MANHATTAN — Kansas State football coach Chris Klieman came out of an abbreviated spring practice period pleased with the Wildcats' progress and satisfied that their roster remained mostly intact.

As for finalizing that roster, it remains both a challenge and a source of frustration.

"We're frozen right now, honestly, because we just don't know how that's going to look," Klieman said of a proposed House vs. NCAA settlement that would limit 2025 football rosters to 105 players . "And we don't know how each conference, each institution, or house this House settlement will play out as far as bringing more guys back or bringing more guys in. I just don't know."

The judge hearing the case has twice rejected the agreement, expressing concerns over slashing roster sizes all at once rather than phasing it in. Klieman said that the Wildcats currently are at 107 players, down from about 125 heading into the spring.

"That's the thing that is frustrating, is we're in May, and nobody knows what their roster is going to be for the season," Klieman said. "Nobody knows how many. Nobody knows anything.

"And it's awful for the players. It's awful for the coaches that we don't have an answer and nothing we can do other than just wait, and then when it gets thrown at us, then we'll figure it out. But that's kind of how college athletics is working right now. Nobody knows anything until you know something, then you better figure it out fast."

The good news for Klieman and the Wildcats is that they suffered minimal damage in the spring transfer portal window that closed April 25. They had only one defection from the 2025 recruiting class — four-star high school safety Noah King — and so far have added three veteran players with the possibility of more to come.

In fact, Klieman and his staff have been remarkably successful during the portal era in keeping players from heading elsewhere, one reason K-State is the lone Big 12 team to win at least nine games each of the last three seasons.

"It's relationships, it's development (and) it's growth," Klieman said. "There's opportunities for everybody to go and do something else. That's not going to change … with the new rules.

"I believe that the relationships and the development and what we're doing downstairs on the first floor with nutrition, with strength, with athletic training and recovery is as good as there is in college football, and I think our guys know and believe that."

Klieman and his staff often repeat that K-State takes pride in being a developmental program, which makes it essential that they retain those players over three and four years.

Then there is the personal touch.

"K-State's unique. It's special," Klieman said. "It's got great people here. It's got a great tradition here.

"And we still are probably understaffed, but I think that helps us in the fact that you're building more relationships with fewer people if you're a player … having fewer people that they're interacting with because they're building those relationships."

Just how many of those relationships will survive remains up in the air.

"I have a feeling it's going to be longer than shorter," Klieman said of the time frame for a final roster limit decision. "And even if they come out with something, then they have to decide, OK, what are the ramifications for that?

"I would have no guess."

Arne Green is based in Salina and covers Kansas State University sports for the Gannett network. He can be reached at or on X (formerly Twitter) at @arnegreen.