Snyder facing grueling Big 12, own legacy with comeback
I was there covering Bill Snyder's first game as a head coach 19 years ago. It was pretty much like the previous 800-plus in Kansas State history.
The Wildcats lost 31-0 at Arizona State that night. They were barely competitive. But there was something different. They lined up right. That was a big deal for Kansas State back then. They were precise for the first time in a long time. They still got their butts kicked but I remembered way back where the cobwebs play that something had changed.
Kansas State entered and left the field in this weird, amoeba-like formation called the "Cat Trot". Snyder brought it from Iowa, where Hayden Fry used it as a sign of unity. Nice touch, but what did it have to do with winning?
Turned out everything Bill Snyder did had something to do with winning. He worked in his still-renovating, open-air office with flies buzzing around his head. Eating and sleeping were considered nuisances that took away from game preparation.
There were complaints from Snyder about frozen pats of butter for his players at team dinners. The coach is still mocked by a national sports talk show host for allegedly complaining about his team having to sit on the sunny side of a plane during a road trip.
Control freak? You bet.
What coach isn't? That's not the issue here. The College Football Hall of Fame should waive its waiting period (like it did for Joe Paterno and Bobby Bowden) and induct Snyder right now. The Miracle in Manhattan should live forever. Only those of us who experienced it can truly know the depths to which Kansas State football had sunk.
That's the point of a 69-year-old legend trying to make a comeback -- and it would be a comeback. Snyder was a great coach but he was 9-14 in his final 23 games.
"I told my staff if I do that when I'm 69, I hope somebody takes me out," Missouri's Gary Pinkel said Monday.
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| Bill Snyder was 9-14 in his last 23 games at K-State. (AP) |
The Big 12 is a different animal than the Big Eight he entered in 1989, or even the Big 12 he left in 2005. Missouri is an annual contender for the conference championship game. Nebraska is on the rise. Kansas went to the Orange Bowl last season. Kansas State will have to play three South Division opponents each year. The South has established itself as equal to the SEC East with four teams currently ranked in the top 11.
Sure, he is used to playing those teams, but that was when Kansas State was a power. Now it is trying to lift itself up. Again. As great a coach as he is, Snyder had a great staff that went on to great careers. At his age, can he assemble the 2008 equivalent of his coaching tree -- Bob Stoops, Mike Stoops, Mark Mangino and Jim Leavitt?
"There might be some people who think he's not young enough and can he do it a second time around," K-State president Jon Wefald said. "I don't know if you saw the other day, Joe Paterno is in for four more years. You might remember Ronald Reagan, he started that second term at age 72. The Republican nominee this year, John McCain, is age 72. Millions of people voted for him."
Actually, those are anomalies, not trends. Paterno actually doesn't have a four-year deal. He doesn't even have a contract, only a desire to return for 2009 -- after hip replacement surgery. Reagan starting a second term (or even a first term) at an advanced age wasn't exactly a plus for the disenfranchised he left behind with his elitist administration.
McCain? An argument can be made that he didn't win because of his age.
K-State's stadium was eventually named in the coach's honor, Bill Snyder Family Stadium. The irony is that Snyder himself said over the years that he neglected his family for his coaching duties. One famous story involves the recruiting of his son Ross by a junior college. The day Ross signed with an area junior college, Snyder asked a reporter, "Who did he sign with?"
"I'm not going to let that happen again," Snyder said Monday.
That doesn't jibe with Snyder's farewell press conference. Three years ago he tearfully referred to his family neglect. It was poignant and heartfelt. Snyder hoped there was enough time to make up for his lack of attention.
The great man stood there Monday saying his family urged him to get back in if that was his wish. They would support him fully.
"Every time I see him he's missing coaching and missing the (players)," Texas' Mack Brown said.
Snyder basically said he made a mistake retiring. I do know he has cemented his status as an all-time great. That won't change. His life will. Drastically. Kansas State football can't survive two mistakes in a row.
In 1989, it was all new. There was a sense of anticipation. The thrill can never be the same from when Snyder took the dregs of the sport to the top. Back then there were seven other foes to compete against. Now there are 12 -- 11 conference opponents and the man's own great legacy.
