Kansas State Football: Identity crisis plagues Wildcats

Another issue for the Cats, and through no fault of their own, is the emergence of what we will call the second tier programs. During the 90’s, some schools such as Central Florida were not big on the scene and South Florida literally did not exist.

Baylor and TCU were not good programs, Texas Tech wasn’t that great either. Various other programs that may have been 1AA (FCS) are now FBS schools and the Cats have to recruit against those programs.

"“More viable second tier programs, especially around Florida and Texas is more competition for the same level of talent.” John Kurtz, KMAN"

Another issue that is starting to emerge is the programs inability to keep the players on their roster they do actually sign. Since the start of fall camp in August of 2017, the Wildcat football program has seen a staggering 27 players depart with eligibility remaining.

Combined with roughly 16 seniors that graduated following the 2017 Cactus Bowl, and this program has seen over 40 players leave the program since the start of 2017.

Part of the success at Kansas State has always been build upon program depth across the board. There was always someone there to pick up the slack. Now however, that’s not the case. Issues with depth have trickled down to special teams (a staple of Wildcat success since Snyder arrived in 1989) where that part of the team has surprisingly struggled this season.