Junior College Recruiting Getting Harder - Even For KState

[50's PONY]

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Posted on Thu, Nov. 17, 2005



Big 12 Insider
Altered landscape makes K-State job risky endeavor
By JIMMY BURCH
Star-Telegram Staff Writer

Memo to TCU coach Gary Patterson, Oklahoma co-defensive coordinator Brent Venables or anyone else thinking of following Bill Snyder as football coach at Kansas State:

Be sure and kick the tires thoroughly on this opportunity before proceeding. This job might offer more pitfalls than advantages.

Without question, the vacancy is far more attractive than it was the day Snyder filled it in 1989. Back then, Snyder inherited a program riding a 27-game winless streak, with one career bowl appearance and a .376 winning percentage (299-509-41) over 92 seasons.

Snyder, 66, turned it around by working 18-hour days, demanding the same from his assistants and mining the nation's junior colleges for perennial talent infusions. That formula worked for Snyder.

But can it still work at K-State, in light of recent changes to recruiting rules that have made it more difficult to attract JC players in volume? If not, can another coaching blueprint produce long-term football success in Manhattan, Kan.?

It never did before. And the Snyder model, for all of its success, will turn over a program that has posted consecutive losing seasons to its successor.

Before anyone misinterprets this as Snyder-bashing, let me set the record straight: I concur with Barry Switzer, the former Oklahoma and Cowboys coach who once dubbed Snyder "the coach of the century" in college football. Snyder is the best we've seen, bar none, at taking available resources and maximizing on-field results. His streak of 11 consecutive bowl appearances (1993-2003), with seven seasons of double-digit victories, says it all.

That's why Tuesday's announcement of Snyder's retirement caused Texas coach Mack Brown to say he was "very emotional" about leaving a voice message on the answering machine of his peer at K-State.

"Football will miss Bill Snyder," Brown said. "Nobody will ever do for a school, in my estimation, what he did for Kansas State."

Bingo! Therein lies the biggest problem for the next coach at K-State. Can he live up to Snyder's legacy, working in a stadium soon to be renamed in Snyder's honor, and living by today's recruiting restrictions?

Perhaps. But it seems like a long shot.

In recent years, NCAA and Big 12 regulations have tightened the minimum eligibility requirements for JC transfers. From all indications, past stars like Michael Bishop and Quincy Morgan would have been hard-pressed to become Wildcats under the current guidelines.

In addition, more Big 12 schools -- notably Nebraska, Texas Tech, Texas A&M, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and Missouri -- are mining the thinned-down talent pool of JC players than ever before. A new NCAA rule also bans the use of private planes in the recruiting process.

Instead of taking direct flights to Manhattan, Kan., K-State prospects now must fly to Kansas City and make the 119-mile commute to campus via car. It's a subtle setback, but K-State -- and other schools in remote locations -- lobbied hard against the change, but to no avail.

Roll it together, and Snyder's successor will be asked to win at a comparable pace but with more restrictions on his ability to attract players than Snyder faced while building the program.

Can it be done? Bill Snyder proved you should never say "never" to that question. But the cruel reality is that K-State is waving goodbye to a once-in-a-lifetime coaching talent. And the next guy needs to understand the landscape before trying to follow in those footsteps.

2005 Star-Telegram and wire service sources. All Rights Reserved.
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