MANHATTAN — When John Anthony, co-founder of the Aer Lingus Classic, approached Gene Taylor about bringing the Kansas State University football team to Dublin, Ireland, for the opening game of the 2025 college season, he I knew that was only half the battle.
Taylor, K-State's director of athletics, was all for the idea, but with an important caveat. The real question was how head coach Chris Klieman felt about not only sacrificing home games, but moving the entire operation overseas.
So when Klieman congratulated him during the Aug. 23 game against Big 12 rival Iowa State at Aviva Stadium in Dublin, Anthony made sure to give him a shout-out.
“Anybody who's ever worked with a football coach, he understated what their mindset was going to be about these things,” he said for a soccer promotion in Manhattan. Anthony said with a smile during Friday's press conference. “But after a thorough conversation, he quickly understood the value of having a truly transformative experience for his team and for the student-athletes, and that's what he was all about.
So, thank you very much for accepting my invitation.
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That may be an oversimplification of the process by which K-State and Iowa came together to restart their Farmageddon standoff on foreign soil. As a former Naval Academy administrator, Taylor enjoyed first-hand game experience in Ireland, but still had some questions.
“I was still a little reluctant, to be honest,” Taylor said. “But I said, 'Let's talk to Coach Klieman and see how it goes.'”
As expected, Kleeman wasn't too keen on the idea at first. But then he followed Anthony's advice and looked for other coaches who took the team to Ireland. The 2025 match will be the fourth match for which Aer Lingus is the title sponsor and the 10th match in Ireland overall.
“Gene came to me probably a few months ago, and football coaches are kind of creatures of habit and routine, and I didn't know if it was going to be great,” Klieman said. . “I knew it was going to be a great opportunity, but I'm like, 'Okay, how is that going to affect a lot of things?'
“And I reached out to some coaches that I know well in the industry who were in that game. And the common theme was that if I could do it every year, I'd like to do it every year. It touched my heart.” ”
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The reaction from Klieman's own staff was similar.
“I went on a visit with some coaches, Irish coach (Conor) Reilly, and he was like, ‘If you don’t go, I’ll go.’ So with our staff, too. It was very well received,” Klieman said. “And when we surprised the players with that, you could see the energy and excitement of the players.
“And for these kids, this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to experience something they'll never experience again in their lifetime. And for me, it's an opportunity for my wife and I to experience something we've never experienced before. ”. ”
In fact, Anthony pointed out the game's tagline as “more than just a game.”
And that was the impetus for Friday's press conference. The idea was to promote travel packages to bring as many fans as possible to Ireland for the match.
“I think everybody who's in can expect the best week of their life,” Anthony said, “so we've been talking about the players and obviously that's what we've talked about (with Klieman) the most, but for all the fans, it's really a once-in-a-lifetime trip.”
Arne Green is based in Salina and covers Kansas State University sports for the Gannett Network. You can contact him at: agreen@gannett.com Or on Twitter @arnegreen.
