SLATE: Kansas State doesn’t hire Seth Littrell

Jimmy Sexton is college football’s super-agent. He almost represents every head coach in the SEC (11 of 14), and he’s a master at getting them all $PAID.

He also represents Seth Littrell of North Texas, which means you could have drawn one of two conclusions from this morning’s report by Brett McMurphy that Littrell has withdrawn himself from consideration for the K-State job: Sexton demanded too much from Gene Taylor, or despite reports to the contrary Littrell was never actually the top choice for the job in the first place.

The first option was, apparently, the correct one. Tom Martin of KCTV in Kansas City provides the what-happened:

So the favorite candidate is gone. This would have led to hours of wild speculation on the Twitterbox regardless, but that speculation is now amplified by the fact that with Georgia Tech announcing their hire of Geoff Collins, who spent two years running Temple after Matt Rhule left for Baylor, there is now exactly one Power Five team with a coaching vacancy: the school which you presumably care about more than any other because you’re reading this. On one hand, that means K-State has a pretty good window to grab any interested candidate they want. On the other...

...well, there is no other. While it’s true that today’s news takes Littrell off the table, every single other target known to anyone outside Vanier is still in play. Those names include Oregon Ducks DC Jim Leavitt, North Dakota State head coach Chris Kleiman, Memphis Tigers head coach Mike Norvell, and Clemson Tigers DC Brent Venables. And really, who knows who else is on the table? Taylor, or someone else at Vanier, is playing the media like a fiddle. For all anyone knows, he’s been on the phone with Bob Stoops for two weeks.

One name which is also (thankfully) off the table is none other than Ron Prince, who is reportedly rejoining the ranks of Division I head coaches. Per Scott Roussel at Football Scoop, His Highness is allegedly taking over the reins at Howard, otherwise known as the Harvard of the HBCUs. Prince will be replacing former Virginia Cavaliers head coach Mike London, who himself is moving on to William & Mary.

We’re sorry, guys. We really are.

Kellis Robinett runs down the situation as of this morning.

Not having a coach doesn’t seem to be getting in the way of recruting players, as GPC’s Ryan Wallace reports (for free) that Blake Seiler has landed linebacker Khalid Duke from Riverside Military Academy in Gainesville, Ga.

Since your benevolent despot has been silent this week, you’re probably wondering what he do if he were in charge. I will tell you, because you are good citizens.

I’d take a flyer on a head coach or coordinator with recruiting chops, and take the risk that you might be looking for a new head coach four years from now — when Jake Venables graduates. Every indication is that this is the main stumbling block to getting Brent Venables now. If that’s the case, you get a guy everyone’s happy with. If instead that new hire works out... well, it works out. Duh.

In other football news, most folks are cheering the selection of Dalton Risner as a Walter Camp All-American, but hardly anyone has bothered noting that it’s a second-team selection.

Athlon’s Aaron Tallent reviews the ten greatest moments of Bill Snyder’s coaching life, while GPC’s Michael Goens runs down 16 games during Snyder’s K-State tenure that stand out (also free).

Today’s Sports Extra has Corbin McGuire chatting with former Wildcat Cody Whitehair , the current starting center for the Chicago Bears.

Big news down the river courtesy of the Journal-World’s Dylan Lysen as Kansas Jayhawks running back Pooka Williams has been hauled in on a domestic battery complaint.

Finally, we segue into basketball with one last football item: Robinett’s coverage of yesterday’s basketball media availability, which is really all about Bruce Weber’s thoughts on Bill Snyder.

Over on the women’s side, Jeff Mittie announced freshman Ayoka Lee will be redshirting this season. Lee is on the roster, but the 6’5” post is still rehabilitating a knee injury from last spring’s Minnesota state tournament so Mittie’s just going to let that run its course.

Finally, IT’S TRACK SEASON WOOHOO! The Carol Robinson Winter Pentathlon is underway at Ahearn right now, although all nine competitors — six men, three women — are Wildcats so it’s not like they’ll be shaming anyone else. Tomorrow is the K-State Winter Invitational, also at Ahearn, in which the Wildcats will be partaking in a dual meet with UMKC.