K-State Football: Coaching drama could affect recruiting

In the midst of what appears to be a case of nepotism for K-State football, there are many questions. One is how the situation will affect football recruiting.

K-State football was just dealt a blow that is a bit hard to understand in this day and age. Reports have surfaced that long-time coach Bill Snyder used his influence to name his son, Sean Snyder, as successor, nixing a deal the school had with another candidate. This situation coming to light may end up having a big effect on the school’s football recruiting.

In today’s world of college football recruiting, most of the big name high school players don’t commit based on their favorite school. A lot of it has more to do with how the school recruits them, namely the connections between player and coach. That is something of a delicate balance that can be easily disrupted.

Kansas State has not been a recruiting powerhouse in recent years. That can be easily seen in this year’s class of commitments. K-State football currently ranks as the 83rd recruiting class in the country, according to 247.com. That is 12 spots below in-state rival, and Big-12 punching bag, Kansas.

Jim Leavitt had verbal agreement w/Kansas State last year to become head coach-in-waiting & replace Bill Snyder in 2018, but Snyder nixed it because he wanted his son Sean to replace him https://t.co/fcxi8GKyeI
— Brett McMurphy (@Brett_McMurphy) November 16, 2017

Drama Leads To Drama

New college recruits like to know what they are coming into with a program. These players have been made certain promises about what to expect. The validity, or at least the perception, of those promises for K-State commits is now in jeopardy. Players are now seeing that everything might not be as it seems in Manhattan, KS.

The current situation at K-State is also one that could very easily change overnight. With a real case to be made towards nepotism, the Wildcats may have to scrap their coaching plans and start over. That would create even more turmoil within the program, which would absolutely set recruiting back.

On top of that, Kansas State can’t exactly point to its success on the field right now. The Wildcats are struggling this year, and may not even qualify for bowl eligibility. This is probably the worst possible time to have an internal power struggle come to light, let alone any kind of a scandal.

Could Continuity Be Key?

Of course, there is the possibility that this all works out in the end for K-State football. It’s entirely possible that I am completely missing the mark here. Maybe Sean Snyder really is the most qualified man for the job because of his knowledge of the program. Maybe that puts him at an advantage.