K-State Fires Prince After Less Than Three Seasons

The Bill Snyder era apparently spoiled the folks at Kansas State. Because their expectations for Wildcats football are way out of touch with reality.

Kansas State officials announced on Wednesday that coach Ron Prince—who hasn’t even completed his third season in Manhattan—has been fired. Prince will coach the remainder of the 2008 season but won’t return in 2009. He is 16-18 in his tenure with the Wildcats and was 4-5 so far this season.

Kansas State athletic director Bob Krause said the decision to fire Prince, who formerly served as offensive coordinator at Virginia, was in “the long-term interest of both the university and its football program.” He also said the school is committed to building a football program capable of regularly competing for championships.

Well, I’ve got bad news for you, Kansas State. That’s not likely to happen.

Snyder was a true miracle worker in his time with the Wildcats, building the program into one of the nation’s best. But even he couldn't truly get K-State over the top, winning just one conference championship and no national titles. There’s a good reason for that: It’s Kansas State. The school doesn’t have the money, the resources, the history (before Snyder's arrival, a case could have been made that K-State was the worst program in the country) or the recruiting base of the Big 12’s traditional powers—Oklahoma, Texas, Nebraska, Texas A&M. It could even be argued that K-State isn’t on the same level of cross-state rival Kansas, which isn’t exactly a football factory, either.

The fact is, if Kansas State is going to win again, it’s going to take some money, and it’s going to take time. I don’t care if Nick Saban took that job tomorrow—it would take him at least three years to build a winner there. Maybe more.

Which is why firing Prince after less than three seasons is so ridiculous. The guy essentially wasn’t even given a chance to succeed. I mean, he hadn’t even filled out his roster.

No matter. K-State has decided they want to go right back to square one.

And it will be interesting to see how much time the next coach there gets to turn things around.

Photo: Ron Prince has been fired by Kansas State after less than three seasons. (Brian Bahr/Getty Images)