KSU News?
- Thread starter JohnRossEwing
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He is a K State guy, former player, he understands the tradition. Long time coach at K State, knows the Bill Snyder formula for winning as well as anyone except Bill himself. Not taking him as the next head coach at K State would be a huge mistake. He is light years a head of anyone else in knowing what the program is all about.
Ok. But it seems to me, as great as Snyder is, that what the KSU tradition is all about is getting close to winning something significant, but never quite making it. Maybe they need a legit winner like Leavitt to come in and take them that next step?
As a K-State fan, I expect this to get nasty as well. It already is down here. Bill is, of course, fighting cancer. Thus the bad look. He's also headstrong as a Missouri mule about Sean replacing him.
K-State's young A.D. moved on to Tennessee. He had arranged the Leavitt turnover but Bill balked. The new A.D. was a surprise choice, since Laird Veatch, who played for Bill, was ready to take the job. My guess is that Bill nixed that and Gene Taylor was chosen. Veatch is now at Florida.
Will Snyder gets his way, only God knows. It's ultimately up to the school president, former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, Richard Myers. If he doesn't, he'll likely coach till he dies.
BTW, he had a very good team going into the year but lost the starting QB early on and the season went south, quickly.
K-State's young A.D. moved on to Tennessee. He had arranged the Leavitt turnover but Bill balked. The new A.D. was a surprise choice, since Laird Veatch, who played for Bill, was ready to take the job. My guess is that Bill nixed that and Gene Taylor was chosen. Veatch is now at Florida.
Will Snyder gets his way, only God knows. It's ultimately up to the school president, former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, Richard Myers. If he doesn't, he'll likely coach till he dies.
BTW, he had a very good team going into the year but lost the starting QB early on and the season went south, quickly.
Leavitt could live to be 100 and never be a Bill Snyder, Snyder is an absolute lock for the hall of fame starting day one.
Good point. Nothing is the answer. His name was raised above and I used it. But you understand my larger point. Maybe it is time for KSU to either settle for being the "little team that could" but never wins anything big OR try and take that next step by going out and hiring a proven winner on the championship level
Of course he is. He is a great, great coach. But let's be honest... how many titles has he won? So since he is such a great coach, has KSU peaked and have gotten as high as they can go, or can they go even higher and build on the rock solid foundation Snyder built?
One thing for sure they do not want another Ron Prince experience, Prince was a young up and coming hot coaching prospect that everyone thought could restore the order at K State and take them to the next level. We all know how that debacle turned out.
Bill Snyder was inducted into the Hall of Fame a couple years ago. He's won 6 division titles and two outright conference championships.
Amen to that. The Ron Prince debacle was unbelievable. He has the dubious distinction too of never having beaten Bill Callahan at Nebraska.
Maybe Snyder's son is the best option. Maybe not. And I have no idea what the mood is in Manhattan about who they want
Sounds like the current status of every team in the Big Ten West?
Two conference titles in how many years of coaching? This kind of makes my point. I am not trying to trash Snyder or be argumentative here. Just trying to cut through the rhetoric and fog about LHCBS and ask about what it was he really built. And what he built was a tough and consistent winner. What he built was a team that you will always get a tussle from. But KSU has not been an elite team under his watch. Once in a while he had a Michael Bishop type and they contended for elite status. But they just never quite seemed to make it. So have they peaked or can they go higher?
K-State was ranked #1 during Collin Klien's time here a few years back. They were also #1 during Bishop's time.
I doubt they get that high under Bill again. But today's K-State is vastly different than what was here when he came. You guys know that.
He's in the HOF. Coaches marvel at his record. I'm not sure what needs defending.
I doubt they get that high under Bill again. But today's K-State is vastly different than what was here when he came. You guys know that.
He's in the HOF. Coaches marvel at his record. I'm not sure what needs defending.
Bam.
Impossible not to admire what he did there. KSU was one of the worst 10 teams in the whole freaking country, and he had them one freaking game away from playing in the national title. He did OK.
Actually twice. If Bishop had beaten aTm and Klein had won in Waco against rape U, State would have been in two national title playoffs.
Nothing needs defending because nothing is being attacked. I am not "attacking" Snyder or calling into question his greatness or his HOF status or that he turned one of the worst programs in the history of football into a consistent winner. Check, check, and check. All boxes for greatness marked and noted. And I am not being sarcastic... I truly love the guy and think he is one of the greatest coaches of all time.
What I am really trying to do here is to have a simple and honest conversation about where KSU needs to go from here. Hand things off to Snyder's son to keep the status quo going or try and hire that ever-elusive "homerun hire" type coach that can get KSU into the upper tier on a consistent basis? But if it is the former it raises the question: just what is the status quo at KSU? What is it that they have really accomplished? Who are they really as a program right now? And is that what we want to keep going? Or... do we get impatient or starry-eyed (or whatever you want to call it) and swing for the fences to try and lure in someone who might just change some things in a big way in order to get KSU to elite status?
You point out that KSU was rated number one twice... until they lost and weren't number one anymore. Once again... I am not attacking Snyder just trying to pin down just what it is he is leaving behind. But that is precisely the point I am making. Under Snyder KSU flirted with greatness but never really got it. It would have been similar if Osborne had retired in 93 instead of 97 without ever having won a national title. He would have been remembered as a great, great coach, but not a coach who could ever win the "big one".
For my money, I would go with Snyder's son. I would preserve what Snyder has built. And who knows? Maybe his son will be the guy to win that first national title?
