WTF Bill

["storm"nut]

Snyder Not So Sure That `New Ways' are `Better Ways'

Jan. 18, 2011

Also See: K-State Takes on the Tigers in Columbia

By Mark Janssen

(Editor's Note: By NCAA rule, "Sports Extra" cannot list names of prospective recruits until they have actually signed with the university on Feb. 2.)

MANHATTAN, Kan. - Upon his return to the coaching sideline in 2009, LHC Bill Snyder had a choice to make when it came to recruiting.

He could continue to recruit in his comfort zone, or, he could blend in to the new trend of offering oodles of scholarships even prior to the first snap of the senior season for many players.

With the concern of having to take only what players were left if he didn't make the early offers, the Wildcat coach joined the relatively new trend.

Now just weeks before the Feb. 2, 2011, signing day, Snyder says, "I don't like what we're doing at all. That's nothing to do with the youngsters that we offered and have committed to us, but I'm just uncomfortable with the process. I thought I might grow to accept it, but that hasn't happened.

"There's a good chance that we might make some changes next year and temper what we're doing early," said Snyder. "We initially did it because everyone else was doing it, and the thinking that if we didn't, all the players would be gone.

"But what I'm seeing is a lot of quality football players out there, which would lead you to believe that a lot of youngsters go into their senior year and become prominent players," said Snyder. "They've improved their game, but some schools have already filled their boat at that given position."

Snyder says that the program had "18 or 19" commitments going into December adding that the ratio was roughly a one-third (community college) to two-thirds (high school).

"We're trying to balance our classes, but we face the double-edged sword of going to community colleges to fill immediate needs, but then that's not rectifying the problem that we inherited of having a top-heavy roster with older players," said Snyder in reference to this year's senior class that numbered 22.

In K-State's final-game starting lineup were 13 seniors, 7 juniors, six sophomores and two freshmen (including specialists).

Ideally, Snyder said he would like to have an average of 3.5 scholarships designated to each position on the field, and to have a senior, junior, sophomore and freshman at each position. But he admits, "That will take a long time."

Of this year's roster, Snyder said, "Our depth at some positions was really a problem. The guys we had on the field, were the guys we had available.

"If you don't have the depth, it's not a matter of not having a replacement, but you don't have the opportunity for other players to finish out ballgames," said Snyder. "Consequently, the only guys you have are the ones you have going all the time, which tends to wear them down."

Roster Makeup
While slightly altered by injuries, here's how K-State's two-deep roster looked for the New Era Pinstripe Bowl against Syracuse.

Starting Offense - Six seniors, two juniors, three sophomores

Starting Defense - Four seniors, four juniors, one sophomore, two freshmen

Starting Specialists - Three seniors, one junior, two sophomores

No. 2 Offense - Three seniors, four juniors, one sophomore, three freshmen

No. 2 Defense - Two seniors, seven juniors, two sophomores

No. 2 Specialists - Two seniors, one junior, two sophomores, one freshman
 
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[catzacker]

[steve dave]

good news if anything.  should make even the tardiest of powertards realize bill no longer tries and doesn't care about k-state.

[_33]

"That will take a long time."

 

[pissclams]

he's just building his excuse boat so he can sail it around MHK for a few more seasons before getting canned.  what an a-hole.

[MadCat]

"But what I'm seeing is a lot of quality football players out there, which would lead you to believe that a lot of youngsters go into their senior year and become prominent players," said Snyder. "They've improved their game, but some schools have already filled their boat at that given position."

Bill, you of all people should know that oversigning means your boat is never full.  For example, all of our QBs are now playing in the SEC.

EDIT: The only positive from this strategy appears to be that schools are unable to poach our commitment list earlier.

[O-town Kat]

It's pointless to effing pontificate on something like this to the media.  The simple answer is that you get the very best players available when available to fill your needs, and the viability of your program will take care of the rest. I hate listening to Bill 2.0 try to outsmart the world.

[j rake]

"There's a good chance that we might make some changes next year and temper what we're doing early," said Snyder.

No, Bill, this is it.

This upcoming season is your last. 

[Dugout DickStone]

Didn't we offer rough ridin' Tate before his senior season?

A loser who wouldn't have any offers?

[OlatheWildcat]

Didn't we offer effing Tate before his senior season?

A loser who wouldn't have any offers?

He could have just walked on 

[Dr Rick Daris]

he's just building his excuse boat so he can sail it around MHK for a few more seasons before getting canned.  what an a-hole.

yep. remember when prince wrote that ten page letter to the head of the catbackers club or whatever. instead of doing that, snyder just called up jannnsennn and had him do it for him.

[MadCat]

Didn't we offer rough ridin' Tate before his senior season?

A loser who wouldn't have any offers?

OB would rather have offered Tate closer to signing day.

[j rake]

It is clear that Bill doesn't have a plan. You would think after three years away he would at least have an idea of what, exactly, he wanted to do to "turn things around." But he doesn't. Not a clue. He's indecisive and he's waffling and, oh yeah, he still has hideous assistants who can't recruit or birth 5-star stud QBs or coach.

At least with Ron, you could see that he had a plan. Did his plan fail? Of course. But you could at least see what he was trying to do. His first order of business was to find a stud quarterback. He went and got Josh Freeman. Prince, as dumb as he was, at least understood that in order to give yourself a chance at being a good team you had to have a good quarterback.

Second order of business: Hire good assistants. Since Raheem Morris is the head coach of an NFL team that just went 10-6 in his second season, and because Vanderbilt thought highly enough of James Franklin that they offered him the head coaching job, I'd say that Prince did a nice job of bringing in talented assistants. Again, he could not keep them. He ran them off and treated them all like circus clowns. But his intentions were good.

Third, Prince wanted to get K-State some national exposure. He went out and scheduled games against Auburn and Miami and UCLA and other big-time schools. The move blew up in his face and did not work out as he had planned. But I still give him credit for trying to pump some excitement into a program that had grown stale over the previous two years.

We could go on and on about everything else that was in Ron's binder, but we've already been over all that.

But at least Ron had a binder.

Bill's "plan" is scribbled on an Arby's napkin.

[OK_Cat]

It is clear that Bill doesn't have a plan. You would think after three years away he would at least have an idea of what, exactly, he wanted to do to "turn things around." But he doesn't. Not a clue. He's indecisive and he's waffling and, oh yeah, he still has hideous assistants who can't recruit or birth 5-star stud QBs or coach.

At least with Ron, you could see that he had a plan. Did his plan fail? Of course. But you could at least see what he was trying to do. His first order of business was to find a stud quarterback. He went and got Josh Freeman. Prince, as dumb as he was, at least understood that in order to give yourself a chance at being a good team you had to have a good quarterback.

Second order of business: Hire good assistants. Since Raheem Morris is the head coach of an NFL team that just went 10-6 in his second season, and because Vanderbilt thought highly enough of James Franklin that they offered him the head coaching job, I'd say that Prince did a nice job of bringing in talented assistants. Again, he could not keep them. He ran them off and treated them all like circus clowns. But his intentions were good.

Third, Prince wanted to get K-State some national exposure. He went out and scheduled games against Auburn and Miami and UCLA and other big-time schools. The move blew up in his face and did not work out as he had planned. But I still give him credit for trying to pump some excitement into a program that had grown stale over the previous two years.

We could go on and on about everything else that was in Ron's binder, but we've already been over all that.

But at least Ron had a binder.

Bill's "plan" is scribbled on an Arby's napkin.

A+, j rake.  it's pretty much common knowledge now that RP is a way better coach than OB 2.0

[CNS]

RP was better bbs'n too.

[wabash909]

OB'll fix 'er!

Just add recruiting to the rest of the DIY projects in the offseason for him to tackle.  Bill’s got quite a list going.

And 50 pushups to whichever ass-hat assistants talked him in to evolving/adapting to the game of modern college football and not recruiting for 4 months during the season and then filling out your class with 18 ships two weeks before signing day with a bunch of unwanted leftovers.  Assuming it was probably that dumbass Vic Koenning.

[Pett]

I don't care how you do it Bill, just get good players.

[hemmy]

It is clear that Bill doesn't have a plan. You would think after three years away he would at least have an idea of what, exactly, he wanted to do to "turn things around." But he doesn't. Not a clue. He's indecisive and he's waffling and, oh yeah, he still has hideous assistants who can't recruit or birth 5-star stud QBs or coach.

At least with Ron, you could see that he had a plan. Did his plan fail? Of course. But you could at least see what he was trying to do. His first order of business was to find a stud quarterback. He went and got Josh Freeman. Prince, as dumb as he was, at least understood that in order to give yourself a chance at being a good team you had to have a good quarterback.

Second order of business: Hire good assistants. Since Raheem Morris is the head coach of an NFL team that just went 10-6 in his second season, and because Vanderbilt thought highly enough of James Franklin that they offered him the head coaching job, I'd say that Prince did a nice job of bringing in talented assistants. Again, he could not keep them. He ran them off and treated them all like circus clowns. But his intentions were good.

Third, Prince wanted to get K-State some national exposure. He went out and scheduled games against Auburn and Miami and UCLA and other big-time schools. The move blew up in his face and did not work out as he had planned. But I still give him credit for trying to pump some excitement into a program that had grown stale over the previous two years.

We could go on and on about everything else that was in Ron's binder, but we've already been over all that.

But at least Ron had a binder.

Bill's "plan" is scribbled on an Arby's napkin.

A+, j rake.  it's pretty much common knowledge now that RP is a way better coach than OB 2.0

No, it isn't. You dumbasses can be anti-Snyder without being a Prince-tard.

[OK_Cat]

It is clear that Bill doesn't have a plan. You would think after three years away he would at least have an idea of what, exactly, he wanted to do to "turn things around." But he doesn't. Not a clue. He's indecisive and he's waffling and, oh yeah, he still has hideous assistants who can't recruit or birth 5-star stud QBs or coach.

At least with Ron, you could see that he had a plan. Did his plan fail? Of course. But you could at least see what he was trying to do. His first order of business was to find a stud quarterback. He went and got Josh Freeman. Prince, as dumb as he was, at least understood that in order to give yourself a chance at being a good team you had to have a good quarterback.

Second order of business: Hire good assistants. Since Raheem Morris is the head coach of an NFL team that just went 10-6 in his second season, and because Vanderbilt thought highly enough of James Franklin that they offered him the head coaching job, I'd say that Prince did a nice job of bringing in talented assistants. Again, he could not keep them. He ran them off and treated them all like circus clowns. But his intentions were good.

Third, Prince wanted to get K-State some national exposure. He went out and scheduled games against Auburn and Miami and UCLA and other big-time schools. The move blew up in his face and did not work out as he had planned. But I still give him credit for trying to pump some excitement into a program that had grown stale over the previous two years.

We could go on and on about everything else that was in Ron's binder, but we've already been over all that.

But at least Ron had a binder.

Bill's "plan" is scribbled on an Arby's napkin.

A+, j rake.  it's pretty much common knowledge now that RP is a way better coach than OB 2.0

No, it isn't. You dumbasses can be anti-Snyder without being a Prince-tard.

RP and OB2 have similar records, but RP recruited better players.  And was, ya know, not so old.

If we knew then what we know now, most people would have rather just kept RP than to ditch him for this crap.  <--- fact

[CNS]

If RP had a decent idea about weight training, there would be no question.

[ArchE_Cat]

Bill doesn't know how to move on from details like butter vs. wiped spread, and which side of the plane to sit on.  Bill is much better at building a program from an operational stand point than he is at the public relations aspect of things. Unfortunately for us recruiting and getting/retaining quality assistants is a people thing...Bill doesn't understand this. He is searching for something operational to correct (recruiting schedule) because that is all he knows. He won't fire anyone because everyone follows all of his procedures, even if the result on the field is the definition of suck. I'm tired of butter and travel schedules but Bill isn't.

[Rage Against the McKee]

Were people actually happy when LHC Bill Snyder was announced as the head coach? I was ecstatic when Prince got canned because I thought we would at least try to get a good coach.

[michigancat]

I think Prince was bullied into the ridiculous juco class by weiser.   natives were restless.

Also, incredible post by j rake.  Awesome.

[steve dave]

Good work Rake.  Excellent analysis. 

[wabash909]

Bill doesn't know how to move on from details like butter vs. wiped spread, and which side of the plane to sit on.  Bill is much better at building a program from an operational stand point than he is at the public relations aspect of things. Unfortunately for us recruiting and getting/retaining quality assistants is a people thing...Bill doesn't understand this. He is searching for something operational to correct (recruiting schedule) because that is all he knows. He won't fire anyone because everyone follows all of his procedures, even if the result on the field is the definition of suck. I'm tired of butter and travel schedules but Bill isn't.