{"id":55812,"date":"2023-12-07T12:00:13","date_gmt":"2023-12-07T17:00:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/?p=55812"},"modified":"2023-12-07T07:58:06","modified_gmt":"2023-12-07T12:58:06","slug":"collin-klein","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/2023\/12\/07\/collin-klein\/","title":{"rendered":"Texas A&#038;M Football&#8217;s Coaching Staff Double Play"},"content":{"rendered":"<h3><strong>Texas A&amp;M Scores Big with Collin Klein as Offensive Coordinator<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>In a major move, <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/2023\/11\/26\/texas-am-to-hire-dukes-mike-elko\/\" target=\"_self\">Texas A&amp;M football<\/a> has clinched <strong>Collin Klein<\/strong> as its new offensive coordinator. Klein, a former Kansas State quarterback and Heisman finalist, turned down offers from Penn State, Notre Dame, and Clemson. Aggies might remember him from the historic season when <strong>Johnny Manziel<\/strong> secured the Heisman as a freshman.<\/p>\n<p>After a stint in the NFL, Klein returned to Kansas State rising through the ranks to become the offensive coordinator. This past season, his offense ranked <a href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.com\/college-football\/insider\/story\/_\/id\/39033329\/college-football-2023-championship-weekend-sp+-rankings-takeaways\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">8th in SP+<\/a> and claimed the top spot in the nation for red zone touchdown percentage.<\/p>\n<h3>Klein&#8217;s Adaptability and Aggie Enthusiasm<\/h3>\n<p>Aggie outlets and fans alike have responded positively to Klein&#8217;s hiring. Recognized as a young and innovative mind, Klein has shown the ability to tailor his offensive system to maximize player strengths. It&#8217;s a trait eagerly anticipated by Texas A&amp;M football supporters.<\/p>\n<p>With Klein now under the mentorship of new head coach Mike Elko, he&#8217;s expected to have the freedom to the offensive strategy as he sees fit. The prevailing sentiment since the news broke is that Klein is a coach who excels in doing more with less\u2014a refreshing perspective for Texas A&amp;M football, which has faced challenges in recent years.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Defensive Reinforcements: Duke Duo Joins Aggies&#8217; Coaching Ranks<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>In another strategic move, Elko is bringing in reinforcements from his Duke connections. <strong>Adam Cushing<\/strong> and <strong>Ishmael Aristide<\/strong> are set to fill positions as offensive line and cornerbacks coaches.<\/p>\n<p>Aristide is familiar with Elko from their Duke days. He is a former graduate assistant at Texas A&amp;M, and returns to Aggieland with a reputation as both an exceptional coach and a lights-out recruiter. His influence was evident when a Texas A&amp;M signee made a U-turn upon learning of Aristide&#8217;s departure.<\/p>\n<p>Cushing, former head coach at Eastern Illinois, joined Duke under Elko and played a pivotal role in reviving the Blue Devils&#8217; offensive line. His technical expertise and coaching prowess make him a valuable addition, addressing challenges faced by the offensive line.<\/p>\n<p>These strategic hires are part of Elko&#8217;s efforts to fortify the coaching staff. Rumors suggest that an offensive coordinator announcement may be imminent, adding to the anticipation surrounding Texas A&amp;M football&#8217;s upcoming season. The combination of Klein&#8217;s offensive expertise and the Duke duo&#8217;s defensive contributions paints an optimistic picture for Aggies fans. Even as teams are finishing the 2023 season, it is going to cause Aggies fans to talk early of Spring camp.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Future Outlook and Excitement for The 12th Man<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>College Station is buzzing with anticipation over the high volume of changes in the football program.\u00a0 The previous hand-wringing over the future and the fate of Jimbo Fisher has been replaced. The talk now centers around the prospects of what can be with a new staff in place.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_55841\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-55841\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-55841\" src=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2023\/12\/USATSI_21759274_168400536_lowres-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"Collin Klein\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" srcset=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2023\/12\/USATSI_21759274_168400536_lowres-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2023\/12\/USATSI_21759274_168400536_lowres-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2023\/12\/USATSI_21759274_168400536_lowres-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2023\/12\/USATSI_21759274_168400536_lowres-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2023\/12\/USATSI_21759274_168400536_lowres-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2023\/12\/USATSI_21759274_168400536_lowres-600x400.jpg 600w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2023\/12\/USATSI_21759274_168400536_lowres-1200x800.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-55841\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Photo courtesy: Dustin Safranek-USA TODAY Sports<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Texas A&amp;M Scores Big with Collin Klein as Offensive Coordinator In a major move, Texas A&amp;M football has clinched Collin Klein as its new offensive coordinator. Klein, a former Kansas State quarterback and Heisman finalist, turned down offers from Penn State, Notre Dame, and Clemson. Aggies might remember him from the historic season when Johnny [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4841,"featured_media":55841,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"1","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2,3],"tags":[5690,9477,9150,588,8010,20,64],"class_list":["post-55812","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-sec","tag-aggies","tag-collin-klein","tag-duke","tag-kansas-state-wildcats","tag-mike-elko","tag-sec","tag-texas-am-aggies"],"modified_by":"Tony Siracusa, CFB Managing Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55812","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4841"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=55812"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55812\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/55841"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=55812"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=55812"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=55812"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}