Conor Riley, the offensive line coach, play caller, and co-offensive coordinator at Kansas State, has agreed to join the Dallas Cowboys as their offensive line coach and is departing the Wildcats. Riley, who was part of Coach Klieman’s initial Kansas State staff, has contributed to the ‘Cats becoming one of the country’s top running teams. Cooper Bebee, an All-American and current center for the Dallas Cowboys, is one of the many all-Big 12 linemen he has shaped. He helped lead an attack that finished 11th in the country in rushing yards during his first and only season as Manhattan’s playcaller and offensive coordinator. Speaking of reunions, if Deuce Vaughn stays around, Coach Riley ought to get back together with the legendary K-State player.
Coach Klieman won’t have to search far for a successor now that Riley is leaving. Klieman might just take the “co” out of current offensive coordinator Matt Wells and be done with it if he so chooses. With his extensive background as a head coach at Texas Tech and Utah State, Wells should have little trouble making the move without sacrificing any consistency in recruiting or on the field.
It would also make sense to fill the offensive line position internally. Coach Klieman praised offensive analyst Drew Liddle’s contributions to the program on several occasions last season. In order for Coach Riley to concentrate on the entire offense, he assisted Riley with the offensive line. Although Liddle’s background isn’t as solid as Wells’, the former Kansas State player did put together a formidable offensive line at Abilene Christian, which helped the Wildcats place in the top 40 in rushing offense and in the top 20 nationally in sacks allowed. From 2017 until 2020, he served as the K-State Wildcats’ assistant director of recruiting and offensive quality control coach. It wouldn’t be as simple to promote Liddle to offensive coordinator as it would be to promote Matt Wells, but I wouldn’t be shocked if it happened. It looks like a decent fit for the program, but I might be completely wrong because I don’t have any inside expertise.
Losing your play-caller in consecutive seasons is difficult, but if another team wants to pay your coaches more, you must be doing something well.
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