October 5, 2007

Kansas deals with big-time divide
Less-populated states find it hard to field two good Division I-A football teams.

By J. BRADY McCOLLOUGH
The Kansas City Star

To Dan McCarney, it just didn’t seem right. Everywhere he looked, he saw programs with an advantage that his would never have.

To the west, Nebraska. To the north, Minnesota and Wisconsin. To the south, Missouri. McCarney’s Iowa State program was surrounded by states with only one Division I-A football program. Little Iowa, on the other hand, had two. Talk about landlocked.

“You sit in the middle of that with less population and two universities,” says McCarney, who was fired last season after 12 years as the Cyclones’ head coach. “It’s not an excuse. It’s just a fact of life.”

The Sunflower State can relate. Kansas, the 33rd-largest state with 2.8 million people, is the smallest state to house two BCS-conference programs. Kansas and Kansas State may be headed for success this season, but history says both schools won’t be able to sustain it long-term. Only three times in the last 20 years have KU and K-State both finished with winning records.

Of course, it’s not a rivalry week without someone somewhere saying, “This state ain’t big enough for the both of us.” But in Kansas, as well as Iowa, Oregon and Kentucky, those words have all too often rung true.

“No one would say (those states) produce enough players for one school, let alone two,” says former Kansas coach Glen Mason. “When you put two schools in there, it makes it that much more difficult. Does it make it impossible? No.”

Mason and former K-State coach Bill Snyder came as close as any to pulling it off in Kansas. In 1995, KU and K-State entered the game ranked sixth and 14th, respectively. The Wildcats pummeled the Jayhawks in Manhattan 41-7, and that was that. Two years later, Mason jumped town for the Minnesota job, which had that one advantage McCarney noted. Mason wouldn’t have to battle with an in-state school for in-state recruits.

The Jayhawks and Wildcats haven’t enjoyed success in the same season since then. It’s taken 11 years to get to Saturday, when No. 24 K-State and undefeated Kansas (also receiving votes) will play for state supremacy and a shot at the Big 12 North title. Will it be another decade before it happens again?

“Look across the country, not just the state of Kansas,” Snyder says, “and it becomes seemingly difficult to maintain the highest level of success over a period of time. Look at the upsets this past weekend. Parity is taking hold here, and nobody’s got a surefire lock on anything. It’s difficult (for K-State and KU to both be highly successful on a regular basis) because of it. But is it doable? It’s doable.”

To have success at KU and K-State, both staffs have to be creative in recruiting. There simply isn’t enough homegrown talent to go around. During 2006-08, for instance, the state of Kansas has produced only 23 three-star or better recruits in a three-year span.

“In a great year in the state of Kansas, you’re probably dealing with eight kids that are truly BCS-caliber players,” KU safeties coach Clint Bowen says. “You go 50-50 with K-State, and that’s four guys. You gotta find 21 others somewhere.”

KU coach Mark Mangino has built his program largely with players from Texas who were fringe players for the big Texas schools but good enough to play in the Big 12. Twenty-seven players on this year’s roster are Texans, compared with 30 from Kansas. The Kansas schools also have an inherent advantage with the high level of junior-college football being played in the state.

These are all things that former Kansas coach Terry Allen admits he figured out too late in the process. He says he would recruit much differently if he had another chance.

“Without a doubt,” Allen says. “Be more innovative, proactive in different areas. I think there’s probably a niche, and Mark’s done a good job in getting into Texas.”

Mason says that continuity with the coaching staffs is just as important.

Before Mason came to Kansas, the Jayhawks had four coaches in 13 years. With Mangino in his sixth season at KU, the program’s foundation should be firm.

“There has to be an organization put in place and continuity that’s there,” Mason says.” Your structure has to be superior because you don’t have all the built-in advantages that some people have.”

McCarney, now the defensive-line coach and assistant head coach at South Florida, spent each day in Ames trying to gain any advantage he could over Iowa.

“There are only so many dollars and people that can sit in stands and support scholarship programs,” McCarney says. “I always felt like every day that you were trying to get an edge, and you better have a plan for it.”

Ultimately, it wasn’t enough for McCarney, who now sells recruits with trips to Busch Gardens, an amusement park only five minutes from campus, and lush Florida beaches.

“In Iowa,” he says, “we had the Skunk River.”

K-State coach Ron Prince is only worried about what he can control.

“It’s less about population than having a good strategy,” Prince says. “And I think both schools (KU and K-State) do. And things change over time. You never know what the population is going to look like in 20, 30, 40 years. We could be in the middle of a metropolis here.”

Hey, a little wishful thinking can’t hurt, right?

J. Brady McCollough - jbrady@coveringsports.com (email) - 816-868-2621 (cell)