Former Wildcat Michael Smith has mixed feelings about Liberty Bowl

Michael Smith had made up his mind. He was going to transfer from Kansas State to Tulane. The decision was final.

Smith was so serious about leaving K-State after one winless season as a walk-on in 1988 that he flew home to New Orleans after the team’s final game and outlined his intentions to his parents. The Wildcats were switching coaches, from Stan Parrish to a stranger named Bill Snyder, and Smith saw no reason to stay in Manhattan.

Then Snyder called Smith on Christmas morning, and, as Smith says today, the rest is history.

“He said he watched film with the coaches he brought in and they thought I was going to a be a good player,” Smith recalled in a phone interview. “He said he wanted to put me on scholarship. Immediately, I said, ‘Coach, I will be back.’

“I was so appreciative of him for that. It was a tremendous gesture from a man I had never met. I decided right then and there I was going to give him everything I had.”

Smith kept his promise, helping K-State end a 30-game winless streak in 1989, claim five victories in 1990 and record its first winning record in a decade in 1991. Along the way he piled up 2,457 receiving yards and 11 touchdowns, becoming the first player to earn All-America honors of any kind under Snyder.

When his playing career was over, he caught on with K-State as a graduate assistant and coached running backs from 1997-2005, then receivers from 2009-12. He was one of the Wildcats’ top recruiters during both stints, and he says informing Snyder he was leaving for Arkansas in 2013 was one of the hardest experiences of his life.

Coaching against Snyder and his alma mater next month at the Liberty Bowl may be even harder.

“When Coach called me into his office and hired me as a graduate assistant, he told me he wanted me to do this with him until he couldn’t do it anymore,” Smith said. “I had held up to that bargain until this opportunity came along.

“It is going to be real weird to see Bill Snyder and (receivers coach) Andre Coleman and all those guys I recruited on the other sideline. It is going to be different. For so long all I have worn is purple. But I know this: When that gun goes off I am a Razorback and I want to win that football game.”

Snyder also has mixed feelings about facing his former assistant in the Liberty Bowl. Arkansas coach Bret Bielema, a former K-State defensive coordinator, and Smith both flew to New York last week to support Snyder as he was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame.

He doesn’t like coaching against friends, particularly an old friend like Smith.

“The most significant thing,” Snyder said, “thinking back was him being in the program when we first came here.”

Smith remembers that time well. It jump-started his career and enabled him to be where he is today. They also taught him how to help rebuild Arkansas following Bobby Petrino’s tumultuous exit. Bielema hired Smith to his inaugural staff in 2013. Arkansas went 4-8 in 2012, dropped to 3-9 in 2013 and then jumped to 7-6 last season and now 7-5.

The Razorbacks started slowly this year, dropping nonconference games to Toledo and Texas Tech. At one point, they were 2-4. With injuries mounting, expectations plummeted. But a late surge that included victories over Tennessee, Auburn, Mississippi and LSU allowed them to post a winning record.

“It just shows the resilience of our players and our coaching staff,” Smith said. “We went into the season ranked, and immediately lost three of four. It was tough, everyone is questioning your ability. But we jelled and all got on the same page. We knew we had a good team. We just had to get everyone going in the same direction.”

Smith says those experiences have helped him grow as a coach. He is happy at Arkansas, but he also misses K-State.

Those worlds will collide at the Liberty Bowl.

“The great thing about football is all those guys over there respect and understand the situation,” Smith said. “When the game starts, it will be no different than if we were both playing Texas. We all want to win. Coach Snyder will be at his best and so will we.”

This story was originally published December 18, 2015 at 3:26 PM with the headline "Former Wildcat Michael Smith has mixed feelings about Liberty Bowl."