The time has come to write an article that I never thought I would have to write. In the past few months, I have read and heard from K-State fans comparing Chris Klieman and Bill Snyder from a historical perspective. They are asking, “Who is the better coach?” I have dismissed questions like that as ridiculous. It is too early in Chris Kleiman’s tenure to have a discussion comparing him to one of the best coaches in the history of college football. Honestly, it is not fair to Chris Klieman to try to compare him to Bill Snyder. Let Kleiman do his thing, and we will discuss how he stacks up to Snyder when his career ends. He has a long way to go to take K-State football to the consistent heights that Bill Snyder did.

Then, last night I saw a quote from a Big 12 preview article written by ESPN’s Bill Connelly in which he wrote about Kansas head coach Lance Leipold, “Leipold inherited a job even harder than Snyder’s, and through three years, he has reached even higher highs.”

Huh?

Nobody in football history inherited a job more difficult than Bill Snyder inherited when he arrived in Manhattan in 1989. I cannot believe anyone would say such a ridiculous thing and try to rewrite history like that. And has Leipold reached higher highs than Snyder? That is hyperbole, at the very least. Connelly used a win percentage and an SP+ percentile rating, which factors in returning production, recruiting, and transfers, to support his argument. I am not buying it.

First, I suppose it is time to revisit the situation that K-State football found itself in when Bill Snyder was hired as head coach after the 1988 college football season. I found the “Futility U” article that Sports Illustrated wrote in 1989 and read it once again to be sure I had my facts straight. It didn’t take much time at all to jog my memory about just how bad things were in Manhattan before Bill Snyder’s arrival on campus. The point of this article is not to argue which program was worse, but Mr. Connelly brought it up, and I feel like this deserves a deeper dive than he gave it. The fact of the matter is that Lance Leipold’s turnaround job was much easier than Bill Snyder’s.

Here are some snippets from the “Futility U” article:

“Last November (1988), when Miller hired Snyder away from Iowa, where he was the offensive coordinator, Miller told him, “Kansas State is flat on its back. You may have heard it’s one of the toughest jobs in the country. It’s not. It’s the toughest.”

Was the Kansas job considered the toughest in America when Lance Leipold was hired before the 2021 season? I never heard anyone say anything close to that.

“Not a single Wildcat was drafted this year (1989) by the NFL.”

K-State had no talent on the roster to speak of when Snyder took over. Kansas had three players drafted to the NFL in 2015, one in 2018, and one in 2020. Leipold did not inherit a roster with zero talent on it. Bill Snyder inherited a small roster. In 1989, K-State had many open scholarships that they could not fill.

“(In 1989) After 93 years of trying to play the game, the Wildcats’ record is 299-509-41, dead last among the 106 schools in Division I-A.”

Before Bill Snyder’s arrival, K-State had played in one bowl game in the history of the program. Although it had been a while, Kansas had a fairly recent bowl game history, going to bowl games in 2003, 2005, 2007, and 2008. The Jayhawks went to the Orange Bowl after the 2007 season, so there was a mild history of success. K-State had no such history.

“K-State has been looking for its 300th win since Oct. 18, 1986; the Wildcats have failed 27 straight times, the longest non-winning streak in the land.”

K-State lost 26 games in a row, with one tie, before Bill Snyder’s arrival. Kansas was 0-9 in 2020, the year before Leipold’s arrival, but was 3-9 in 2018 and 2019.

“And so it is that, according to an NCAA statistical study for the period between 1946 and the present, Kansas State ranks last in the nation in scoring offense and last in scoring defense, and since 1954, last in total offense.”

I am sure Kansas was bad statistically recently, but this stat shows how historically bad things were at K-State.

“In the 44 years since World War II, Kansas State has had exactly four winning seasons; its only conference championship came in 1934 when it won what was then the Big Six.”

Again, this shows the enormous challenge of turning K-State’s program around. Mark Mangino proved it was possible to win in Lawrence as recently as 15 years ago. There was no recent history of success at K-State in 1989.

“Vince Gibson, who coached the Cats from 1967 to ’74 and is now in the sports travel business in New Orleans, says, “They have no players, and they have no money. Still, I have such good memories of being at K-State—and I’m so glad I’m not still there. I tell you, every day there is a catastrophe.”

What sticks out to me here is “they have no money.” College football was a much different world in 1989. There were no big television contracts and no NIL money flying around. In 2021, Kansas benefitted from the Big 12 television contract and was on solid footing in the league, even though they had a very bad 10 years or so.

“(Lynn) Dickey, who had a 15-year pro career with the Oilers and the Packers, says, “The thing about tradition at Kansas State is, there is none.” That is crucial, because teams often win and lose by remembering what they have been.”

Bill Snyder was building the program from nothing. Nothing. At least Leipold had some building blocks in place when he got there.

“Last season, en route to a 56-14 loss to Colorado, State’s defensive line simply stood up on a Buffalo extra-point try, making no apparent effort to block the kick. Senior guard Chad Faulkner admits, “We were starting to give up before Coach Snyder arrived. Our psychological stuff was all messed up.”

In 1988, K-State football players were embarrassed to go to class because the football team was getting humiliated on the field each week. I have never heard of that anywhere else, including Lawrence.

“When Jim Dickey was fired two games into 1985—another horrible mistake, because he was easily the best coach K-State has had since World War II—he had a recruiting budget of $100,000. Miller says that should have been $200,000. The school has always been dead last in the conference in money spent on all sports. For example, in the fiscal year 1987-88 K-State spent $5,511,700 on athletics; Oklahoma shelled out $12,521,000. For football alone, Oklahoma out-spent K-State by half a million dollars.”

What do you think Lance Leipold’s recruiting budget is compared to what Bill Snyder’s was in 1989?

“Glen Stone, a former K-State publicist who’s now at TCU, says of the Wildcats’ plight, “I don’t think there is a solution. But just because there are no answers is no reason to quit trying.”

“I don’t think there is a solution?” Did anyone say that about KU’s football program in 2020? Nope. The prevailing wisdom was that they just needed to hire a good coach.

“Why bother? Why send fine young men onto the field every Saturday in autumn to be humiliated? The answer is simple: “I don’t think the Big Eight would want us if we didn’t play football,” says AD Miller, and though KSU could appeal its banishment, it is generally agreed that if Kansas State were to drop football, the Big Eight would just as quickly drop K-State.

How close was K-State to being run out of the Big Eight?

“Oklahoma and Nebraska were tired of coming to Kansas State and playing in front of 15,000 people,” Wefald said. “Their stadiums by 1986 are around 70,000 and they come here and play before a handful of people. Barry Switzer brought Oklahoma here one year and they were ahead 35-0 at halftime and their top 22 guys came out the second half and their shoulder pads were off. If we had sun chairs there, they would have been in those.”

Do not forget that K-State was in real jeopardy of getting kicked out of the Big 8 in the 1980s. That is how bad it was. Has anyone mentioned Kansas getting kicked out of the Big 12? Nope.

There was more to the article, but I think I have established how bad things were at K-State in 1988 and the monumental task that Bill Snyder had to turn the program around. They don’t call it “the greatest turnaround in college football history” for nothing!

But what about the second part of Connelly’s statement? That Leipold has reached higher highs in his first three seasons than Snyder? Let’s see.

Snyder was 1-10 in his first season at K-State. Notable games for the Wildcats included playing number 25 Arizona State, number four Nebraska, and number two Colorado. They also played on the road at Oklahoma. Their one victory was against North Texas.

Leipold was 2-10 in his first season, 1-8 in the Big 12. Notable games for the Jayhawks were number 17 Coastal Carolina, number three Oklahoma, and number 15 Oklahoma State. They beat Texas 57-56 in overtime for their one conference victory.

In Snyder’s second season, the Wildcats were 5-6 overall, and 2-5 in the Big 8. Notable games were against number 8 Nebraska, number 2 Colorado, and they played Oklahoma in Norman again.

In Leipold’s second season, the Jayhawks were 6-7 overall, and 3-6 in the Big 12. Notable games were against number 17 TCU, number 18 Oklahoma State, and number 12 K-State. They lost the Liberty Bowl to Arkansas.

In Snyder’s third season, the Wildcats were 7-4 overall, and 4-3 in the Big 8. Notable games were played against number 4 Washington, number 9 Nebraska, number 16 Colorado, and number 20 Oklahoma. The four losses were against the four ranked teams.

In Leipold’s third season, the Jayhawks were 9-4 overall, and 5-4 in the Big 12. Notable games were played against number three Texas, number six Oklahoma, and number 21 K-State. They beat Oklahoma and finished the season by beating UNLV in the Guaranteed Rate Bowl.

What do you define as “higher highs?” Leipold has taken the Jayhawks to bowl games the last two seasons, but there are so many bowl games nowadays that a 5-7 team can get an invite. Is that such a great accomplishment? Had there been as many bowl games in 1990, Snyder might have taken the 1990 and 1991 teams to bowl games. Leipold got a big win against a top-10-ranked Oklahoma team last season, but that is his biggest victory by far. His only other victory against a ranked team was beating number 18 Oklahoma State in 2022. But Oklahoma State also did not finish the season in the top 25.

Snyder didn’t beat a ranked team in his first three seasons, but played number nine Nebraska within a touchdown in Lincoln in 1991 and lost by 10 to number 16 Colorado the same season. He also had to contend with three top 10 programs every year playing a seven-game conference schedule, making his path to a turnaround much more difficult.

I think it’s a wash as to who had the highest highs after three seasons. Leipold does have the top 10 win over Oklahoma (even though the Sooners ended the season ranked 15th) but was also the beneficiary of an easier conference schedule than Snyder had at the time. Even if you want to make the case that Leipold has had higher highs, it is because he had a much easier turnaround job than Snyder.

All that said, the most egregious comment that Connelly made is that Leipold inherited a job “even harder” than Snyder’s. That is simply untrue. Don’t try to rewrite history, Bill.