Brian Anderson | Kansas State University

A 30-year coaching veteran with a versatile background of coaching offensive skill positions, Brian Anderson is in his seventh season as K-State’s running backs coach in 2025.

K-State running backs have found success every year with Anderson in Manhattan as he has tutored an All-Big 12 running back in each of his first six seasons on staff, including two of the four players in school history to record multiple 1,000-yard rushing seasons in Deuce Vaughn (2021, 2022) and DJ Giddens (2023, 2024). Anderson’s pupils have combined for four-straight seasons with a 1,000-yard rusher, the longest streak by the Wildcats since the 2001 through 2004 seasons.

 

The 2024 season saw the end of the career of Giddens, who Anderson coached to top-10 career marks in rushing yards per carry (2nd – 5.97), rushing yards (3rd – 3,087), 100-yard rushing games (3rd – 13), receiving yards by a running back (4th – 679) and rushing yards per game (5th – 79.2). During his junior campaign in which he was named a Doak Walker Award semifinalist, Giddens set a school record with 6.55 yards per carry, which was also the sixth-highest average in Big 12 history (minimum 200 carries). The All-Big 12 Second Team performer ranked eighth in the nation with that figure, while he also ranked eighth in scrimmage yards per game and 13th in rushing yards per game (111.92).

 

With Giddens doing a bulk of the work, Anderson helped the Wildcats finish second nationally in rushing yards per carry at 6.08 (1st in Big 12) and 11th in rushing yards per game at 215.5 (2nd in Big 12). K-State also set school records for offensive yards per play (6.57) and rushing yards per carry (6.08), while it ranked fourth in offensive yards per game (426.8), fifth in total offensive yards (5,549) and sixth in rushing yards (2,801).

 

Anderson saw a running back transition in the 2024 Rate Bowl as he tutored Dylan Edwards – who earned votes for the Big 12 Offensive Newcomer of the Year award – to a school bowl record 196 rushing yards, while his 223 all-purpose yards ranked second in K-State’s bowl history. Powered by Edwards, the Wildcats set the school record for total yards (542) and rushing yards (347) in a bowl game.

 

Edwards finished the 2024 season with a 7.4-yard average per carry to rank first among Power 4 running backs (minimum 70 carries), while he teamed with Giddens (6.6-yard average) and Avery Johnson (5.4-yard average) to make K-State the only Power 4 team in the country with three players averaging at least 5.4 yards per rush (minimum 70 carries).

 

In Giddens’ first season as the full-time starter in 2023, the Anderson pupil ranked 18th nationally and fifth in the conference in total rushing yards (1,226) as he produced the 19th 1,000-yard rushing season in school history.

During the 2023 season, Anderson’s backs helped K-State set a school record for fewest fumbles lost in a season (2), one fewer than the previous record set in 2012. The Wildcat running backs also helped the offense rank in the top 30 nationally in 11 statistical categories, including scoring (10th – 37.1 points per game), rushing (11th – 204.1 yards per game), third down conversions (11th – 47.9%), rushing touchdowns (12th – 32) and first downs (12th – 310). Additionally, the Wildcats ranked second in the country by scoring touchdowns on 78.46% of their red zone attempts.

K-State put up top-10 rankings in 32 game or season school record categories in 2023. Among those was a program-best 30 passing touchdowns, No. 2 rankings in offensive yards per game (445.2) and first downs (310), and a No. 3 showing in total yards (5,788).

The success by the offense and Giddens in 2023 came just one year after Anderson concluded tutoring one of the best player in school history in Vaughn, who became just the second player in school history to earn consecutive Consensus All-America honors by picking up the nod in 2021 and 2022. All Vaughn did during his three-year career was finish second in school history in career rushing yards (3,604) in addition to setting the school records for receptions (116) and receiving yards (1,280) by a running back. Vaughn also finished in the top 10 in K-State history in 11 other career categories, and he went on to be selected in the 2023 NFL Draft by the Dallas Cowboys.

Under the guidance of Anderson, Vaughn became just the third player in school history with multiple 1,000-yard rushing seasons as he went for 1,558 yards in 2022 en route to First Team All-America honors from the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA), The Athletic, ESPN, FOX Sports and Sporting News. Vaughn, who finished the season ranking in the top 10 in school history in seven categories, was named the 2022 Big 12 Championship Game MVP after rushing for 130 yards in K-State’s 31-28 overtime upset over No. 3 TCU.

Vaughn wasn’t the only Anderson protégé to make an impact in 2022 as Giddens, then a redshirt freshman, rushed for 518 yards and six touchdowns. He finished third in school history in rushing yards by a freshman and picked up votes for the Big 12 Offensive Freshman of the Year award.

Anderson’s running backs helped the 2022 Wildcat offense account for 208.3 rushing yards per game to rank 15th in the nation, K-State’s best ranking since 2003. That figure also ranked third in school history, while the Wildcats’ 2,916 total rushing yards ranked fourth and 32 rushing touchdowns ranked 10th. The running backs also helped K-State rank second in school history in total offensive yards (5,863), fifth in yards per game (418.8) and ninth in yards per play (6.12).

As a sophomore in 2021, Vaughn became the 11th Consensus All-American in school history as he ranked fourth nationally in total touchdowns (22), fifth in points per game (10.2), fifth in yards from scrimmage per game (144.0), eighth in rushing touchdowns (18) and ninth in rushing yards per game (108.0). Vaughn picked up First Team All-America honors from the Associated Press and Sporting News, and he was a second-team pick by CBS Sports, the AFCA and USA TODAY.

Vaughn and the rest of Anderson’s backs helped the 2021 K-State offense rank third in school history with 6.3 yards per play and sixth with 4.83 rushing yards per attempt, while they tied for second in the Big 12 with 29 rushing touchdowns.

Vaughn was one of the most electrifying true freshmen in the nation in 2020 thanks to Anderson’s teachings, which was impressive considering a condensed fall camp due COVID-19 protocols. Vaughn totaled 1,221 all-purpose yards – including 642 yards on the ground – in 10 games with nine total touchdowns. Vaughn was named the 247Sports True Freshman of the Year, a Freshman All-American by the Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) and The Athletic, an Honorable Mention All-American by Phil Steele and the Big 12 Offensive Freshman of the Year by the league’s coaches.

Under Anderson, Vaughn – who broke the K-State freshman records for rushing yards, yards from scrimmage (1,076) and all-purpose yards – was the first Wildcat true freshman to earn First or Second Team All-Big 12 honors on offense in the Big 12 era. Anderson and Vaughn – in addition to the other Wildcat running backs – helped K-State finish fourth in the nation and tops in the Big 12 in red zone offense at 93.9%.

Anderson tutored a running back group in 2019 that helped the Wildcats finish fourth in the Big 12 in rushing offense (178.0 yards per game) and third in the league in rushing touchdowns (29). Due to its work on the ground, K-State led the nation in red-zone offense at 96.2% – the best mark by the Wildcats since at least 2001 and the best by a Big 12 team since at least 2004. K-State also ranked ninth in the nation in time of possession at 33:27, the highest by a Wildcat team since 2012.

Not only did Anderson have to teach the running back group a new offense, he had to do so with zero scholarship running backs on the roster when he arrived. However, Anderson and the Wildcats did benefit from a pair of graduate transfers in James Gilbert and Jordon Brown, who finished first and third on the team in rushing, respectively. Under Anderson, Gilbert rushed for 737 yards and six touchdowns en route to All-Big 12 Honorable Mention accolades.

Anderson came to Manhattan from Illinois State, where he coached the wide receivers in 2018. He made an impact during his one season in Normal, coaching a receiving group that combined for 133 receptions for 1,913 and 15 touchdowns. Most of those figures were the production of Spencer Schnell, a First Team All-Missouri Valley Conference performer who capped off his career by leading the league in receptions with 65 and ranking second with 872 receiving yards.

Anderson also tutored Andrew Edgar, a Freshman All-American who set an Illinois State freshman record with 746 yards on 44 receptions to go along with four touchdowns. Edgar was also named to the MVFC All-Newcomer team.

 

A bulk of Anderson’s career has been with head coach Jerry Kill, first at Southern Illinois from 2001-07 and then at Northern Illinois from 2008-10 before joining him in Minnesota for the 2011-16 seasons.

At Minnesota, Anderson tutored the running backs from 2011 to 2013. During his final season at the position, Anderson helped produce the Gophers’ first 1,000-yard running back in eight years when David Cobb rushed for 1,202 yards. In 2012, Anderson coached Donnell Kirkwood, who churned out 926 yards during his sophomore campaign.

Minnesota receivers flourished under Anderson his final three seasons in Minneapolis, especially the 2015 season. Sixteen different Gophers, seven of them receivers, combined to catch 251 passes for 2,793 yards and 15 touchdowns. The 251 receptions were the most by a Minnesota team since 2008. Gopher receivers combined to catch 158 passes (62.9 percent) for 1,794 yards with 12 touchdowns.

Anderson coached senior KJ Maye to a record-breaking season in 2015. Maye, who started his Minnesota career as a running back, caught 73 passes for 773 yards and five touchdowns on his way to All-Big Ten accolades. His 73 receptions ranked second all-time and were the most ever for a senior.

Prior to his stint in Minneapolis, Anderson coached tight ends at Northern Illinois for three years after tutoring the wide receivers and kick returners at Southern Illinois the previous seven seasons.

Anderson has ties to the state of Kansas that go back to the late 1990s when he coached at Coffeyville Community College from 1997-2000, where three of his student-athletes went on to play in the NFL. He also coached two seasons at Highland Community College.

Anderson began his coaching career at Western Illinois, serving as a student assistant in 1994, before coaching wide receivers in 1995-96.

Anderson’s playing career began at Ellsworth Community College in Iowa Falls, Iowa. At Ellsworth, Anderson took part in the 1988 Royal Crown Cola Bowl and the 1989 Mid-American Bowl, that season’s NJCAA national championship game. He then moved on to Western Illinois, where he lettered as a wide receiver in 1991 and 1992.

Anderson holds a bachelor’s degree from Western Illinois, and he and his wife, Kerri, have a daughter Annabelle.