Kansas State livens up spring football practice with music

For years, Kansas State football players have asked Bill Snyder to play music during practice. And, for years, their requests have been denied.

Until now.

Drive past Snyder Family Stadium while the Wildcats practice this spring and you will hear popular tunes blaring like it’s a fall Saturday.

“Coaches changed a lot of offseason workouts,” sophomore center Dalton Risner said. “They said, ‘Here’s the deal. We went 6-7, and no one likes to go 6-7. We have got some things to change. We have to get things going around here.’

“They reestablished some things, so our player reps got together and said, ‘Hey, we want to come up with some things that will let us be a better team. We don’t like being 6-7, either.’ So we went to coach with numerous things – there are a lot of things I could go on about – but music was one of them, just a tiny small thing to come to a workout at 6 a.m. or show up for practice and have some music going on. He was completely cool with it.”

K-State players were surprised to receive Snyder’s blessing.

Snyder, set to coach his 25th season with the Wildcats this year, has long insisted upon two things during practice: privacy and concentration. Throughout his career, Snyder has run closed practices with little background noise. Other than playing an upcoming opponent’s fight song or simulating crowd roars before a road game, music has more or less been banned from practice since he arrived in 1989.

Risner said Snyder experimented with music during practice a year ago, but pulled the needle off the record when he saw an offensive lineman dancing instead of focusing on drills.

“He shut it down within five minutes,” Risner said.

Still, K-State players were unafraid to push for music a second time.

“It wasn’t easy,” quarterback Jesse Ertz said. “We had to sit down with him and really communicate how important it was to us, that this isn’t a joke. We are trying to do whatever we can to improve, and we think music will help. He took it really well and listened to us.”

His only request: no dancing.

So far, players like the adjustment.

“I want to go out and get after it,” Risner said. “When you show up for practice and it is dead silent, it is hot out, coach is yelling at you, you’re like, ‘Oh man, this is not what I want.’ But you get some music going and you can get yourself ready. You can get excited. You see other guys get excited.”

Snyder also has no complaints. He described K-State’s opening practice of the spring as one of the best he has witnessed.

“As good a practice as I can ever recall,” Snyder said.

K-State coaches and players have had fun with the addition of music. One practice, the Wildcats ran drills to a playlist created by senior safety Dante Barnett. The next, it was nothing but music from “Jurassic Park.” Another day, they arrived to the theme song from “Pirates of the Caribbean.”

The movie soundtrack choices turned some heads, but the lyric-less songs are better than the silence to which K-State players are accustomed.

“As long as there is music playing we are enjoying it,” Risner said. “Coach was so open about it. Little things like that can give you an edge. We really appreciate it.”

This story was originally published April 8, 2016 at 2:49 PM with the headline "Kansas State livens up spring football practice with music."