And now it, Amy's got the, uh, the ceremonial pop tarts to be placed in the toaster. You want that? Just got. There we go. Could we get a quick photo op with the coaches and then we'll get started with the press conference. All right, let's, uh, the TV is in the back of a clean shot, everybody. Good, cool. Thank you. All right. All right. So we have, uh, Kansas State coach Chris Kleman, uh North Carolina State coach Dave Doran. Uh, we'll start with an opening statement from each and then we will open the floor for questions. If you have a question, please raise your hand. Uh, we'll call on you and somebody will bring you a mic. Uh, look for Amy Amy Array here in the blue shirts. And with that, we'll get started. Uh, coach Kleman, will you go first and then we'll, we'll move on to coach Doran after you. You bet. Well, we're excited to be here. Uh, thanks to the Florida Citrus Sports, uh, organization, Steve Hogan for the invite to come to play in a great bowl game against a great opponent in, in North Carolina State. Uh, uh, I know, our guys are, are extremely excited about the opportunity. K State has never been to Florida before uh for a bowl game. And uh i it's a lot better than being in Manhattan with the weather. We had some snow last night there. I understand. And um, so the guys had a little sunshine, sun came out yesterday, which was nice. Um We've had good practices down here. Um, and, uh, you know, college football's changed a little bit. So you're gonna see some different guys for us that, uh, uh maybe aren't the household names that you, that you've seen. But, uh, um that's kind of the world we're in right now and, uh, I, I'm excited about, uh a lot of the veteran kids that will play and uh honor those guys in 2023 and we'll get a little glimpse into 2024 as well with a number of young guys that are going to play as well. So, um, excited for our guys to have the opportunity and appreciate uh all the hospitality everybody's giving us here. Thank coach, coach Do. Uh Yeah, second, uh everything he said it's a great experience and um for the players, uh all the activities uh that they've had an opportunity to be a part of, I think the way that you all set up this itinerary, there was a great blend uh of free time, uh and allowing us to be flexible with our work time. I know the families really appreciate uh all the hospitality we've gotten the Children, uh being able to go around the theme parks and, and just see the, the joy uh in all our families yesterday was, was incredible. Um I thought the opportunity to, to serve in the community. Uh It was great to have that as well with the teams and just can't thank you all enough um for bringing NC State down here. We've been wanting to play in this bowl game for a number of years and so thankful to get to play in it and, and opportunity to play against Chris and his team. I have great respect for coach and for that program. Uh I think you guys know him from Kansas and growing up in, in, uh Kansas City, I was able to really watch that program, uh, with coach Snyder take off, not once but twice and, uh, have so much respect for what he built there and, and what coach has continued to build and, uh, you know, two similar football programs that, that really believe in fundamentals and toughness, uh, togetherness and, and I think, you know, when you watch both our teams play, they play hard, uh, they're, they're teams that play till the end. Um, they fight, they're physical. I know our guys are excited to play. Uh, not just because we're playing a great opponent but just an opportunity to, you know, go out and compete one more time, uh with a group of young men, uh for us that really came together, uh in the middle of a, a season and, and won five straight games, uh to elevate our program and the top 20 kind of out of a, a real tough middle of the season and to a great finish and, uh so an opportunity to continue to do that and, uh, like coach said, you know, there's gonna be some players out there that are getting, you know, uh expanded roles. Some of them, their first time, um being in some of the roles they have and so excited for them, you know, they've served our team in other ways and now they get a chance to be in that role with, uh, you know, Peyton Wilson not playing to, to get to see. Now Caden Fordham play a lot more for us young man that we're really excited to see out there. And, uh, you know, for this team, a chance to really play one more game together, uh, and for the seniors that we have that are playing um an, an opportunity to honor them and do it on a great stage. So, uh we do appreciate, you know, the opportunity, the hospitality and, and obviously, um everything that you all have done for us down here. All right. Thank you. You have a question. We'll uh raise your hand, we'll get a mic too. We'll start in the front row here with Kyle, uh, Happy New Year, gentlemen. Uh, Kyle Nash with a three point conversion. Uh, Coach Kleinman, uh, alluded to about the state of co college football a little bit, but this question will be for both of you. Um What do you think, or how do you think you guys represent parody in college football? You two being in this bowl game, you two having lost to a team that participated in a conference championship by three points both on your schedules. Um How do you guys represent, uh, the parody in college football? And how much do you think the portal and all that has made that happen for the, for the sport? Well, I, I think Dave hit it. We're both the developmental programs and, uh, you know, every game that, uh, we play, we feel we have a great chance to win and our kids feel that I think that's the biggest thing is when you have guys that are in the program for 45 and six years, it tells you an awful lot about, um, the character of those guys, um, the competitiveness of those guys and, and we're gonna continue to see parody in, in college football. And, uh, yeah, there's people changing addresses all the time but you know, your core of your foundation, your core of your team, um, needs to be there for four or five years. Now, the six year guys are gonna be gone. Pretty soon. But the four and five year guys, um, that's what we're trying to build at K State. I'm sure it's similar in North Carolina State. Build the culture with your four or five year guys and, uh blend in the young people and, and have that great foundation. But, uh, um I think both of us feel like on any stage our kids are gonna compete their tails off and, and have an opportunity to win every game. Yeah, it's unique, you know, when you get into your team room, um in January, I know last year, uh for us, we had 43 new players on our football team, including all the walk-ons we added. And so, you know, that's a massive challenge. Uh when you talk about building continuity and chemistry and you do lean on your elder players uh to teach them what the program is about. And I think that's what's cool about this game. You don't have two teams playing, you have two football programs. Um We've been winning for a long time and so they, and so there's a standard of behavior and, and expectation of how we work and uh how we practice, how we lift and our older players hold the younger players and the new players uh to that standard and try to elevate it every year and it'll be no different this year. And I think every coach in college football has the same, you know, uh challenge and opportunity you used to have, you know, your 2025 seniors, leave your team, you get 2025 new guys and you just kept it rolling. Uh It's a lot different now. It's, it's doubled, you know, really in your outflow and your inflow. And so how you bring them all together, I think is really the magic, you know, that you have to have and it helps when you have a foundation that's so strong like these two teams. All right, we'll take one on the back and then we'll go to the second right here. Coach Kleinman, uh, I know you spoke on it a little bit, just kind of talk about the, the impact that coach Klein made in the short time that he's in the coach's room and then kind of talk about how Coach Riley is kind of stepping up and doing an offensive line and the interim offensive coordinator and how is he doing? Yeah. Um, you know, obviously Colin did great things for us here, um, had another opportunity and, and, and, and took that and, and a great respect for, for CK. Um, but now it's time to move forward and, uh, coach Riley has done a really good job, um, you know, putting him in an interim role of, of the OC, you know, I've been with Ryles since 2012. We were assistants together at North Dakota State, um, brought him here, uh, in, in 18. So I've been over a decade with this guy. I think he's the best offensive line coach in the country and he earned the right, um, to have that title for this game and, and to be out in front of the guys. And, uh, so I'm excited about, uh, uh, what he's gonna bring and I know the players are excited, you know, he tells you everything about Connor Riley. When you see the amount of six year guys that came back, they were all in the old line, you know, we had Seth and we had a couple of other guys in, in, in Daniel Green, but most of those guys were all linemen that tells you everything, you know, need to know about Connor and, uh, so excited for his opportunity. Another one for you, Chris, what, what would you say now that ballpark is just about over what's impressed you most about the way Avery has handled his situation going into his first start. Um, the fact that there's not a quarterback coach really in the room, there's some people that are really helping him, um, and he's very calm. Uh, everybody knows he's a competitor, um, but his leadership has really taken off and, uh, um, it's neat to watch him interact with some of the older wide receivers and, and old lineman. Um, and they believe in him, we believe in him, we trust him. Um, he's gonna make some mistakes. He's a young player, but he's gonna make some splash plays just like he did this year. And, uh, um, I, I'm excited for his opportunity because he's earned the opportunity, you know, he, he played a lot of football for us this year and played on some big stages and, and so now he's just getting that chance to start, um, and do it now, he did start one game. We played two quarterbacks in one game, um, to start the game, uh, but he's gonna have that opportunity now and, uh, the team's so excited for him and, um, it's not gonna be all about him. We got to be really good around him too. Yeah, I took them down here to my left coach Doran, you mentioned, you mentioned towards the beginning of the month a few weeks ago, uh, or maybe pondering the idea of chasing a bourbon without pacing the pop tart with a bourbon. If y'all win this game, do you have? Is that still on the radar? Well, yeah, 100%. You have a, you have a bourbon of choice in mind. Well, uh, where's my buddy at? We had some, uh, Kentucky that made an appearance yesterday. So we'll see if it can travel. But, uh, uh I'm, I'm all about the Brown Sugar pop tart and a bourbon. Maybe at the end. We'll see more questions on the room. All right, we got one in the middle of the aisle, isn't it? Funny that like the stupidest stuff we say is what I get asked about all the time. No one wants to ask about Brent Armstrong or Hayden Wilson. It's just they want to know about the bourbon and the pop tart. This question is for, for the both of you. How do you do? How do you balance coach Kleman? You talked about being a developmental program. How do you balance uh preparing for a game like this, a bowl game like this and also developing your players for the future seasons in bull prep. Um You know, it, the way the calendar lays out, uh, once your season is over with you on the road. And, uh, so then on weekends, we bring the guys back together in practice and, you know, for the first couple of weekends, we brought them back and we did nothing but K state versus K state and uh development and in giving those kids that have been on scout team the entire year, the opportunity to play an offense and to play defense and just let them go and let them learn. Um And we continue to do that almost every day leading up to, uh yesterday when we had our last practice of. It's, it's the inexperienced guys whether or not they're freshmen and red shirt freshman, whatever. Uh, and they just got to play K state against K state because you have to do that. Those guys, uh are the heart heart and soul of your, of your team. And for 12 weeks, uh, they're reading off a card and that's hard to do. Um, the season's long for those guys. So you got to give them some opportunities to, to continue to grow and, and get better and develop so that we also know as coaches how far they've come along, um, throughout the fall as we le learn, uh, lean into the winter and spring, we'll go to the back and then we'll take one out here on the right coach Doran. Uh, we talked to the players last week and I found it so interesting that every single one of them felt it was so important for this 10th win and they were so locked in, obviously a bowl experience is fun, but they all talked about how important this game was and just being locked in. What does that say about this group? Especially just the road you guys have been on this year? Yeah, we talked about being different, you know, at the beginning of the season and, and being different what that meant, you know, different choices, different obligations, different sacrifices and also, you know, a, a different ending and, um, we've been on the nine win thing several times and, um, for the kids that are on our team that were a part of the holiday bowl that didn't get a play, you know, um, because of what happened, there's that extra motivation, um, you know, walking down to the team room for your final meal and finding out you don't get to play in a bowl game was pretty tough. And so to be back in the, you know, uh, seat here with an opportunity to compete for that 10th 1 is meaningful. You know, I think with young people sometimes they can't see past the day they're in. And so, you know, your job as a head coach is to, to preach the big picture as well. And at NC State, there's been one team in the history of the program that's won 10 games or more. And so this is an opportunity to be different than 100 and 36 other teams that played in this uniform. And so it's meaningful and, and these guys understand that meaning and what, what uh kind of things have to go into preparing, you know, to do something that's different. We've got Chris on the right and we'll take one down here in the front just for both of you, uh, with the transfers and the opt outs and coach Kleman with Colin leaving, how, how was the preparations been for this particular bowl game in differences to what, what you were used to, um, for us it's been as normal, um, probably because of the routine that, uh all these guys have been in for the last three years. Most of us have been together in 21 22 23 So, II I don't see it changing much. Um, we're, we're running the same offense, we're not changing that, uh, in, in, in midstream. Um, and so the preparation has been very normal routine is really important, I think for, for players and coaches alike. And so, um, you know, we, we're having some new kids getting some opportunities just like Dave is, but those kids know the routine and they know the expectation and that's the key thing is the standard and the expectations not changing of preparing to go try to win a football game. And uh we know we're going against a great opponent and we've got to execute at a high level and so we better execute uh during practice at a high level if we want to on Thursday night. Yeah, I think for us, you know, it was more of the depth of the roster. Um that really took the toll, you know, we, we've been able to really to platoon our scout teams even uh with the roster that we had going into uh the season. And, and so when you lose, you know, 20 some guys, uh it changes your scout teams a lot and they weren't starters really for us. There was one starter, you know. Um So that changed, you know, it was that part of it. So we had to be smart, um similar to coach, we have the same routine. The guys hit the ground running, the guys that got reps that weren't, were excited and we had to slow things down at times just to water the scouts down and because we couldn't sell them, you know. And so sometimes we'd be, you know, in a one hour practice that might take an hour and a half just because we took a few more breaks just to let the, the look, teams get rested and be able to run around and give us the looks we needed. All right, we'll go down in front here on the right and then back to the platform again, coach Doran, you've had a couple new true freshmen work their way into the two deep. Uh, how helpful is this, you know, stretch of practice for evaluating, uh, your freshman class and, uh, what have you seen out of them? Yeah, it's been great. You know, the rule changed, the, uh, was a great rule change allowing the bowl game not to count as one of the four games that they can play in as freshman, uh, has been huge. You know, I think with the opt outs and, you know, your normal guys that choose not to play plus the portal. Um, there was a huge reduction in numbers and I, I know some teams probably wouldn't have been able to field the team, uh, if they couldn't do that. And so I thought that was a good rule change for our roster management. But yeah, to be able to see, you know, Kelvin mcbride, for example, who's on the scout team now, get all these reps with the twos at linebacker. It's been really good to see him running around. That's just one guy, you know, uh, Zach Myers, one of the D BS, same thing, got a ton of reps and, uh, Zach played in four games on special teams. KVO didn't, you know, so he got soaked in this bowl prep with Peyton not playing. We're able to elevate him and get him a ton of work and excited. You know, it's a guy's put on almost £25 since he got here. He looks really good and he's running around and making plays of practice. So it, it's, you know, kind of a, a precursor to your off season program that allows you to sit down with a guy like you might after spring ball and tell him what you saw in film where he can get better, uh, and to be able to do it leading up to your off-season program just to gain that window of, of improvement. And I think, you know, for us, you know, and coach, I'm sure, you know, developmental programs, there's meetings that take place that are really, really important meetings when you talk about developing a player, you know, you identify their strengths and then you have them talk about their weaknesses and then you, you know, sometimes add more to that and then you create a map for them on how these weaknesses can get improved. You know, and that's the goal for each player, you know, is to get better each opportunity and you have to give them the information and if you don't have the practice opportunities, you can't give it to them. And that's where bowl games are so important for teams. You know, teams that don't go to bowls, uh, have a major disadvantage, in my opinion, when it comes to the development of the roster, we'll go to the right and then back to Shane. Uh, I got one question for both the, uh, uh, for Chris, um, without Ben and Phil out there, it seems like there will be quite a few new targets available for receivers. Can you tell us if there's anybody you're really looking forward to getting that opportunity there? And then for Dave, uh, after Chris is done, I was wondering if you could, uh, rack your brain and tell me if there's any one memory you have of a game when you've been on the other side playing against, against Kansas State that kind of stands out in your mind. Um, well, we're excited about Garrett Oakley. I mean, Oaks had a really good season, um, behind Ben as a backup tight end, he was injured early on in the season and has really come on, um, big athletic guy that, that can really run and he's a redshirt freshman and, and really excited about him. Um, Swanney will play more plays, will Swanson will play more and then, um, you know, it's allowed us to probably move Jason to the slot a little bit more for Phil. Um Seth Porter is gonna return punts. Um, he's gonna play in the slot and Seth's a six year guy that, uh K state means everything to him. And I'm excited for Seth in his last college football game to get an opportunity to, to be a slot for us and, and play some meaningful snaps as well as return for us. But, uh, you know, that's, you know, it's no different than having an injury, the next guy and the next man up. But those guys prepared for the moment and it's not like, you know, all these practice reps, ultimately, you want to use those practice reps. And, um, so I think the, the preparation that these guys have had, you know, with Oakley and Seth and some of those other guys, um, I'm excited for them because they're ready for the moment. So the question again was so my four years at Kansas, I got to witness a lot. Unfortunately, I was on the receiving end of Darren Sproles and, uh, being a linebacker coach, uh, defending him and what a great player. And that was kind of the first year we were there. I think they beat us 63 to nothing. And, uh, by the time I had left four years later we had gone from worst defense in college football to the number one defense in college football. I don't remember the, the score of the game, but I know we won and it was a huge accomplishment. Our head coach Mark Mangino worked under Bill Schneider. So there was uh a lot of respect. Um, and, and I know that was a big moment for him. Um So I was proud to be a part of that turnaround with Coach Mangio and, and a part of that rivalry, it was a great rivalry then and, and I know it probably still is. I mean, that was a huge, huge game. Um, a lot went into it, stand in the back. Uh, this is for Coach Kleinman. Um, North Carolina State fans have a little less to travel, but after your long plane ride here, you're still in big 12 country. What do you expect from the local fans cheer down the conference line or get a little grief since you beat UCF this year? Well, it's crazy that you say we're in big 12 country. Um, but you could go out to California and be an AC C. So, uh, you know, uh, i, it's the landscape of college football. Uh, I, I look at it and there's two really good football teams that, um, consistency is what I think of when I think of Kansas State and, and North Carolina State and, and, uh, probably underrated, probably not recognized enough uh about the, what the programs have been able to do uh and sustain. And that's the biggest challenge in college football right now is sustaining success with all the things that we've been talking about. And, uh, so, no, I, I'm excited. I, I know that uh K State fans will travel. Uh I know it's a closer uh trip for uh NC State, but K State fans will travel and uh it's gonna be, uh, it's gonna be allowed in, in, in fun environment. All right, we'll take one here on the aisle and we'll go to the back again and down in front. That's probably all we have time for coach Kleman. I know a lot of the like six year, 50 or six year guys. How do you just kind of keep the emotions in check? Right? Some of their last games, some might go on to the NFL. How do you as a coach and other players just trying to keep those emotions in check, obviously knowing what's on the line. Uh, it happens like this every year, you know, with motions in check. Like it was the last couple of years we had with Skyler Thompson and last year with, with Deuce Vaughan and, and, uh, this year there's another crew and, you know, I, I'm enjoying that time. I mean, I, I've had more fun on this trip with those offensive linemen. I mean, BB and I have given each other more grief. Um, Gilly and I have had a blast on things. Um, you know, uh KT, uh, had a great message to our team yesterday. Uh, watching him grow, um, from when I first got here and he was a, a red shirt and he'd tell you he was a knucklehead and that guy is a grown man and a very mature guy and sets the example for all of our younger guys to live up to now. And, um, so I, I'm taking it all in, I'm enjoying the heck out of those guys. Um, because they're why we're here. Um, you know, you think of where we were as a program after the pandemic and it was a tough year, 2020 for a K state fan wasn't a whole lot of fun and they changed the, the culture in that locker room beginning in 2021. And, um, you know, we won a big 12 championship last year and won 10 games with those guys. And, uh, that's why it's so important for us to honor those guys. Um, Thursday night by going out there and playing our tails off and trying to get a big win for those guys playing their last game because they've given so much to K State, we'll go to the back and then we'll wrap up up front for both coaches. You know, both teams win so many games, just kind of briefly talk about what it is that the other team does so well. And what just kind of, what's the biggest thing that you've learned, doing your homework on the other team? Um, well, our, our defensive staffs have, have been together, uh, they, they did some clinic together, uh, as recently as last year. So I think there's a little bit of familiarity on both sides. Um, physical defenses guys will run and hit you, um, on, on their defense. They, they are um very athletic. Um You don't get explosive plays on these guys. Uh So we're gonna have our hands full in that respect, uh of just trying to sustain drives. Um because that's what we've been, we've not been a big play team. We've been a sustained drive team. So that's uh a, a concern and then offensively a veteran quarterback, um a lot of different personnel groupings that uh they got really good skill kids and uh really good upfront and um trying to keep the explosive play to a minimum and they've been able to get some explosive plays and that's probably been the area that we've struggled a little bit this year. And so that's the challenge for us is try to find a way to get one or two on, on offense and, and try to prevent them on defense. Um Yeah, carbon copy defenses, obviously, the coordinators probably have their style, but uh their staff on defense does a great job and schematically, I think, you know, we're both built the same way when you talk about the disguises um that you can present trying to get quarterbacks to, to not be able to know what's happening until after the snap. Uh the ability to, to play, you know, some coverage zones that help out in the secondary with a lot of eyes that can come back and make plays and tackle. Uh and then the movements and the pressures and the disruption that that can come out of these schemes. And I know when we made the switch to it, uh it's everything that we thought it would be and, and obviously, uh coach um sent his staff out to be a part of it with us and, and it's helped them, you know, when you watch them on offense, uh a lot of blocking schemes, you know, they do a really good job. Uh not just with their personnel up front but the physicality and, and the angles, um the different, you know, pulling schemes that you see the, the way that they try to uh get guys hat, you know, hats for the quarterback and extra blockers and formations. You have to adjust to um the play actions that come off of it and, and just, you know, when you look at these two teams, we're plus 11 and turnover margin, they're plus 10. Uh it's two teams that know how to steal the ball back and, and pro uh protect it. And as always, that's the most important stat in football, you know, and I think when you get into these bowl games, that's always what I worry about are the, the things that, um, sometimes in a gap like you have between your last game and your next, your bowl game, you know, just a little fundamentals and taking care of the football and your special teams are so important and I think you have to really, um, fundamentally sound football teams, you know, and when you get out on the field now with the new pieces, you know, how do they all come together? But, uh, it's gonna be a fun football game, you know, for people that like this sport, you're gonna see two really well coached, hard playing teams that fight, you know, and I think that's, it's gonna be a lot of fun to watch. All right, we'll wrap up up front here. Coach do. And you mentioned Brennan earlier, what's it been like for you to see him have this week in tomorrow's game with everything he's gone through this year? Yeah, I mean, I couldn't be happier, um, for anyone than, than Brennan, you know what he went through, how he responded, the type of, uh, human being that he was to his teammates during that time and then the way that they rallied around him when he took the ball back to run the football, run the team, um, the way that he's played through, you know, some pain and, and the guy is just a warrior and, uh, he's a great teammate and just to see the joy that he's had, um, not just in his last five weeks, but, you know, at U VA, they didn't get to go to bowl games for a while because they had some things, um, you know, with COVID where they didn't play and then obviously the tragedy and, you know, so there's, it's been some years I think the last bowl game he was in was the Orange Bowl. Um, and so he's excited just to be in a postseason game and it's been fun watching him interact with the guys and, you know, can't say thank you enough to him for what he's meant to this football team and the way that he's held not just himself together, but these guys on our offense and, and the way that the teams rallied around him, it's been a joy to watch and be a part of. All right. Thank you both. We appreciate your time.