Is Kansas State on the Upswing?
10 comments so far
June 26, 2009 by
KSU fans probably hold Bill Snyder in similar esteem as Husker fans hold Tom Osborne. He’s simply the best coach many of them have seen leading their team and perhaps the best they can reasonably expect they will ever see. Seeing their man return had to be a heart-warming experience. And yet, is it fair to think lightning will strike twice? More specifically, will 2009 be the year that the Wildcats become one of the better teams in the Big 12 North?
The early consensus among prognosticators seems to be that Kansas State will finish fifth out of the six Big 12 North teams. The team just lost a “star” quarterback in Josh Freeman and a standout defensive end in Ian Campbell. Their recruiting over the past five seasons has been sub-par by conference standards. They also now have to get acclimated to their new coaching staff. But there are some reasons for hope.
KSU’s best recruiting class of the past five seasons was the juco-heavy class of 2008. Many of those players are now seniors including 2008 Big 12 Offensive Newcomer of the Year Brandon Banks. Banks could suffer as a wide receiver in the absence of Freeman, but then the Wildcats schedule isn’t impossible either. A 3-1 non-conference record seems like a slam-dunk (though road trips to Louisiana and UCLA could leave the team 2-2). There are at least four or five winnable conference games including a neutral-site game versus Iowa State and home dates against Texas A&M, Colorado, Kansas, and Missouri.
Phil Steele, the often right but contrarian college football prognosticator likes the Wildcats to finish second in the Big 12 North (tied with Colorado). If he’s right, KSU might be a seven or even eight-win team. That might put them in position to land a good recruiting class. While they aren’t off to a fast start, they’ve at least tried to get better players early. The three recruits committed to Kansas State are three-star recruits, which often wasn’t the case under former coach Ron Prince, who locked up a lot of two-star recruits early in the process (as if he were in a hurry to get his recruiting over with).
If Kansas State can cash in with a moderately successful season and improved recruiting, they may claw their way out of the Big 12 basement. There’s still a long way to go to contend with Oklahoma. But no program is built in a year and Snyder just needs to show progress. Another five-win season will probably be too much to overcome. When the seniors graduate the team will be in rebuilding mode yet again. So they need to strike now or else they may miss their window of opportunity. Another 2-6 conference season would be a catastrophe.
Maybe Snyder can muster up another miracle. If not, his team may be in real trouble.
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bnahusker Jun 26 09
Bringing Dr. Tom back as AD restored a sense of order and leadership. Bringing Snyder back as Head Coach seems to be more of a Band-Aid. (Tourniquet?) I agree with you in that if they don't get well soon, they could be in for a long spell of disappointment.
The good news for K-State is the fact that they know how to handle it!
GBR!
Bob
RedDenver Jun 26 09
I'm just not buying KSU as a legit team this year. Much like NU last season, the Wildcats must answer whether the players have any heart. And even if they do, there's still a large lack of talent in Manhatten. I'm penciling them in for a 6-6 year.
Matt Jun 26 09
I'm not buying what they're selling either re: KSU. Now, next year...that's another story. And the year after that...WAY different story.
JuCo-laden teams are more often than not rollercoasters in the results department.
ksuwild Jun 26 09
I can tell you one thing for sure. Our defense will be MUCH better in 2009 than they were in our previous 3 seasons.
If we can get decent play out of our QB we may indeed surprise many teams this year. Talent wise we have a better team returning than our record showed last season (coaching anyone).
We do have talented recievers returning if we can get the ball to them. Brandon Banks ran a 4.27 in the 40 earlier this year and is a proven threat once the ball is in his hands.
I tend to lean more towards Phil Steele's predictions than Athlon or some of the other preseason prognosticators.
tom Jun 26 09
Steve,
Putting "star" in quotes made my day.
Joel Schmidt Jun 26 09
amen tom.
Also, what kind of position do you think Snyder is in as that coach? It wouldn't be exactly as monumentous as if TO came back for us (I'm glad he is where he is, don't get me wrong), but what if they do bottom out like everybody predicts? Would the fans really turn on their old coach? They could suffer miserably the next several years without a strong upswing, especially with the waning Ju-Co power in this year's class, and I don't know how much of a factor Snyder will be to prevent that.
Honestly, a team this powerless would be a prime place for the Blackshirts to get a good shutout in conference and prove their ability to lock down against the best the purple cats will have for the forseeable future.
Or am I totally off here?
ksuwild Jun 27 09
I think you might be underestimating Bill Snyders proven ability to squeeze the most out of his players here Joel.
Besides, it's not just our head coach that got upgraded... it's our whole coaching staff. That is something definitely worth noting.
Snyder would be the first to tell you that defense wins championships. Our defense was absolutely atrocious last year... and wasn't much better the two years before. That was more coaching than players in retrospect.
He also knows that teams that cannot rush the football will struggle down the stretch. Prince apparently never got that memo.
All in all I think you will see pretty early on that Kansas St. is much more sound football team from top to bottom than over the previous few years.
Will we beat you guys this year? Probably not. Will you shut us out? I seriously DOUBT IT.
Harley Jun 27 09
While I not sold on KSU being a player in the North this year, Snyder knows what needs to bring a program up. What is unknown is whether he learned from his last few years as HC when KSU went into a decline.
I respect his devotion to that program. Time will tell.
Harley Jun 27 09
While I am not sold on KSU being a player in the North this year, Snyder knows what needs to bring a program up. What is unknown is whether he learned from his last few years as HC when KSU went into decline.
I respect his devotion to that program. Time will tell.
ksuwild Jun 30 09
http://www.bringonthecats.com/section/kansas-state-football
If you don't want to watch the full video at you should at least go to the 4:40 mark. It will answer the questions one might have about how Bill Snyders teams play.