"I believe Ron has a system in place that embodies the core values and principles that this program was built upon"
- Bill Snyder circa the hiring of Ron Prince.
I firmly believe that those core values and principles that Prince was expected to continue were never a priority to him. From the beginning, it has been his way or the boot. You hear stories about Prince threatening everyone in the program, saying that everyone is under close watch now. The departure of Evridge, Hafferty, Webb, Courtney Greer, countless walk-ons, various staff members. It doesn’t add up to me.
Before I continue, let me make it clear that I am a faithful Kansas State fan. I am a fan of what Snyder built.
I think that it is time for Prince to go… He obviously feels pressure to produce this year, signing an outrageous 19 juco’s. People make a huge deal of juco’s being the only reason for success with Snyder. Juco’s played their part in the DOD, but they were not his core group. It is my firm belief that this is the year that he has to produce a minimum of 7 wins for his job to be safe.
We’re a program in a powerhouse conference that just got out of a game with a freaking WAC team. Are you kidding me? And we replace them with Montana State? That is a complete joke.
The entire west-coast offense that Prince runs is also a complete joke. Without Jordy last year, we win three games. No one else could catch the ball. Murphy was explosive but not a west-coast number 2 receiver. You have to be able to run the football with consistency to win in football. Every high school football coach in the state could tell you that. Running two little backs on draws and counters is not a consistent running game… How many times was it 3rd and short, and everyone knew the ball was going to Jordy. Nebraska came into BSFS in 06 and ran the ball down our throats, but still had a good passing game. That’s another thing, the 3-4 defense was a joke as well. We looked great against Auburn because Watts had the game of his life and Auburn’s offense was (and always is) fairly inconsistent early in the season.
The whole speed theme was yet another mistake. Having the fastest team in the conference is great, except when most teams have running backs that run over our backers. None of our backers could tackle… McKinney was probably the best overall tackler in ’07… In fairness to Prince, and knowing one of you would point it out, losing Kline hurt… Not having a solid DT is a pretty obvious sign of a defense that will be hurting.
The firing of Shorty… is there anything that needs to be said here that isn’t already known? A former staff member who now assistant coaches with me was there for the first year of Prince. He was there for most of Snyder’s tenure, and it made him absolutely sick to see what all was happening. He will not tell stories to K-State fans about Prince, because he doesn’t want to hurt the program’s support. Rod Cole’s departure was another particularly odd scenario. I personally would rather be the head Strength Coach at A&M than KSU if I wasn’t ever apart of KSU. But if you had been at KSU for all these years, then you all the sudden head off to A&M? He was coaching Flint Hill’s football team as well, on the side.
Without the Texas wins, do you think you would even consider Prince having success thus far? Those wins hide the truth that Prince has ruined this program. He hasn’t continued building upon the values of the University and the program…
I like to use this comparison… Look at what has happened at Wisconsin. Bielma continued what Alvarez had done at Wisconsin. He didn’t come in and completely change everything, he didn’t force players out, he respected walk-ons (not just the good ones), he kept tradition. The difference is Bielma was being groomed for the job, and was hired from within. That’s what should have happened with the hiring in the first place, or at least find someone who is going to genuinely continue the tradition. I thought Prince was going to be that guy…
It hurts me to see our football program that we protect and support isn’t the same program we all think that it is.
I didn’t put a lot of things in here because I honestly am getting sick of thinking about all of this. The more I remember instances and issues, the more I want to quit writing.
I do not know the solution as of yet. Prince isn’t involved in it, though, aside from dismissal.
"I consider it to have been a great privilege and an honor to have played for coach [Bill] Snyder and Kansas State, and I will always be grateful to him, his former staff and the university for giving me that opportunity”
- Hafferty
