My cousin, Darren Gale was a starting safety for the Kansas State football team in 1981-82. We bought season football tickets in 1982 and have had football season tickets since. I mention this so you will understand that we have seen it all. When Snyder arrived in 1989 the team had not won in the past 27 games and was considered the worst team in football. The genius of Snyder was unleashed on Manhattan. "Just get a little better each day". "You have to believe". On and on went the process of creating a new football culture. Schedule easy teams early to build wins and the "belief" in the process.
As I have seen the "Miracle in Manhattan" and am seeing it for a second time I realize the Bill Snyder has a huge mind. It is compartmentalized and the attention to "detail" is enormous. He has taken good players and made them into great players. His ability to judge the "upside" of players and to make the "upside" a reality is the genius at work.
Snyder is known for his work ethic. He is really and this will sound strange, the equivalent of two, yes two geniuses: 18 hour days. burning the "midnight oil", bringing it all together and keeping it all together, planning it all, adding to the play scheme, finding just the right piece of the puzzle in a Junior College setting, building confidence, creating a "family atmosphere".
I talked to a football recruit who told me that Coach Bill Snyder simply asked him "what do you want to be?". He had never been asked that before and under Snyder, "what do you want to be? "involves more than football, it involves everything in life".
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