Foundation Snyder Built Beginning to Crumble

Mark Janssen Senior Sports Writer - The Manhattan Mercury
2/16/2007 12:16:27 PM


Bill Snyder spent 17 years constructing a football mansion based on loyalty and commitment to a singular purpose.

In less than 15 months, that granite foundation is crumbling into fine sand. By ones and twos, members of Ron Prince's first football staff, and support program, are making a mass exodus.

* Raheem Morris, defensive coordinator, is returning to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

* Running backs coach Tim Horton left to be offensive coordinator at the Air Force Academy.

* Pat Washington, wide receivers coach, is making a move to Mississippi State.

* Tight ends coach James Jones' contract was "not renewed."

* Strength and conditioning coach Rod Cole left K-State after 14 years of service to take a similar position at Texas A&M.

* Equipment manager Jim "Shorty" Kleinau, while not officially announced, has not been invited back after 28 years of service to the program dating back through coaches Jim Dickey, Stan Parrish and Snyder.

* Abby Boustead, director of football administration, left after one year to work on a graduate-degree at Florida.

* Graduate assistant Scott Frost has accepted a coaching position at Northern Iowa.

* And Wesley McGriff said "so long" to the Wildcat program for Miami of Florida — just a month after being hired.
There may be others.

Athletics is known for being a profession of change, but this degree after one year is reason to wonder what the heck is going on. To a large degree, Kansas State is starting over ... again.

Some movement could be spun as career advancement; others lateral, at best.
The coaches were just individuals coming through Kansas State University. Their position on the Wildcat staff was just a job — for the time being.

But with Kleinau, Kansas State loses an absolute rock in its foundation. No individual cared more, and put more into the Wildcats winning football games, than "Shorty."

Kleinau did jobs no one else wanted with pride and excellence. Washing socks to jocks, to maintaining a store of football gear wasn't a job. It was "Shorty's" profession at "his" school.

Kleinau has elected not to talk of his dismissal, but others within the program said there wasn't a "mesh" with the new leadership. One said "Shorty" wasn't "hi-tech enough."

Kleinau was the perfect "mesh" for K-State for 28 years. Significant wins meant enough to him that he would scoop up a handful of dirt, blades of grass from the sideline, and place them in a baggy as a personal souvenir.

Kleinau didn't watch hours of tape like position coaches, but in his way he made sure the Wildcats were equipped for victory.

Prince should be commended for putting seven victories on the scoreboard in 2006 and returning the Wildcats to the bowl scene.

But one wonders how the upset win over Texas distorted the true performance of the year, just as how the last two blow out losses to Kansas and Rutgers mangled what truly was accomplished.

In this space two days before the official announcement of Prince's hiring, the question was raised whether he would have enough connections to form a quality staff at the Big 12 level.

Most were young, most were without big-time collegiate experience, at least one was without a job ... and now they're gone. We don't know, but perhaps gone without a hint of a thank you to Kansas State, which gave each of them a mega opportunity.

In a teleconference after the first set of leavings and hirings, Prince said he was excited to bring "... star power to our roster of coaches."

This is nothing against the latest cast of replacements, but the second try of "star power" coaches has backgrounds from such locales as Richmond, Connecticut, Western Connecticut, Cornell, Central Connecticut State, Holy Cross, Pittsburgh, Kentucky, Temple, Salisbury State, Kentucky State, Eastern Kentucky, Appalachian State, and Maynard Evans High School (Orlando, Fla.).

It's the hope here that their collective talents will be of Big 12 standards, and their loyalty will be to their school and not just a job — for now.

Loyalty?

Look under Kleinau — "Shorty" Kleinau — in the Wildcat dictionary.

Ron Prince on Houston sports talk radio talking about the Texas bowl

Listen to it here...

Ron Prince turns up the heat on Mark Mangino

There was plenty of criticism of the University of Kansas Head Football Coach Mark Mangino going into last weekend but the recent success of Kansas State Head Football Coach Ron Prince is really turning up the heat on Mangino.

After Mangino’s first winning season at KU, he was given a 5 year contract extension worth $1.5 million a year. This makes Mangino 21st on the list of highest paid NCAA football coaches. Ahead of the likes of Lloyd Carr, Steve Spurrier, Les Miles, Tommy Bowden, Rich Rodriguez, and Houston Nutt. He ranks 92nd based on winning percentage of active coaches. KU is not getting much return on their investment.

Mangino in his first four plus seasons has an overall record of 24-34 and is on his way to the his 4th losing season in 5 years. He is also responsible for landing the Jayhawks in hot water with the NCAA which resulted in a three year probation and the loss of three football scholarships. His biggest win as KU’s Head Coach would be a win over 23rd ranked Missouri in 2003. He has managed to increase home game attendance through his first four years, but it looks like it will be dropping slightly after this year.

All of these “great” accomplishments led to the 5 year contract extension mentioned above. After KU finished the 2005 season strong, including Mangino’s first ever bowl victory over the University of Houston, spirits were high in Lawrence.

It didn’t take long for that to change. An early non-conference loss to Toledo and several games that KU let slip away have led to much criticism of Mangino. The small fire that was slowing building was doused in gasoline on Saturday night when first year KSU Coach Ron Prince led the Wildcats to victory over the defending National Champion and 4th ranked Longhorns of Texas.

Nearly every preseason prediction had the Wildcats finishing last in the Big 12 North. Some had Kansas as high as 2nd. But with only a few weeks remaining in the regular season, it is KSU sitting in 2nd place and KU looking up from the bottom half of the division. In his first year, Ron Prince was able to do something Mangino could not… beat a top ranked team. With a win Saturday over the Jayhawks, Kansas State will finish the season 8-4 and be headed to a good bowl game and potentially finish in the Top 25.

If Mangino loses his next two games and KU finishes the year at 5-7, KU could be looking for a new football coach after this year. At least Basketball season is here… oh wait… KU just lost to Oral Roberts and Kansas State just landed the best recruiting class in the country.

Looks like the Jayhawks could be relegated to the 2nd best team in Kansas in Football AND Basketball.

Reason #7,346 to Hate Mack Brown and the Texas Longhorns

When asked about the #4 Longhorns loss to the unranked Wildcats, Mack Brown said "We didn't get beat by them, we just ran out of time."

What a Jackass!

First Year Coaches - Week 4

Boise State was the only team to win over the weekend and remains the only unbeaten team. Chris Petersen has picked up right where they left off last year after Dan Hawkins left for Colorado. I am sure Hawkins would switch places with Petersen if given the chance. The group is 16-27 on the year.

Standings:

(4-0) Boise State: Chris Petersen - Beat Hawaii with a trip to Utah this week.

(3-1) Kansas State: Ron Prince - KSU heads to Conference play 3-1 after a loss to #8 Louisville.

(3-1) Wisconsin: Bret Bielema - Tough loss on the road at Michigan.

(2-2) Middle Tennessee: Rick Stockstill - Rolled by OU - 59-0.

(2-2) Northwestern: Pat Fitzgerald - Lost at Nevada with a trip to Happy Valley this weekend.

(1-3) Idaho: Dennis Erickson - Shut out bu Oregon State.

(1-3) Buffalo: Turner Gill - Shut out by Auburn 38-0.

(0-3) San Diego State: Chuck Long - Lost to Utah.

(0-4) Colorado: Dan Hawkins - Blew a 13-0 lead and lost to Georgia 13-14.

(0-4) Rice: Todd Graham - Florida State big... Army up next.

(0-4) Temple: Al Golden - Outscored 174-10 on the season.