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Pete Thamel, ESPN
Kansas State and football coach Chris Klieman are in the process of finalizing a new contract worth $44 million through the next eight seasons, sources told ESPN.
Klieman will make an average of $5.5 million per year over the course of the deal, which sources told ESPN extends through the 2030 season. The deal, which goes into effect on July 1, is expected to be completed and announced in the near future.
The deal comes in the wake of Kansas State’s Big 12 championship in 2022, the school’s first since 2012. Kansas State finished last season 10-4, topped No. 3 TCU in the Big 12 title game and eventually fell to No. 5 Alabama in the Sugar Bowl.
A source with knowledge of the contract told ESPN that the length of the deal and bump in average pay are signs of the school’s desire to keep Klieman at Kansas State for the long term. Klieman’s deal through the 2030 season is four seasons longer than the current deal, which ends after the 2026 season. The average pay raise for Klieman will come out to nearly $1.5 million per year, as the deal being replaced averages nearly $4 million per year.
Klieman’s new contract will start in the 2023 season at $4.5 million per year and escalate from there, eventually averaging $5.5 million. He’s expected to rank among the top half of coaching salaries in the Big 12.
The 2022 season continued the steady build of the Kansas State program for Klieman, who enters his fifth year in 2023 with a strong team. Kansas State returns a majority of its starters on offense, including all five offensive linemen, and nine overall players expected to use their sixth year of eligibility. Kansas State should be projected to contend again for the Big 12 title.
Klieman is 30-20 through four seasons at Kansas State, the most wins through four seasons for any coach in school history. In every full season since Klieman took over, Kansas State has won at least eight games. (It went 4-6 during the 2020 season shortened by the pandemic.)
Klieman carried to Kansas State a track record for winning big; in his five seasons as the head coach at North Dakota State he led the Bison to four FCS national titles and a 69-6 record. He’s tied with Jim Tressel (Youngstown State) for the most FCS national titles by a coach. Klieman was part of seven national titles while on the coaching staff at NDSU.
Kansas State opens the 2023 season with home games against Southeast Missouri and Troy before traveling to Missouri on Sept. 16.