Asked the last time he was back in Kansas, Koenning, the former three-year starting linebacker and team captain at Kansas State, was stuck. “Probably for an alumni game, when Stan Parrish was coaching,” he said. Following his resignation from the defensive coordinator position at Clemson, Koenning might find himself back in the Little Apple. Koenning, 48, was packing up his family’s home in Clemson, S.C., when he took about 25 minutes to talk about a variety of topics, including the “secret” to attacking the prolific offenses currently populating the Big 12.
1. What happened at Clemson?
I didn’t feel, for what we accomplished… Nine weeks in a row of not allowing 200 yards of passing, four seasons in the top 20 in total defense and the top 16 in scoring defense? For them not to be able to make a commitment to me, I didn’t think that was right. But it’s the new coach’s call, 100 percent, to make his call, and I’m not spiteful. But I would have hoped the administration would have said something… It’s like when you have beautiful roses in the garden. If you have a few weeds, you don’t cut down the rose bushes along with the weeds, too.