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  Bob Lutz  

Wefald had big role in move that revived KSU

If Bill Snyder was the mastermind behind the 20th century's most amazing college football transformation at Kansas State, then the man who hired Snyder deserves some really nice description of his mind, too.

Right?

Jon Wefald is lauded for doing some incredible things during his 22 years as K-State's president -- from growing the student body to raising millions and millions of dollars to producing a number of Rhodes scholars.

Nothing Wefald did, though, was more important to Kansas State than his decision to pluck Snyder from his job as an assistant to Hayden Fry at Iowa and charge him with breathing some life into the Wildcats' program, which had pronounced dead years before.

It's difficult to say whether Wefald simply got lucky with the hiring of Snyder or whether he looked deeply into the soul of the man and saw a miracle worker. However it happened, it happened. Kansas State went from being one of the worst college football teams in the country to being a model of excellence and consistency.

Wefald, of course, basked in the glory. The hiring of Snyder transformed the Manhattan campus from a place nobody wanted to be to a place students lined up to get into.

Academics will bristle at the suggestion that the hiring of a football coach could make such a profound difference for a university. But the success of football under Snyder crossed over into every walk of life at Kansas State.

No ifs, ands or buts.

The legacy with which Wefald will depart Kansas State has many facets. But in 25 years, when K-Staters discuss that legacy, they will still talk about the Snyder hiring as its cornerstone.

Wefald was never happier than when he was at a K-State football game. You could tell how proud he was of the team and the program and of what the Wildcats' success was doing for the self-esteem of the student body.

Wefald became a bit of a rock star when the Wildcats started to regularly make it to bowl games. If Snyder was the lead vocalist, Wefald played a heck of a guitar. He became one of the most popular, and visible, college presidents in the country.

I wonder, though, if Wefald's hiring of Snyder contributed to a feeling that he could do no wrong when it came to bringing in the right people to run K-State's most visible athletic programs.

And make no mistake, Wefald had a huge say -- perhaps even the final say -- in all hirings.

His hands-on approach is one of the reasons former Kansas State athletic director Tim Weiser departed in March for an assistant commissioner's job in the Big 12 offices in Dallas.

Weiser never felt he was given the autonomy of his Big 12 counterparts.

Wefald leaves at a tenuous time, just a couple of months after hand-picking Bob Krause, a friend and colleague, to replace Weiser. Krause, who previously was K-State's vice president of institutional advancement, has limited experience in athletic administration and has turned over the day-to-day operation to Jim Epps, the deputy AD.

Krause isn't the only intriguing hire made by Wefald in the past three years.

K-State's football coach, Ron Prince, had no head coaching experience when he was chosen to replace Snyder. Prince, who came from Virginia, begins his third season with more questions than answers about his program; K-State is coming off a 4-8 season.

The basketball coach, Frank Martin, had not been a head coach, either, when he was hired to replace Bob Huggins after the 2006-07 season. Huggins was at K-State only one season before he decided to return home and coach at West Virginia.

Martin led K-State to 21 wins and the second round of the NCAA Tournament this season. But the Wildcats will be without Michael Beasley --and perhaps Bill Walker --next season. Martin, though, recently was signed to a five-year contract extension.

So, Krause, Prince and Martin are the faces of the Kansas State athletic department. And Wefald, the man most responsible for bringing them to Manhattan, is on his way out.

Interesting times.

Wefald's legacy hasn't fully been formed. The Snyder chapter, though, is a doozy. And, just maybe, impossible to follow.

Eagle sports columnist Bob Lutz co-hosts "Sports Daily" from 9-11 a.m. weekdays on KFH, 1240-AM and 98.7-FM. Reach him at 316-268-6597 or blutz@wichitaeagle.com.