Kansas State Football | Meet running backs coach Brian Anderson | February 4, 2019

New Kansas State running backs coach Brian Anderson talked to the media on Monday February 4, 2019 after joining Chris Klieman's first K-State coaching staff.

BIO:

A 25-year coaching veteran with ties to the state of Kansas, Brian Anderson was hired as K-State’s running backs coach in December 2018.

Anderson comes to Manhattan from Illinois State, where he coached the wide receivers in 2018. He made an impact during his one season in Normal, coaching a receiving group that combined for 133 receptions for 1,913 and 15 touchdowns. Most of those figures were the production of Spencer Schnell, a First Team All-Missouri Valley Conference performer who capped off his career by leading the league in receptions with 65 and ranking second with 872 receiving yards.

Anderson also tutored Andrew Edgar, a Freshman All-American who set an Illinois State freshman record with 746 yards on 44 receptions to go along with four touchdowns. Edgar was also named to the MVFC All-Newcomer team.

A bulk of Anderson’s career has been with under head coach Jerry Kill, who served as an Associate Athletics Director at K-State in 2016. Anderson was on Kill’s staff at Southern Illinois from 2001-07 and Northern Illinois from 2008-10 before joining him in Minnesota for the 2011-16 seasons.

At Minnesota, Anderson tutored the running backs from 2011 to 2013. During his final season at the position, Anderson helped produce the Gophers’ first 1,000-yard running back in eight years when David Cobb rushed for 1,202 yards. In 2012, Anderson coached Donnell Kirkwood, who churned out 926 yards during his sophomore campaign.

Minnesota receivers flourished under Anderson, especially in 2015. Sixteen different Gophers, seven of them receivers, combined to catch 251 passes for 2,793 yards and 15 touchdowns. The 251 receptions were the most by a Minnesota team since 2008. Gopher receivers combined to catch 158 passes (62.9 percent) for 1,794 yards with 12 touchdowns.

Anderson coached senior KJ Maye to a record-breaking season in 2015. Maye, who started his Minnesota career as a running back, caught 73 passes for 773 yards and five touchdowns on his way to All-Big Ten accolades. His 73 receptions ranked second all-time and were the most ever for a senior.

Prior to his stint in Minneapolis, Anderson coached tight ends at Northern Illinois for three years after tutoring the wide receivers and kick returners at Southern Illinois the previous seven seasons.

Anderson’s ties to the state of Kansas go back to the late 1990s when he coached at Coffeyville Community College from 1997-2000, where three of his student-athletes went on to play in the NFL. He also coached two seasons at Highland Community College.

Anderson began his coaching career at Western Illinois, serving as a student assistant in 1994, before coaching wide receivers in 1995-96.

Anderson’s playing career began at Ellsworth Community College in Iowa Falls, Iowa. At Ellsworth, Anderson took part in the 1988 Royal Crown Cola Bowl and the 1989 Mid-American Bowl, that season’s NJCAA national championship game. He then moved on to Western Illinois, where he lettered as a wide receiver in 1991 and 1992.

Anderson holds a bachelor’s degree from Western Illinois, and he and his wife, Kerri, have a daughter Annabelle.