We've talked about a couple of teams in the north already. 2 perennial door mats. Colorado only recently has been of that status, but shows no sign of returning to respectability any time soon. Iowa State has been terrible historically but now show signs of life. Today I'd like to opine on a team that was once one of the absolute worst in college football; one of our neighbors to the west, the Kansas State Wildcats.
Pick most any time frame, pre Bill Snyder and you can present a solid argument that they were not one of but
the worst. As evidence I present a 28 game losing streak, one, that's right,
one, bowl appearance during a 90 year period and having a punter in their ring of honor. They were 299-510 in their history in 1989 for goodness sakes!
However, in 1989 they took a chance on a relatively unknown offensive coordinator with the Iowa Hawkeyes and brought Bill Snyder to become the head coach. Snyder was a tireless worker and a master of scheduling and over the next decade brought them not only to respectability, but got them a #1 ranking and within 10 minutes or so of an appearance in the national championship game. He was also the beneficiary of such assistants as Bob and Mike Stoops, Mark Mangino and Jim Leavitt. He retired in 2005 to ride off into the sunset....sort of as he continued to have an office as a special consultant. He apparently was largely responsible for the absolute train wreck of the hire that was Ron Prince.
So after the failed experiment with 'scary smart" ended, who should come back to save the day? Why old Mr Burns himself. To be fair, there was a marked improvement record wise fot the Cats last season as they went 6-6 and missed a bowl due to the fact that they'd played 2 Division 1AA members in getting to those 6 wins. Foiled by his own scheduling strategy. Gotta love that one.
So now we move on to 2010. K State loses their best running back, receiver, kick returner and a number of starters from what was a respectable if not spectacular defense. They received little help in recruiting although they have managed to pick up the Brown brothers from Wichita after they decided to transfer from their previous colleges. That will provide them with no relief this season those as they'll both be forced to sit out the season. While I'll never underestimate what Snyder accomplished during his 1st tour of duty, I think it may be even more difficult this time around due to stricter academic standards and an even greater disparity in athletic budgets. They is also a lot more energy on the basketball side of things now as Frank Martin is proving to be a much better head coach than I originally expected. However, one thing K State will always have is one of the weirdest mascots in college athletics this side of the Wisconsin Badger. And when watching and cheering on K State, don't forget to bring your
power towel.
Not sure how quickly I'll get to something else since I stupidly agreed to work a graveyard shift this week. But whenever I make it back we'll talk about everybodies favorite team to hate. The kansas jayhawks. Have a great week folks.
Wow, way to research your teams before blogging about them. First of all, K-State didn't lose thier best Running Back this season. They return the top running back in the conference, Daniel Thomas. They lose thier top reciever and return man in Brandon Banks, but enter two high profile transfers with Broderick Smith and Chris Harper. The Offensive Line is strong with alot of seniors and returning starters. On D, they lost a few from last years mediocre D, but get back a couple of players who were injured last year. Brandon Harold and Kadero Terrell are back after sitting out to injury last year. There is plenty of depth in the Defensive Secondary. Only worry on D going into the Spring is at the LB position. Snyder looks to be moving players around and switching positions to find the best fit. KSU could have a surprise year, especially with a healthy and more experienced Daniel Thomas, who could easily be the best back in next years draft.
ReplyDeleteI absolutely whiffed on Thomas. However, in addition to losing Banks, you also lost Lamark Brown, Snipes and Mastrud. You're losing a starting tackle and 4 of your front 7 on defense. I never get too excited about injured players returning as I've been disappointed too often in such cases as Chase Patton, Van Alexander and outside of one year, Danario Alexander. I'm not holding out a trememdous amount of hope for Luke Lambert, Josh Tatum or Munir Prince this year either, until I see them contribute.
ReplyDeleteAs for transfers and actually young players that haven't seen the field, I give you Andy Maples, Howard Brisette, Steve Sanchez or for that matter, Mario Whitney or Josh Barbo. Until they've done it, they've done it.
That being said, thanks for keeping me honest.