I've been thinking for a couple days how to best put my thoughts on the new staff and recruiting into words and haven't had a whole lot of luck.
There are a couple things that really stand out to me. I don't know that they're as much of a big deal as I want to believe they are, or that they're going to pay dividends as much as I hope, but they're stuch a stark contrast from the previous staff, I have to #hope they do and assume we're headed the right direction.
The willingness for CK2 to sell this program has me encouraged. LHOFCBS was a great coach, but the way he looked at recruiting changed a lot over his tenure. CK2 is working the whole country, no area is off-limits and no player appears to be listed as "not worth the resources" as we often saw prior. The net is wide and the absolute worst that can come out of it is, we start to build some brand recognition in schools where kids have maybe seen KSU succeed on the national stage 1-3 years during their conscious life. This is a good thing.
We have done such a poor job marketing both the previous success and the potential for future success for the past 18 years or so, it's hard to imagine how we could be less known than we currently are. We've been known for 4 total things in the last 30 years.
1. Snyder
2. The turnaround
3. Prince being bold and daring
4. Walk-ons
The good news about being known to no one is, there's no way to go but up. CK2 says all the right things when it comes to marketing the university.
If he can hit on some higher level recruits, fix the gaping holes that were left in the roster, and mix in a little of the Snyder "magic" for finding some incredible athletes and turning them into solid football players, we just may have something.
However, it's just as likely we have nothing and will be looking for another coach in 3-4 years, I don't know.
What I do know is, we've moved on, we're not limiting ourselves in recruiting and are going after the best football players we can attract, regardless of location. There seems to be a plan 1a, 1b, 1c, 1d, etc... People act like missing out on some of the KS kids in unforgivable, as if it's something we've succeeded with forever, when instead, most of the KS kids we've had that were good originally walked on.
What's my point? I'm excited to see the way this new staff goes about recruiting, how open they're trying to be in inviting both the fans and the media to see how hard they're working on building the program the way they see fit.
There's excitement again during the offseason, and something to talk about, good or bad, other than "will this be Snyder's last year".
There are a couple things that really stand out to me. I don't know that they're as much of a big deal as I want to believe they are, or that they're going to pay dividends as much as I hope, but they're stuch a stark contrast from the previous staff, I have to #hope they do and assume we're headed the right direction.
The willingness for CK2 to sell this program has me encouraged. LHOFCBS was a great coach, but the way he looked at recruiting changed a lot over his tenure. CK2 is working the whole country, no area is off-limits and no player appears to be listed as "not worth the resources" as we often saw prior. The net is wide and the absolute worst that can come out of it is, we start to build some brand recognition in schools where kids have maybe seen KSU succeed on the national stage 1-3 years during their conscious life. This is a good thing.
We have done such a poor job marketing both the previous success and the potential for future success for the past 18 years or so, it's hard to imagine how we could be less known than we currently are. We've been known for 4 total things in the last 30 years.
1. Snyder
2. The turnaround
3. Prince being bold and daring
4. Walk-ons
The good news about being known to no one is, there's no way to go but up. CK2 says all the right things when it comes to marketing the university.
If he can hit on some higher level recruits, fix the gaping holes that were left in the roster, and mix in a little of the Snyder "magic" for finding some incredible athletes and turning them into solid football players, we just may have something.
However, it's just as likely we have nothing and will be looking for another coach in 3-4 years, I don't know.
What I do know is, we've moved on, we're not limiting ourselves in recruiting and are going after the best football players we can attract, regardless of location. There seems to be a plan 1a, 1b, 1c, 1d, etc... People act like missing out on some of the KS kids in unforgivable, as if it's something we've succeeded with forever, when instead, most of the KS kids we've had that were good originally walked on.
What's my point? I'm excited to see the way this new staff goes about recruiting, how open they're trying to be in inviting both the fans and the media to see how hard they're working on building the program the way they see fit.
There's excitement again during the offseason, and something to talk about, good or bad, other than "will this be Snyder's last year".
