During my first tour of the Kansas State athletic offices yesterday, I got the chance to talk at length with the Wildcats’ new top dog John Currie.
We had a nice conversation and you can read about most of what he told me in today’s Eagle or Star. But there were some interesting notes I couldn’t squeeze into the print edition, like how long he expects Bill Snyder to coach this time around.
The answer: “He’ll be around as long as he wants to be.”
Currie went on to say, “he is a terrific ambassador for the university. He is the epitome of a loyal football coach. He is very loyal to his university. Certainly there were a number of times in the 90s when he could have left and made a lot more money but he always stayed loyal to the program that gave him his first opportunity.”
Currie only hopes he can follow that example.
“I feel the same kind of loyalty to Kansas State,” Currie said. “This is where I got my opportunity. I hope I can build a tenure like he’s had.”
Snyder and Currie seem to have a good relationship so far. Currie said the living legend even asked him to give the football team an inspirational speech a few weeks back. He said he knew exactly what to tell the players.
“I came from Wake Forest, and when I was there Wake Forest was the second losing-est football program in America,” Currie said. “Kansas State was the worst. Bill Snyder has rectified that in the last 20 years. What I talked about was how I experienced the Cotton Bowl when they played there in 2001 against Tennessee. I was at Tennessee and certainly there was an unbelievable passion and energy from K-State fans that day. It was cold and snowy and icy, and then the way the team played …
“Tennessee had a lot of great players and a lot of first-round draft picks on that team, but the way Kansas State played on that particular day was so focused and disciplined and organized and tough. It was tough as nails. I’ll never forget how that K-State team played that day. One of the things coach Snyder is intending to do, and will do, here is to rebuild that sense of toughness and pride and discipline that he instilled previously. It’s what led K-State to the previous heights it enjoyed.”
One other thing I asked him: Will he follow the lead of so many others and consider naming a “coach in waiting” while Snyder is still on the job?
“We’ll make sure we consider all our options,” he said. “As athletic director, one of your main priorities is to make sure that you have good transitions. It’s hard to have good transitions. Especially when you have a person like coach Snyder who has set such high standards. Right now I’m just focusing on enjoying the program and supporting him (Snyder)in anyway that I can. I’m going to do that for as long as he feels he is productive as our football coach, and I feel that will be a long time.”
17 Comments
Kellis – you are doing a nifty job with the womens sports stories, admnistration stories, etc. Sports fans want football & bball. When can we expect to get the inside scoop on real KSU sports?
Thanks for the extra info. I’m sure the comments section will be hijacked soon, but keep the faith. Seems like you’ve walked into a hornets nest this week, it may take some time, but hopefully people will come around eventually. Kudos to you for actually graduating from college. Judging by some of the spelling in the comments this week, most of the haters dropped out before finishing 7th grade.
MtgCat: The football stories will hit the blog on Monday and the paper on Tuesday. They won’t stop until the season ends. I would have loved to spend the last week writing about football, too. But there has been no media access to players or coaches since last Tuesday.
As you can imagine, in the journalism world no quotes means no stories. Especially when you’ve only been on the job for six days.
Sounds like you were in Manhattan. Was there more or less in Manhattan to hate than you remember?
What’s your most hated place to eat so far?
Is your new house close to, or far from these hated things?
Any details would be GREAT!
Way to ask a bold question – “coach in waiting.” I imagine the subject would be somewhat intimidating for a first year AD with a “new” HC that holds legendary status. Although I am sure he has prepped for the question & maybe has been asked before, I just don’t recall reading about it.
It will be interesting how the “transition” subject evolves down the road as I’m sure both of them will be asked quite a few times.
BTW, I have a little inside scoop on a miniature-Coach Snyder clone (multiple) theory I will have to tell you about sometime. Remember, this is an aggie school. If sheep can be cloned…..
Would any update be good enough for you, Cire?
how long he expects Bill Snyder to coach this time around.
The answer: “He’ll be around as long as he wants to be.”
Hard hitting stuff, way to ask the tough questions. Are you going to keep lobbing in these softballs, or are you going to do your job at some point, Meek already has his two deep up.
Kellis,
There has been no media access since last Tuesday so you go straight to volleyball? wtf? Call up DK and see how France is. Call some DCA reps and interview them about the DCA KSU pipeline. Call Mitchell and his mom and do a comparison on their ksu interest. Call Brian Butler and interview him about how the relationship between his hack job organization and KSU has changed and what he is looking for out of KSU this season. Why do I have to tell you this?
My advice to you, other than to wear dark clothing and stand in the middle of hw117 at night, is to take everything you learned working in Idaho and The Omaha Werld Harold and throw it out the window. Read Jmarts blog and basically do what he did but don’t take 3 month vacations. And quit crying about how you’re new. no one cares.
crazykellis fan,
thanks, but curry’s bio is on the sports website.
Crap update.
Doom was right, there is tons of news out there if you aren’t a hack.
It’s great to see the Cats have a class act AD like Mr. Currie and the greatest college football coach of all time is back in the saddle again. Now let’s eat some Powercat cookies! Ahh the powercat, the GREATEST logo in all of sports! GO STATE!
To all you clever “fans” who are insisting on dogging this guy, give it a rest. It’s tiresome. Did he write some stupid stuff in the past? Yes. Will he do a decent job here? Who knows. If you don’t like what he writes in this column based on the content, that’s fine. If you don’t like it based on what he wrote before he got here, keep your witticisms to yourself. Or better yet, don’t read him. Just spare us. This guy is who we have got now. We need to give him a fair shot. Quit trashing him. K-Staters are better than that. Or at least we should be.
Kellis,
I’m a reader of the blog and of anything KSU related (even your in depth expose on volleyball.) I’ve had fun the last week making fun of you in your comments section and reading about your former blog on message boards. While it was fun I also see that the Eagle will probably never remedy the situation and we’re probably stuck with you. Anyway I read the Eagle’s response and your attempt on the blog but wanted to give you an opportunity to answer the fan’s questions one by one and actually make a decent attempt to clear the air. So the idea is as follows. I will post a thread on KSUfans.com where people can post a question for you to answer about you, your blog, and reporting past. You pick 5, I’ll pick 5 questions and you can post it in your blog. Let me know if you like the idea or have a comparable one that would work. Toodles.
-doom
yeah, jmart used to do I got 5 on it. You should have done that with the curry article. IMO.
Basically just copy everything jmart did and you will be fine.
Also have an article about Asprilla ready to go if his meeting on Monday goes south about Isaiah Thomas and how he’s holding this kid hostage and how it might affect recruiting. Then send it to Foxsports or any major sports media outlet to give yourself and this situation some light and legitimacy. Then do a gimmcky (you really need a better gimmick than lunch links) 5-10 question interview of Art Alvarez about this situation and have it posted with a link to your article. Then get a hairpiece.
I just don’t get it. Why can’t people give the guy who hates everything about Manhattan and K-State (besides tailgating) a chance??
Just curious, dudes, don’t we have enough people to hate without hating this guy BEFORE he gets any kind of chance to get his feet wet in purple ink? Man, this is a tough crowd.
Kellis,
No one is buying this crap. YOU wrote that Frank Martin can’t coach, YOU clearly implied that Bill Snyder was less than ethical when you wrote about Denis’ suspension, YOU disparaged Manhattan in another article, YOU called out a K-State reporter for being unable to write without bias since he authored articles for a pro-KSU site (which is precisely what YOU did at the Jayhawk Lounge).
You are a biased hack who will NEVER have the level of access and inside info with KSU coaches and administrators that Jeff Martin routinely provided.
You are not welcome here, and we will NEVER accept you.
Better keep renting in Manhattan, because a home will be a very, very bad investment for you.