Even young Kansas State football fans probably remember the last time Chris Klieman visited Manhattan. He was North Dakota State’s defensive coordinator when the Bison upset the Wildcats 24-21 in the opening game of the 2013 season.
But only older, and truly loyal, K-State fans can likely recall his first trip to the Little Apple. That occurred many years earlier: in 1989, when he was a junior defensive back at Northern Iowa. His team won that game, too, defeating the Wildcats 10-8 in Bill Snyder’s first season as coach.
Nearly 30 years have passed since that now fateful game, which featured the most successful football coach in K-State history on one side and his successor on the other, yet it will never be forgotten by those involved.