According to a Tweet from Bruce Feldman, it appears likely Chris Klieman will replace Bill Snyder as Kansas State's next head coach.

Look for tons of coverage on the decision here at K-StateOnline.

In the mean time, here were our descriptions on Klieman as a candidate for this position.

Candidate Profile: Chris Klieman, Northern Iowa graduate, Age 51

Current Position: Head Coach, North Dakota State

Coaching History: Defensive backs (Northern Iowa 1991-93), Defensive backs (Western Illinois, 1994-96), Defensive backs (Kansas, 1997), Defensive backs (Missouri State, 1999), Defensive coordinator (Loras, 2002-04), Head Coach (Loras, 2005), Defensive backs (Northern Iowa 2006-2010), Defensive backs (North Dakota State, 2011), Defensive coordinator (North Dakota State, 2012-13), Head Coach (North Dakota State, 2014-present)

Ties to K-State: Well, there's one very obvious one - Athletic Director Gene Taylor. Taylor hired Klieman to replace Craig Bohl at North Dakota State, and what a hire it turned out to be. Klieman took what was a growing powerhouse and made it even stronger, taking the Bison to three national titles in his four years as the head coach. This was a big hire Taylor had to make in his previous role. It's easy to see how the success of this hire could weigh on Taylor's mind when he has to make the biggest choice of his career - especially when he can simply choose the same guy.

Why Klieman? Do you want somebody who's been a successful head coach that also hasn't been fired from his most recent head coaching role and/or had a bad season in that position?

There aren't many candidates out there that fit that description, but Klieman is one.

Yes, he's done it at the FCS level. We'll get to that. But, he's dominated. In his four years at NDSU he had piled up a gaudy 54-6 record and has won those three national titles in four seasons. He's now 64-6. Oh, that year he didn't win the national title? NDSU went 12-2 and lost in the FCS Playoff Semifinals.

The Bison knock off FBS teams every time they play them - Klieman was the DC at NDSU when they beat the Wildcats in Manhattan to open the 2013 season, one of a number of "upsets" of FBS opponents for the Bison in recent years.

From a scheme perspective, the Bison play a physical, aggressive, attacking style of defense combined with a run-focused offensive attack that gashes teams on the ground and then uses play-action and the big-play passing game to try and burn teams deep when they decide to go to the air.

Aside from that, he's young, had midwest ties and isn't accustomed to coaching at places loaded with tons of homegrown talent to pick from.

Lastly, he's been able to build an FCS program that's simply a much better one than Kansas State has right now. On a neutral field, the Bison would be favored against the Wildcats. What's that worth? Hard to say, but one tends to think he should be able to build a significantly better football team with the resources provided by a Big 12 Conference member like K-State than an FCS program in North Dakota.

Why not Klieman? Sure, there's the FCS thing. All of this success we talk about has come at the FCS level, which would create obvious questions about whether or not it could translate not only to the FBS level, but at a Big 12 Conference school as well.

Kleiman hasn't really proven himself as a recruiter - good or bad - at this level, and there are obvious questions about what type of staff he would bring with him and/or who he would try and keep on the current staff at K-State.

Also, let's not pretend that Klieman didn't walk into a good situation at NDSU. Yes, he sure had a hand in building that situation, but he also was head coaching what was already the elite program in all of FCS football when he took over.

The Final Word: Sure, there are no ties to the K-State program beyond Taylor. He's never been a head coach (or a coordinator, to be fair) at the FBS level. And there's plenty to prove as a recruiter. On the other hand, a lot of times history is the greatest indicator of future success - and it's virtually impossible to be more successful than Klieman has running the NDSU program the last four years. Taylor made the call on Klieman once and saw how it turned out for him. It might be awfully tempting to pull that same trigger one more time.

RECRUITING BASE

North Dakota State's roster composition shows a heavy presence in the Midwest with a few Florida natives sprinkled in. The Bison also have two players from California and one from each of Wyoming and Colorado. And, to be honest, that isn’t a Big 12 footprint, necessarily. It’s more of a Big Ten one when your roster is composed primarily of players from the Midwest and you resort to the state of Florida instead of Texas.

NDSU’s heaviest presence is not in the Dakotas, but in Minnesota, followed by North Dakota and then Wisconsin. I know it is probably what is required and necessary at a program like NDSU, but 74 of the players for the Bison are from North Dakota, Minnesota and Wisconsin, or 65 percent of the roster

At Kansas State, traditionally, the recruiting base is Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma and Texas. Chris Klieman’s FCS powerhouse program has a total of 10 players from those states, or nine percent of the roster.

RECRUITING WINS

In terms of star ranking, two to immediately point to are a transfer and a current commit in the Class of 2019. Desmond Cain was a three-star out of high school that chose Illinois over other offers from Bowling Green, USF, Rutgers, Cincinnati, SMU and Virginia. He later transferred from the Illini and landed in Fargo. Also, NDSU secured a verbal pledge from three-star linebacker Luke Weerts from Illinois. Weerts had other offers from Kansas State, Cincinnati, Ball State and Northern Illinois.

Other solid wins include for quarterbacks Easton Stick and Trey Lance. The Bison defeated a Power Five school (Rutgers) for Stick and a MAC program (Northern Illinois) for Lance. Despite having an offer from Iowa, Hawkeye State native and running back Saybein Clark chose NDSU as well.

That wasn’t the only Big Ten program that Klieman and his staff secured a win over on the recruiting trail. They swiped away tight end Ben Ellefson from Purdue, also. Two other wins over Group of Five programs include tight end Noah Gindorff and offensive lineman Nash Jensen.

A few recruiting items of note would be their signees in the Kansas City area. NDSU landed Blue Springs running back Adam Cofield, Mill Valley High offensive tackle Ben Hecht and Raytown South brothers Jabril and Jasir Cox.

The Class of 2019 appears to be a promising one for Klieman and the Bison. Not only have they landed Weerts, they defeated FBS schools for defensive end Reed Ryan and tight end Travis Yohnke, as well.

Another worth mentioning is Kansas City standout defensive tackle Javier Derritt, whom hails from St. Thomas Aquinas High.

PROS

Well, to start, it is lazy to assume that Chris Klieman and his staff can’t recruit at the Power Five level. After all, they are recruiting to an FCS program and defeating FBS programs regularly, and in some cases, Power Five programs. Yes, some of that is the success and powerhouse that was started by Craig Bohl. But Bohl wasn’t recruiting at this level, either.

He may not have the background or base that matches K-State, but the body of work speaks for itself in terms of who they’ve been able to land thus far in Fargo. And speaking of that, identifying the right talent, and the talent that fits, is one of their best traits, as well.

Unlike some of the other candidates in the mix for the Kansas State head coaching position, Klieman’s past does show a foothold in the Kansas City metro, which is paramount for the Wildcats. His ties, relationships and connections are deeply rooted in the Midwest, and in Big Ten territories, but he does have a foundation laid in Kansas and Kansas City. Klieman would also be able to sustain their footprint in Florida.

And FCS or not, he has national championships, trophies, awards and a ton of accomplishments to sell.

CONS

It probably comes down to fit. It isn’t the best one from a recruiting perspective. Of course, Kansas State wants some recruiting connections and footprints in the Midwest, but that shouldn’t be the epicenter of their base. The states of Texas and Oklahoma are critical, and Klieman’s staff is bare in that department.

To handle the needs and focuses of Kansas State’s recruiting foundation and footprint, Klieman would have to overhaul and re-assemble his staff quite a bit to make up for some of the voids they have as currently constructed. He’s really only had one staff while in Fargo, so that could present some challenges he’s never been faced with in his coaching tenure.

They’re recruiting successes against FBS and Power Five programs probably is an indicator that it wouldn’t be as much of a challenge that some would anticipate, but recruiting against Power Five schools on a daily basis is still something they have yet to do. Is that a con? Probably not. But it’s something that is incomplete and not proven just yet. There’s evidence to suggest that they are prepared to handle it more than adequately, but there’s a limited amount of testimony to that point.

The recruiting load becomes more to handle at the FBS level, and there will be at least some adjustment and learning needed. In the FCS, the scholarship limit is 65, while it is 85 in the FBS. How much of a challenge or change is that, and what real effect does it have, or extra workload does it require?

I honestly don’t know. But it isn’t the status quo.

CONCLUSION

Can it work? It probably can. Are there more roadblocks or more concerns on the recruiting front with Klieman than some other candidates? Honestly, yes.

It is a bit troubling that they have not recruited Texas or Oklahoma while at NDSU. They don’t have to in order to be successful in Fargo, but you do in order to be successful in Manhattan. He’ll have to add to his staff at K-State to have the presence, connections and ties to the high school coaches and programs in Texas and Oklahoma that his current one does not have.

Re-assembling and making changes to the coaching staff is something he’s rarely had to do.

Can they overcome these shortcomings, obstacles and challenges? Yes. But it’ll take doing some things they’ve never done, learning on the job and quickly, making changes to their own operation that they probably believe in whole-heartedly and amending some of their current strategies.

Some will say it doesn’t make sense to bring in a coach if you immediately want him to change. That’d be tough to disagree and argue with. But he and his staff are good at coaching football, bringing in top football talent, winning on the recruiting trail and have always won on the football field.

Is it a risk worth taking? Who knows if we’ll find out.