impossible, but they’re still in good hands as they move forward without the star running back at Kansas State.