Whenever a new assistant coach is hired during a transition, understanding how their coaching style will impact a program is vital to projecting future success.
As a new era of Texas A&M Football under head coach Mike Elko is less than a month underway, the former Aggies defensive coordinator has already made multiple hires, starting with defensive line coach Season Spencer, new O-line coach Adam Cushing, and new cornerbacks coach Ishmael Aristide.
However, after Wednesday’s announcement that Elko has officially brought in former Kansas State offensive coordinator Collin Klein to take over as the program’s new OC, questions regarding what he’ll bring to an Aggie offense in need of a boost. Needing an insider’s perspective, On3’s Andy Staples sat down with Kansas State’s Online’s Derek Young to gain perspective on Klein’s fit under Elko’s guidance.
While his scheme will likely receive multiple tweaks based on A&M’s 2024 depth at the skill positions, Bobby Petrino, who served as the Aggies OC during the 2023 season, was never fully authorized to take over the offense to his liking completely, leading to the 7th-ranked scoring unit in the SEC. Behind Klein’s playcalling, the Wildcats, with less talent than A&M, finished 23rd in total offense and second in the high-scoring Big 12.
“We’ll put it this way. His first year as a play-caller, offensive coordinator at Kansas State, they won the Big 12 Championship and he had a top-two or top-three [rushing] offense in the Big 12,” Young stated. “The second year, everyone has questions what he can do without Deuce Vaughn, even without Adrian Martinez to an extent — even though Will Howard took over the job — without Malik Knowles at wide receiver. And all he did was No. 1 in the Big 12 in points per drive and yardage rate.
“So only two years of a sample size, but it’s about the best two years you can ask of a Power Five offensive coordinator.”
As reported earlier this week, Klein had recently been contacted by both Penn State and Notre Dame for their OC positions, as Young further noted that Klein’s “Star is rising” after serving as the Wildcats full-time offensive coordinator for just two seasons. Klein, who played for Kansas State (2008-2012) under legendary head coach Bill Snyder, was a Heisman finalist during his senior campaign, losing to Texas A&M QB Johnny Manziel.
After foregoing several professional playing opportunities, Klein’s coaching career began as a graduate assistant with K State from 2014-15, then spent a year at Northern Iowa as the quarterbacks coach in 2016.
Returning to the program that made him a household name, Klein served as the Wildcats Quarterbacks coach and co-offensive coordinator before taking over full-time in 2022-2023.
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