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So, Kansas State fired Ron Prince on Wednesday. That's not surprising, given it was a widely held assumption that he had to take Kansas State to a winning season and North Division contention status this season to save his job. With the Wildcats mathematically eliminated from the North race with three games to go, KSU Athletic Director Bob Krause made the call to not bring Prince back next season. What happened? Just three months ago, Krause gave Prince a new contract with a raise and a $1.2 million buy-out should KSU fire him before 2010. Krause said the execution of the plan to make K-State a winner never materialized between last July and now. I can't say that I'm surprise. Prince showed a lack of interest in doing what it takes to win in the Big 12 these days. As far back as late July, when the Big 12 held its annual pre-season Media Days in Kansas City, I asked Prince how he planned to stop the wide-open Spread offenses that are ruling the league. Prince was the only coach of spoke to out of 9 who believed THIS was the year that defenses would find a way to stop the offenses that have taken the Big 12 by storm. Prince seemed to truely believe that his Wildcats could consistently hold the likes of Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas Tech and Missouri below 30 points. As we reached conference season, he told Josh Freeman the number would rise to 40 points. Since Big 12 play started, K-State has lost games by 30, 23 and 31 points despite scoring at least 21 in each of those losses. While Prince's disciplined style caused many good things (like leading the nation in blocked kicks this seaosn) the Prince-led Wildcats are clearly losing the Big 12 track meet; that's why the Wildcats could not consistenlty win under Prince and that's why he'll be headed to the unemployment line in three weeks. Krause says he wants an experienced coach with a "proven track record" to replace Prince. That's easier said than done for several reasons. If you believe the rumors that Bill Snyder may consider a return from retirement, then its a slam dunk. If Snyder wants to come back and Krause wants to bring him back, that's an easily done deal. But if the 'Cats have to hire from the outside, they'll have to compete with some top-tier programs that also need new coaches. Tennessee, Washington and Clemson already have openings; others may soon find themselves in need of a coach. K-State has a tough search ahead, especially if they insist on hiring a coach with an extensive resume. KSU is arguably the fourth best open job right now and the regular season still has over a month remaining. On Wednesday, Krause said he already has a list of potential replacements. I have no idea who is on that list, but here's my group of candidates who make sense for K-State... Not all of them fit Krause's ideal description, but we rarely get exactly what we want in life... I could see KSU considering and even hiring any of these guys... I've broken them into three different catagories. The Assistants 1. Brent Venables (Oklahoma Defensive Coordinator)- He's the obvious choice and you'll surely hear his name thrown around a lot during this search. Venables has been the "best young assistant" in the Big 12 for years. His name is brought up almost every time there's been a coaching vacancy in the league for the past 5 years. He's done an excellent job at OU, leading their defense to the top of the league almost every season. He's known as an excellent recruiter and I've heard from at least one person who knows him say that he wants the K-State job some day and he'd like to rebuild the program in Coach Snyder's honor. Most important to many KSU fans, he's part of "the family". Venables is a Salina native who played at K-State and got his start in coaching in Manhattan as an assistant from '93-'98. 2. Will Muschamp (Texas Defensive Coordinator)- The fiery D-Coordinator for the Longhorns has received quite a bit of attention during Texas' impressive season for his passionate sideline antics. But Muschamp is a veteran coach with over 13 years of experience, succeeding in some of the toughest college football environments in the country. He took LSU and Auburn's defenses into the top 10 in the nation during his time at each school. This year, he revived a stagnet UT defense and has turned them into a legit national power again. If Texas can catch a break or two down the stretch and get back into the Big 12/National Title hunt, Muschamp will receive much of the credit. And he'll start to receive lots of attention from schools across the country who want to hire him as their new head coach. 3. Mark Stoops (Arizona Defensive Coordinator)- Not Bob or Mike, but MARK. He's the youngest Stoops brother and he's cut from the same mold as his older siblings. Mark is tenacious and passionate. He's a screamer and can appear to be hard on his players, but he never demands more of them than he demands of himself. Here's an example: at Arizona's Spring Game in 2006, Mark was standing in the middle of the field during a play, as coaches frequently do during scrimmages. A defensive back came over the middle and accidently clocked Mark right in the face at full speed, splitting the bridge of his nose open. Mark didn't miss a beat, he wouldn't even stop to wipe off his face as blood cascaded down either side of his nose all the way to his neck. When the scrimmage was over, I went to talk to him and he still had dried blood covering his face like war paint... and refused to wipe it off before the interview. At Arizona, he's developed NFL talent like Spencer Larsen and Antoine Cason. Before that, he was the defensive backs coach at Miami (and we all know how much NFL talent "The U" has produced over the past 15 years). The Up and Comers 1. Bronco Mendenhall (BYU)- He led BYU to two different 11 win seasons and has the Cougars sitting at (8-1) right now. They've won 30 of their last 35 games and have been a model of consistency in the Mountain West, winning 16 straight conference games at one point. 2. Kyle Whittingham (Utah)- He's a National Coach of the Year candidate for good reason. Whittingham has Utah at (9-0) and banging on the BCS door, but more importantly he's been a consistent winner in just his first job. HIs career record at Utah is (33-14), which is impressive. But what's even more impressive is his teams are (3-0) in bowl games. Utah is Whittingham's first college head coaching job, but he's blown through the Mountain West with ease. Oh, and he's put 20 players in the NFL along the way. It sounds like Whittingham is ready for a step up and K-State should strongly consider him. 3. Turner Gill- He's got the pedigree and the skills to turn KSU around. He took a desolate Buffalo program and won more games in one season than they had the previous three years combined (5... not a winning record but leaps and bounds beyond what the Bulls were used to). Regardless of what he's done at Buffalo, Gill would be a great choice for the Wildcats. As a former Heisman trophy contender playing for the Huskers in the 80's, he knows offense. Plus, he knows the Big 12 after a dozen years as an assistant at Nebraska before he took the Buffalo job. On top of that, the man knows how to develop a quarterback.... and I don't know if you've noticed, but the Big 12 is kind of a QB's league right now. At Nebraska, Gill coached Tommie Frazier, Scott Frost and Eric Crouch; all three won conference and/or national awards. The Second Chancers 1. Frank Solich (Ohio Head Coach)- Solich got fired simply for having the audacity to win only 9 games at Nebraska before the "Callahan Era" completely redefined Husker football as we know it. Since then, Solich has been living in exile at Ohio, I'm sure waiting for a shot at a bigger school. He won 9 games during his first season there in 2006 and last year developed Ohio's first 1000 yard rusher. This year, the Bobcats are struggling; they've won only one game. Still, I have a feeling that Solich would fit the profile that Krause is looking for: He's got a long resume, he knows the Big 12 and has had recent success here (maybe not by Husker standards, but I don't know many people around the Big 12 who DON'T think that Solich got a raw deal at Nebraska). Solich might be the best man for this job. You have to think he wants another crack at the "big time" in a BCS school and I'm sure he would love nothing more than to stick it to the folks in Lincoln once a year. It would be a safe hire. 2. Gary Barnett- The "call me crazy" suggestion, I think Barnett might just be ready to return to coaching. He's been doing radio analysis and running his foundation ever since the walls came tumbling down at Colorado. It's at this point I feel compelled to point out that Barnett has never been accoused of being a bad coach. The Katie Hnida incident was regrettable and was handled poorly. The other issues that came out of that were equally troubling, but these days college coaching seems to be all about second chances. K-State is the last place that needs to be told that (re: Bob Huggins). Given his experience and ability to rebuild programs, it might just be worth it to give Gary a call. |
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Posted by: Victor Location: Colorado springs
It was crap that Prince was fired because of the real reason the people of Manhattan hate people. I am going to love it when Snyder the same man he replaced who built and destroyed the team fails in 2009. I will be having parties to hope for Snyders falling. Countdown to failure begins. Posted by: Joe Location: Wichita Ron Prince quit on the team with one minute to go in the first half of the Colorado game. KSU had 3 timeouts left before halftime and a full minute. What did Prince have Freeman do? ...take a knee and go into the locker room. That is when I knew it was Prince's time to go. Posted by: Anonymous Prince failed because KSU is nothing but a subpar program. Now, if he followed the plan of Bill Snyder and created a weak schedule full of Division II teams, perhaps he would've had some success. More importantly, the Big 12 is a strong conference while KSU has always been an also-ran. Why do you think Snyder is treated like a king around here while viewed as a subpar coach elsewhere? Posted by: Jon I believe they just compounded the problem with Bill being rehired. Everyone and their dog knows he was going to be fired 3 years ago, so that is why he retired. Posted by: vic. Location: Colorado Springs As an alumni and friend of ron Prince I think he was given a raw deal in this witch hunt Snyder killed the program and Krause should resign. How can you give 5 years to one coach and 2 to another to rebuild a program. Remember KSU went under Snyder 1 -10, 5-6, 4-7 6-5 to 8 -3 Krause should be fired now not later. ron is above average of the big 12 coaches KSU is not making sense AGAIN! Posted by: yea Location: right Hey anonymous where ya at; KU looked good this weekend. What a joke; looked like a high school team out there. KU lost to all ranked opponents this year. Of course last year Ha, they did not play any. what a joke, back to the end of the line. And Mizzou kicks Ku's, you know what again this year, Ha Ha Ha. Posted by: Anonymous Missouri scored 52 in Lincoln, causing Bo Pelini to literally apologize to the entire state... that doesn't sound "elite" to me Posted by: yea Location: right Hey last anonymous here are some of my thoughts regarding KU football; thought maybe you would like them. KU is a joke, always have been always will be. See what happens when you play good football teams. OH NO Mr. Bill, we have to play Texas and Oklahoma this year; that's not fare. where's my Eastern Utah tech, and and my Northwestern Wyoming weslyan. KU last year was a joke you did'nt play anyone. Look what happened a year later you have to play little better Nebraska and some ranked opponets. You got beat; last a season of playing the nobodies just like they are; nobodies, ha, ha. Posted by: yea Location: really right Hey last anonymous KU finishes 6-6 no bowl game sorry welcome to reality. Missouri gets beat in big 12 championship game and loses their bowl game as well. And I like that the "core of KU's offense". Let me repeat my self 6-6 and loses to every ranked opponent;. A group that, the closest they will get to the NFL is going to KC and watching the chiefs. And two words, Bo Pelini he is now the elite coach in the North; be real with yourself; you'll find it very comforting. Posted by: Anonymous Yea-- I'm curious what exactly it is you see in Nebraska that makes you think they're going to dominate the North in the near future... they've gotten blown out a couple of times this year... more importantly, I'm curious why you think KU and Mizzou are going to fall off... The core of KU's offense is in place for another year (Reesing, Briscoe, Wilson) and Missouri has spent the entire season developing the next offensive wave to replace Daniel and Co. (5-Star QB Blaine Gabbert, Derrick Washington, Denario Alexander)... Remember, Jeremy Maclin is only a Sophomore... he can leave early for the NFL after this season but if he comes back the whole league has to deal with him for at least one more season Posted by: yea Location: right Who would think k-state could get an assitant from a top ranked team. Like I said who would take that job and compete for wins and recurits against the Big 12 elite, Bob Stoops, Mac Brown Mike Leach Mike Gundy. The North is soon to be for Nebraska to rule. k-state and KU and soon coming missouri. Will all hang around the bottom half of the big 12 North for a long time to come. With records of around 500 at best. I was not kiding when I recommended the juco coaches with as strong as the Jayhawk conference is there has got to be a lot of them. OH yea hey KU see what happens when you play ranked teams; last year what a joke; Kansas footbal as a whole is a joke, Posted by: yea Location: right Tommy Bowden takes that job; OMG what a joke. k-states best bey would be to pluck an assistant from CU or ISU. Or got the jucos, A Bowden coaching at k-state OMG, can't stop laughing, Posted by: Steve Location: Florida How about Tommy Bowden??? Posted by: t think more like ryan leaf Posted by: Anonymous K-State had a good program that was going through a tough couple of years before they made the switch to Ron Prince, the same is with their basketball program. While the jury is still on on men's basketball, one can only look upon the past to get a measure of what the future holds. |
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