Kansas State football coach Chris Klieman on verge of another contract extension

Kellis Robinett
Jerry Larson/AP

Kansas State football coach Chris Klieman is one victory away from a contract extension.

If the Wildcats win either of their two remaining games — at West Virginia or against Kansas — an extra year will be added to the end of Klieman’s current deal, according to a unique bonus clause that exists in his contract.

Klieman is under contract with K-State until December 31, 2026. But every time he leads the Wildcats to eight or more regular-season victories and the season culminates in a bowl game his contract is automatically extended by one year at a salary of $4.3 million.

That means a lucrative payday could soon be in store for Klieman, who will lead K-State (7-3, 5-2 Big 12) against the Mountaineers at 1 p.m. on Saturday at Milan Puskar Stadium. It will be considered a disappointment if the Wildcats don’t finish this month with nine wins and earn a berth in their first conference championship game since 2003.

Right now, Klieman is making a salary of $3.5 million. That number will increase to $4 million next season and then max out at $4.3 million for every remaining year of his deal.

If K-State finishes 8-4 or better, he will continue making that salary until at least the end of 2027, with the possibility of more bonus years on the horizon. Per Klieman’s contract, he earns an automatic one-year extension the next three times he leads the Wildcats to eight or more wins in the regular season.

Klieman barely missed out on that bonus last season when K-State went 7-5 and then beat LSU in the Texas Bowl.

It also states in Klieman’s contract that he will earn a $250,000 retention bonus if he remains the head football coach at K-State on March 1 of 2023. But he will earn other bonuses before then.

He can trigger the following bonuses this season, with K-State paying for only the top achievement in each category:

Big 12 finish

  • $50,000 for third place (sole or tied)

  • $75,000 for second place (sole or tied)

  • $100,000 for a league championship

Bowl game

  • $50,000 for six wins and any bowl invite

  • $100,000 for a New Year’s Six bowl invite (Cotton, Fiesta, Orange, Peach, Rose, Sugar)

  • $175,000 for a playoff berth

  • $250,000 for playing in the national championship game

  • $350,000 for a national title

Final rankings

  • $25,000 for a top 25 finish in the final AP or playoff rankings

  • $50,000 for a top 10 finish

Klieman’s contract also states that he will sit down with athletic director Gene Taylor and negotiate a new deal following the 2024 season. His current buyout is $4 million.

The Wildcats hired Klieman to replace Bill Snyder in 2018 and extended his contract in 2020. Earlier this season, Klieman said he was not interested in other jobs, such as Nebraska, in part because of his strong relationship with Taylor, who previously hired him as head coach at North Dakota State.

Taylor is confident that Klieman will remain at K-State for a long time. His job security increases every time he wins eight games.

“We have got some automatic numbers that increase every year in his deal,” Taylor said in a recent interview. “Right now, I think he’s comfortable with where he is. He isn’t the highest paid coach in the Big 12, but he is far from the lowest. We just need to make sure we’re competitive and he feels good about everything that is going on with our program.”

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