Chris Klieman adds Matthew Middleton to Kansas State football staff as wide receivers coach
Kansas State's football coaching staff is back to full strength.
Head coach Chris Klieman announced Thursday that Matthew Middleton, a native Kansan who spent the past five seasons coaching wide receivers at Kent State, will fill the same role for the Wildcats. Middleton replaces Thad Ward, who left after one season for a similar position at Illinois.
"He is an energetic coach who will jump right in and develop a great relationship with our receivers, offensive unit and team as a whole," Klieman said of Middleton, a Kansas City, Kansas, native and graduate of Bonner Springs High School. "He has experience developing wide receivers into great football players and phenomenal young men, and his ties to the state of Kansas and the ability to bring him back home were added bonuses."
Middleton played football at Ottawa University and began his coaching career with the Braves, working with their wide receivers for one year after graduating in 2008. He then coached receivers and kick returners at Omaha from 2009-10 and at Chadron State in 2011, before spending the 2012 season as a graduate assistant at Kansas.
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Following his stint at Kansas, Middleton coached wide receivers and was the recruiting coordinator at South Dakota from 2013-17, then spent 2018-22 coaching the Kent State receivers.
"My family and I are extremely grateful to be a part of the amazing culture that coach Klieman and his rooted staff have created,” Middleton said in a statement. “We are thrilled to have an opportunity to serve the players, coaches, support staff and community at Kansas State."
In his five seasons at Kent State, Middleton's receivers accumulated six All-MAC honors. At Omaha, he worked alongside current K-State offensive line coach Conor Riley.
During his career, Middleton also earned three Bill Walsh Minority Internships with the NFL during the early part of training camp, working with the Chicago Bears (July 2015), Minnesota Vikings (2016) and Detroit Lions (2020).
Arne Green is based in Salina and covers Kansas State University sports for the Gannett network. He can be reached at agreen@gannett.com or on Twitter at @arnegreen.
This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Chris Klieman adds Matthew Middleton to Kansas State football staff
