MANHATTAN — Waiting patiently Collin Klein to be introduced as Kansas State’s next head football coachthe crowd inside Morgan Family Arena suddenly stood up to applaud.
Royalty had just entered the room.
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The iconic Bill Snyder had just arrived to see his former quarterback take over the position he had held for 27 years. He blew a kiss to the crowd and sat down to watch the Jumbotron. it showed the final minutes of their 2012 Big 12 championship victory over Texas. He wore a gentle smile.
During Klein’s opening statement after being appointed Kansas Statethe head coach, he tried to talk about his old coach, but stopped for a moment to collect himself.
“Coach Snyder…Thank you for creating the Powercat the year I was born,” Klein said.
Snyder’s presence at the event was felt, as it is in every room he enters in a city where his name is written everywhere. In the next building, the giant screens of Bill Snyder Family Stadium showed Klein returning to The Little Apple.
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Synder did not recruit Klein to Kansas State. Ron Prince deserves credit, but he was fired and Snyder returned to the program. The man responsible for the Manhattan Miracle then saw something special in Klein years ago, making him the team’s full-time starting quarterback in 2011 and 2012, and brought him back as an assistant coach in 2017.
On Friday, Klein, who briefly faced Snyder earlier in the week, thanked Snyder for the program he built.
“Thank you for establishing the foundation and a legacy of serving people, players, staff, faculty, the community and using the Kansas State football program as a means to positively impact lives,” Klein said. “I can’t thank you enough for the moment where I didn’t know what my trip was going to be like, and then you came back. I wouldn’t trade it for the world.”
Klein talked about the features Snyder built the program around. Challenging the athlete makes him mentally strong, a trait that must be instilled in every K-State football player. The physicality comes from being challenged, which is why Kansas State is a tough outing late in the season because it’s tougher. No shortcuts are taken.
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“Coach Snyder had the ability to build a culture from the ground up,” Klein said. “Discipline, accountability, work ethic, tenacity…I think that’s the foundation of any successful program.”
It’s the foundation that Klein fell in love with and what he plans to continue as the team’s coach.
Klein believes these methods can still work in the college football era.
“I don’t think kids are any different now; I really don’t,” Klein said. “I think players respond to challenge when you know what you’re talking about and you can provide value and improve them throughout their development journey. If they don’t? Fine. But we’re going to attract those types of guys who have that mindset and that desire to be really, really good football-focused guys.”
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Wyatt D. Wheeler covers Kansas State athletics for the USA TODAY Network and Topeka Capital-Journal. You can follow him on @WyattWheeler_contact him at 417-371-6987 or email him at [email protected]
This article was originally published on Topeka Capital-Journal: Kansas State coach Collin Klein hopes to honor Bill Snyder’s legacy
