Kansas State Football: Identity crisis plagues Wildcats
By John McCarty
During the first run, from when Snyder was hired in 1989 until when he stepped down in 2005, Kansas State could be described as a unique place.
A program that had reached one bowl in it’s history, the 1982 Liberty Bowl, postseason play became a standard and norm for the Snyder led Wildcats. This started in 1992 with their Copper Bowl appearance and lasted through the 2003 upset victory over top ranked Oklahoma and appearance in the Fiesta Bowl.
Known for outworking other coaches and an ability to find talent in places others didn’t look, Snyder was known for ‘Turning over any rock he could’ to find talent, according to John Kurtz. A tenacious defense and offense built around the option run game that would go around and over opponents with regularity.
Off the field, Snyder had a reputation for being difficult to deal with in the media, granting little to no media access and offering little to no information. Consistently winning, fans and media chose not to question the coach.
However, after the 2003 season, the Wildcats saw the departures of star players such Darren Sproles, Terry Pierce and Ell Roberson, the program was unable to sustain success, winning only nine games combined during the 2004 and 2005 seasons before Snyder would announce his resignation prior to a season ending victory over the University of Missouri.
The first downfall can be attributed to not only the departure of the impact talent already on the roster, but also, because the Wildcat program made an effort to recruit a higher caliber player coming off the bowl win. While the conference championship opened doors to the staff on the recruiting trails, but were unable to seal the deal.
Time spent not landing recruits was compounded by not spending time on other talent, and the Wildcats suffered depth issues leading to a severe lack of talent.
"Time lost on players took time away from other talent and Wildcat program bottomed out.- John Kurtz, KMAN"