Report: Kansas State finalizing new contract with Chris Klieman worth $44 million over eight years

Kansas State and head football coach Chris Klieman are in the process of finalizing a new deal, according to ESPN’s Pete Thamel. The news broke on Sunday evening. The new contract is reportedly worth $44 million over the next eight seasons. The deal comes on the heels of the Wildcats winning the Big 12 Championship in 2022, their first since 2012. The new contract will start in the 2023 season and start at $4.5 million per year and escalate from there, eventually averaging $5.5 million, according to the report.

Kansas State finished last year with an overall record of 10-4. They also topped the Texas Christian Horned Frogs in the Big 12 Championship Game. The Wildcats were throttled by the No. 5 Alabama Crimson Tide in the Sugar Bowl.

The length of the contract and the bump in pay are simply because Kansas State wants Klieman to stay at the school for a long-term period of time, per Thamel. His previous deal ran through the end of December 2026, with an annual salary of $3.5 million.

Since joining the Wildcats in 2019, he’s enjoyed three winning seasons: (8-5 in 2019, 8-5 in 2021, and 10-4 in 2022).

Klieman enjoyed a highly successful stint as the head coach of the North Dakota State Bison before joining Kansas State. From 2014-2018, he propelled the Bison to four national championships (2014, 2015, 2017, 2018). Before becoming the school’s head coach, he was the defensive coordinator for the Bison from 2012-2013. Klieman has also spent time a wide variety of other schools over the years: Northern Iowa, Loras, Missouri State, Kansas, and Western Illinois.

The Wildcats enjoyed a highly successful 2022 campaign and they were fueled by one of the most dynamic tailbacks in all of college football, Deuce Vaughn. He ran for a career-high 1,558 yards in 2022, while also adding nine rushing touchdowns. As a receiver, he also hauled in 378 receiving yards and three touchdowns. Following the season, he earned first team All-American honors from four different media outlets.

Once he hung up his cleats in Manhattan, Vaughn peppered his name all over the school record books, finishing with 3,604 rushing yards and 34 touchdowns on the ground. He finished as the school’s second all-time leading rusher, only behind the legendary Darren Sproles. Vaughn recently became the first Kansas State running back to get selected in the NFL Draft since 2012, when Bryce Brown was picked by the Philadelphia Eagles.