Kansas State football: 15 best wide receivers in Wildcats history

Greatest wide receivers in Kansas State football history: 9. Michael Smith

Michael Smith played for the Wildcats when it all changed. The wide receiver first came to the Little Apple in 1988 to play for head coach Stan Parrish. Parrish only won two games as K-State’s head coach and those came in his first season in Manhattan in 1986. K-State would go winless in Smith’s first year on campus, but former Iowa Hawkeyes offensive coordinator Bill Snyder brought a swift end to that once he took over as head coach in 1989.

After having just eight catches for 77 yards and a touchdown in a winless 1988 Kansas State season, Smith would have a huge breakout year in 1989. The sophomore receiver had 70 receptions for 816 yards and two touchdowns that season. Kansas State might have only won one game that season, but the culture change was already set in motion.

Smith didn’t have the catches he did in his junior season like he did the year before. However, he still finished his third year playing in the Big Eight with 46 grabs for 796 yards and two touchdowns. K-State would improve from 1-10 to 5-6 in Smith’s sophomore and junior seasons with the program.

In what as Smith’s last season with the Wildcats as a player, he had 55 catches for 768 yards and a career-high six touchdowns. Though the Wildcats would achieve their first winning season since 1982 with a 7-4 record, K-State didn’t go bowling for some reason. Regardless, Smith was a tone-setter for the massive cultural overhaul of the Kansas State program in the early 1990s.

He finished his playing career with 179 catches for 2,457 yards and 11 touchdowns. Smith ranks fourth in Kansas State history in both receptions and receiving yards, as well as 10th all time in receiving touchdowns. His ability to become a reliable receiver in a rebuilding program was certainly valued by Snyder and his coaching staff.

Smith would join Snyder’s staff as a student assistant in 1993 and would go on to serve on his staff in multiple capacities through the 1990s to the 2010s. From 1995 to 2005, he would go from graduate assistant to running backs coach to wide receivers coach. Once Snyder came back to K-State in 2009, Smith would rejoin him for a few years. He has since been the Arkansas Razorbacks receivers coach and is now Mark Stoops’ receivers coach with the Kentucky Wildcats.