I ran into Zac Diles last night. The Houston Texans rookie linebacker watched the “Laugher in Lincoln” on television in Manhattan, and he was embarrassed just talking about it hours later. A number of topics were touched upon briefly, but the one that left him shaking his head was the 3-4 (although the Wildcats played some 4-3 yesterday, I believe).
“They don’t have the personnel,” he said.
That’s kind of where I am right with this, the Ron Prince Experiment. And make no mistake, that’s precisely what this is because it’s become a dangerous time for K-State athletics. I can’t state this enough – if the Wildcats don’t finish with a winning record (more on that in a second) and KU somehow, improbably plays for the national title, does K-State become completely irrelevant in football? And does it happen only two years A.B. (after Bill)?
Hey, I’ve jokingly said to people who would listen that I think Ron Prince is going to be a great coach – the second time around. My point is, he needs to find out what works well, and really, this is trial and error. He’s going to make mistakes. He’s going to have successes. But, and we’ll be saying this about Frank Martin this winter, too, he’s going to be inconsistent, and every team follows its leader’s lead. My point is, some times, in order to become good, you have to fail. Look at Pete Carroll – he couldn’t hack it in the NFL. Went to USC, became arguably the best coach in college football. Bill Belichick struggled in his first go-around as a NFL coach in Cleveland, but look at him now.
I’m not comparing Prince to either of those men. The only thing he has in common with them is the fact that he is a coach. And he’s breathing. That’s not an insult. My point is, Prince doesn’t have a large enough body of work for us to give an accurate assessment of how he’s doing. Oh, you can be emotional and say he’s arrogant, and you might be right. But that’s a subjective “analysis,” if you could even call it that.
All he has is his record. He is 12-11 in two seasons. That is almost the definition of average. But for someone without head coaching experience, being average isn’t bad. Think of it like this – if you were immediately handed your boss’s job, and for the next year or two, as you got acclimated to the new job, you were “average,” would you be disappointed by that?
Maybe, maybe not. But there might be disappointment expressed by those beneath and around you, when really, their disappointment should be directed at the person who deemed you ready for the promotion.
If the Ron Prince Experiment doesn’t work – and at this point, again, the evidence is inconclusive – is it Prince’s fault because he was a novice head coach given an upper-tier job at a BCS school?
Do you turn down a date with Halle Berry because you’ve never, ever dated out of your league?
The answer to both questions is the same – of course not.
What Diles said is correct. Prince knows how he wants his team to play, but if you don’t have the personnel, doesn’t it become moot? Isn’t coaching also being able to make adjustments?
Clearly, he’s learning on the job, which had to be expected – given his inexperience. What happens now, though, might alter the football balance of power in the state. Maybe it’s already happened. And no, I’m not being too dramatic. Watch and see.
Usually, I tend to stray from predictions. But I truly believe K-State is in significant trouble the next two weeks. You can draw your own conclusions about Missouri, but the Fresno State game that everyone thought was such a sure thing when the season began? The Bulldogs battered Hawaii quarterback Colt Brennan late Saturday night, but lost, 37-30, in Honolulu. They held Hawaii to THREE points in the second half, on the road. They have the week off, and you think Pat Hill isn’t geared up for that game? Here was his quote last night:
“We have two weeks to get ready for Kansas State. Kansas State is a good football team from the Big 12. They beat Texas earlier this year and I know they will have a lot to play for. They will be playing for their bowl life. It will be a big-time game at Bulldog Stadium.”
Pat Hill lives for these moments. He has a distinct coaching personality – he loves to play the underdog role and show up the big-boy programs. We know what Pat Hill is, so we feel like we know how his Bulldogs will play in the regular-season finale.
We’re still struggling with what to expect from Prince. And his team.
20 Comments
When Prince was hired, I was worried about the people he was offering. You kept saying you believed he can recruit, but can he coach? I totally think it’s the other way around. Agree?
14 months for 2 classes fatty,
personel is a problem but I will follow the rusty mantra, Who is the 2nd DT in the 4-3?
nice job j-mart, you are starting to rank up their with all the great philosophers Homer, Aristotle, and J-mart. Has a nice ring to it.
J-Mart, Ron’s done, it’s just a matter of time. No bowl this year and looking at KSU’s schedule next year and the possibility that this defense won’t be any better, probably no bowl next year. Couple that with another loss to KU (which shouldn’t matter, but will) and he’s as good as gone with Freeman’s last year. It’s just the the way it is, imo.
Ron Prince is in way over his head. His ego, his method, his idiotic marketing slogans are all wrong for KSU Football. Sadly KSU has an inept administration to go along with Prince’s many shortcommings. Lew Perkins has come into Kansas and kicked Tim Weiser and Jon Wefald’s butt seven ways from Sunday, and until KSU finds a real athletic director that’s not going to change.
It took Snyder four years before KSU was consistently good (granted, he started with far less, but still…). So, I think four years is a reasonable measuring stick for Coach Ron. We’ll see how it goes.
Luckily, most UK fans are still only vaguely aware they have a football team, so the “relevance” of KSU is probably safe for a couple more years.
Fatty, I still think he can recruit. Kids are still telling me he is impressive, etc., but I just think some people can see through that and wonder what else is there? Is there anything else?
Zack, you’re probably right. We always implied when this all went down – Freeman breaking his commitment to NU to align with Prince – that those two were married, for better and/or for worse.
I’m not sure he’s in over his head. I think he’s going to be a good coach because he knows how it’s done. Now, whether he does it is another story.
If four years enough time to completely destroy a program, or can it be done more quickly than that?
Pete, you’ve been fiery lately. I like it.
J-Mart, is motivation not considered a part of coaching? In my opinion, it should be the easiest part, because it depends on nothing else. You can gameplan a team but without talent you might not be able to execute. You can recruit but without facilities you won’t be able to get players. As long as you have players in your locker room, good coaches can motivate them, no matter what their talent level is. Despite Prince’s post game quotes, the team gave up. It’s motivation (coaching), and not talent that gave up 73 yesterday. Playing football is a lot of talent but also a lot of want to, and yesterday the cats didn’t want to. That’s Prince’s COACHING fault.
where would ku be if they had fired mangino a year or two ago? we have to give prince time, if after year 4 we’re as bad as we look right now then it might be time to start over again. but right now its too soon to fire prince.
You guys can cry and moan all you want, but Prince has had a better first 2 years than Bill had for his last 2 years. 12>9. And two of those 12 were against Top 10 Texas.
Bill practically destroyed it in 2 years and that was on the heels of a conference championship.
I say it over and over, but who would be playing DT in a 4-3 this year?
I appreciate that Coach Prince is working hard, in my mind very hard, to represent KSU in the best manner he can. That said, losing to ISU in inexcusable. Giving up 73 to Nebraska in inexcusable. Lets be honest, Bill Snyder lost the 92 team that went 5-6 and lost to Utah State. The next season, they went on a tear and started their magnificent run. Can Prince do something similar? He deserves the chance. BUT, as JMart says, the blame cannot be laid at Prince’s feet alone. Tim Weiser made this hire, and he didn’t interview anyone on Bill Snyder’s short list during the process. Tim Weiser is the reason Snyder retired early (or at least a MAJOR contributor to that decision). Tim Weiser is now in charge of funding the football program, and his decisions have led to excellent golf and crew facilities, more money spent on the baseball program with the exact same results, oh, and a coaching staff filled with assistants without any seasoning under fire. You want a cure to KSU’s ills? Try having RP call his own offensive game plan, the most dynamic this team has looked the entire year was at OSU, when, not coincidentally, RP created the game plan and reportedly directed the O. AND, hire a seasoned, experienced, solid defenisve coordinator to lead that side of the ball. We cannot mess around with “projects”, “future stars” and “potential”, the lack of a DC has killed KSU the past 2 seasons. We cannot adjust on D, and we cannot scheme to put the playmakers in the position to make plays. Vic Koening would look really damn good on the KSU sidelines these days as DC. BUT, that would take money. Want to fire somebody? http://www.firetimweiser.com would be a great start.
Heavy -
Who was on Snyder’s “short list”, and who did Weiser interview?
The Weiser-Wefald duo will drive KSU athletics into oblivion. Weiser isn’t big time, and has zero charisma. Wefald got it in his head that he found Bill Snyder and that he is the greatest AD/School President in history. Outside of Huggins, the rest of the Wefald influenced hires by KSU athletics have been nothing short of disaster.
Can a footnote be added to all of Sonofdaxjones comments.
Note – Sonofdaxjones has been disassociated with Kansas State Athletics by AD Tim Weiser and has an axe to grind. Everything he says should be taken with a grain of salt. He has had nothing good to say about any athletic director going all the way back to Deloss Dodds.
Wow, Huge leads the powertard onslaught to KStated.
Wow!! If this isn’t the message board for the instant gratification crowd. Before you bash anymore people at K-state, you migh want to give them a little time. Look across to the east and imagine if KU had fired Mangino after last year. People were saying he couldn’t coach either. The basketball program is heavy on freshmen and will be better by the end of the year. Let’s stay the course and see how these hires work out after a reasonable amount of time. Prince took a 4 win team to a bowl game his first year, and now some of you want to fire him. Ridiculous!!! Tim Weiser may or may not look like a genius four or five years from now. How will we ever know if the impatient crowd has their way?