Kansas State Football: How to proceed after disastrous loss to Iowa State

3. Wildcats need to do a better job of recruiting and a better job of closing.

The 2020 recruiting class for the Wildcats, on signing day, likely concludes in a disappointing fashion. Due to COVID, the Wildcats have been unable to get prospects on campus and in the facility for visits.

As a result, the misses on the Kansas State recruiting class will likely sting. Admittingly, their best prospect is quarterback Jake Rubley, who is originally from the Colorado area. Rubley is one of the best quarterback prospects that K-State has ever brought in.

However, the Cats appear to truly lack a closer, a member on the coaching staff that gets on the phone, or on a zoom (it’s 2020, it’s all zoom nowadays) that locks it down. Too often, Kansas State is involved, they are leading for a recruit, a prospect may be wrapping up their recruitment only to pledge their services elsewhere.

That was on display, of sorts on Saturday, when Breece Hall from Wichita ran all over the Wildcats. Hayden Pauls from Emporia is a developing offensive lineman for the Cyclones despite having been offered and aggressively recruited by Kansas State football.

A lot of the issues with this class are COVID-related. The Cats don’t have the ‘name brand’ to sell quite like other programs, especially in the SEC. The prospect list in Kansas for the 2021 class is not what the 2020 class was. The Cats are hoping, assuming they can get prospects on campus after the April 15 visit deadline is lifted, they can get their mojo back a bit.

What Kansas State football witnessed on Saturday was a program doing things the Wildcats want to but are further down the road in their progress. Iowa State isn’t fancy, they often keep it simple. They find players and recruit players to what they want to do and ask them to do those things they do well.

The Kansas State Wildcats saw the reality of the work left to do – 48 points worth exactly.