Collin Klein is heading home to Kansas State, but he'll finish Texas A&M's CFP run first, proving the Aggies are now a destination for elite coaches and careers.
Texas A&M is losing its offensive coordinator after the season, and that’s not necessarily bad news.
On Thursday night, Kansas State officially announced that Collin Klein is returning to Manhattan as the Wildcats' new head coach on a five-year deal worth an average of $4.3 million per year.
For a program legend who finished third in the 2012 Heisman race and already has his name in the Ring of Honor, this was always the one job that could pull him away.
But here's the key part for Aggies fans... Klein isn't sprinting out the door.
He's expected to remain with No. 7 Texas A&M through the College Football Playoff, giving the Aggies continuity, stability and one more full run with the architect of their 11-1 regular season.
In a sport where assistants bolt before bowl practices even start, that matters.
Klein's resume is exactly what you want your OC's to have when they leave: former star quarterback, successful play caller, and now a Power Four head coach.
He went 19-8 as Kansas State's offensive coordinator from 2017-23, helped deliver a Big 12 title in 2022 under Chris Klieman, then came to College Station and immediately helped spark an A&M turnaround that landed him on the Broyles Award semifinalist list.
Now, he becomes the first Kansas State alum to run the program since the 1970s. That's not a lateral move; that's a once-in-a-lifetime homecoming.
From an Aggies perspective, this is how you want to "lose" coaches.
They leave up, not sideways, they leave after helping you win big, and they leave in a way that shows every ambitious coordinator in the country that Texas A&M is a launchpad, not a dead end.
Klein’s statement about "coming home" to a job built on service, work and competitive greatness speaks volumes about who he is.
The fact that he piled that on top of a successful stop in College Station speaks volumes about where A&M is headed under Mike Elko.
Yes, Elko will have to nail another OC hire after the playoff. But he'll be doing it with an 11-1 season, a CFP appearance, and proof that top assistants can turn Aggie success into head coaching contracts.
That's not a crisis. That's a healthy, nationally relevant program doing exactly what it’s supposed to do.
And in the meantime, Collin Klein still has plays to call - and trophies to chase - in Maroon and White.