‘Kansas State can be a goldmine’: How Chris Klieman promotes NIL to football recruits

The answer rolls off Chris Klieman’s tongue as if it was rehearsed.

What do you tell a football recruit when he asks you about name, image and likeness opportunities at Kansas State?

“They are there,” Klieman said at a Catbacker event in Salina. “I can’t help you with them, but I can give you the different people that are running collectives that can help you. If look at a lot of our student-athletes, not just football, there’s a lot of student-athletes benefiting from NIL. And they should be benefiting from NIL, whether that’s doing something in our community or doing something back home in their community, whatever it may be. There are a lot of positives with NIL.”

Klieman, who is entering his fourth season as the Wildcats’ football coach, doesn’t need much time to process questions about NIL deals these days. That’s because he discusses the topic seemingly every hour.

There isn’t a recruit who shows up on campus for a visit that willingly chooses to ignore it. They all want to know how much money they could potentially earn while playing at K-State.

It’s unlike Klieman to talk dollar figures, but he doesn’t dodge those questions. He leans into them. He has some recent examples of NIL deals to point to with prospective recruits. They are selling points for him.

“I know that Kansas State can be a goldmine for that,” Klieman said, “because everybody loves us here in our region. K-State athletics is what’s happening. Kids want to be a part of it and our supporters want to hire these kids.”

Skylar Thompson promoted a car dealership last season while he played quarterback for the Wildcats. Star running back Deuce Vaughn and defensive end Felix Anudike-Uzomah just finished filming a humorous commercial with Cat Cans Portable Services in Manhattan. And three walk-ons have struck NIL deals that will cover the remainder of their college tuition costs as if they were promoted to scholarship status.

K-State athletics director Gene Taylor reiterated this week that those are examples of NIL being done “the right way.”

A pair of NIL collectives (The Wildcats’ Den and Wildcat NIL) designed to support K-State athletes have also been formed this spring.

Klieman thinks all of those things have made the Wildcats competitive with most schools when it comes to NIL opportunities at K-State, and he wants recruits to know it.