K-State Slate: 10.10.11

the kudos to HCBS are rolling in…personally I thought he did a really great job in 2009 just getting us to 6-6 and back in the Big-12 North division conversation. But better late than never in Act II. Here’s the entire text since the article is, I believe, behind a paywall:

Myth No. 2: Kansas State’s smoke-and-mirrors act is a flash in the pan

From 1934 until the arrival of Bill Snyder in 1989, Kansas State football suffered in ways that even longtime Northwestern and Vanderbilt fans can only imagine in nightmares. No coach left Manhattan with a winning record. There were no bowls, no ranked teams and certainly no conference championships. In more than half a century, the Wildcats had managed just four winning seasons. The misery included 20 seasons with one or two wins and eight winless campaigns — two of which immediately preceded Snyder’s hiring.

Snyder came to Kansas State after a long stint as Hayden Fry’s offensive coordinator at Iowa. Fry’s mentoring makes Snyder — by way of Frank Broyles and Bobby Dodd — a part of legendary Tennessee coach Robert Neyland’s coaching tree. Snyder’s “16 values” are a direct descendant of Neyland’s “Seven Maxims,” and the General’s influence can still be seen decades later in Snyder’s fanatical secrecy and his innovative and thorough reconnaissance of opponents.

Known as a top offensive mind, it didn’t take long for Snyder to prove he was a top head coach as well. He had Kansas State winning in his third year, in bowl games by his fifth and a play away from the national championship game in his ninth.

From 1997-2003, Snyder’s Wildcats won 11 games six times in seven years, pulling down three North titles and one Big 12 championship. Now in the third year of his second stint with the team, Snyder has his current squad showing some of the hallmarks of his past teams.

Often, when a team is habitually outgained in its wins, it’s a red flag marking unsustainable fortune.

Other times, it’s a sign that superior coaching has produced a whole that is greater than the sum of its parts. Kansas State has won three straight as underdogs while getting outgained, but that’s the norm for Snyder teams, which habitually excel at finding the hidden yardage that wins games. Avoiding and forcing turnovers, winning the field position struggle, excellent third down and red zone play and the ability to score in all three phases are qualities that this year’s Wildcats are starting to share with past Kansas State editions.

Perhaps the strongest measure of Snyder’s ability to consistently produce a “more than meets the eye” team is this: Against the most accurate measure of expectations available — the point spread — Snyder’s Kansas State teams have posted just two losing seasons in his 21 years.

Snyder is not a way-past-his-prime old geezer cooking up a brief Cinderella story on the verge of his second retirement. He’s a Hall of Famer who has accomplished the impossible and belongs at the head table with the likes of Bryant, Paterno, Stagg and Rockne. He’s also a very young 72, as sharp as ever, and is not going away again anytime soon.

Kansas State’s blueprint won’t change, and the talent will keep improving. There is no reason the Wildcats won’t win eight to 10 games for the rest of Snyder’s tenure. And the first big spike isn’t this season, but next, when quarterback Collin Klein and linebacker Arthur Brown return as seniors to lead more experienced and talented units. Snyder has a junior-and-sophomore dominated team at 5-0 despite poor depth at running back and on both lines. And the Wildcats’ special teams aren’t even close to their usual standards yet. Only one all-conference-caliber senior departs next year, and a few of the right junior college players could have Kansas State among the Big 12 favorites in 2012.

Don’t let the box scores or the recruiting ratings trick you into selling this team short. Kansas State will eventually lose some games this year, but the surprising start is not just a one-time offer. The Wildcats are poised to be a serious player in the Big 12 for the rest of the decade.