Following a legend can be difficult.

Former Kansas State football coach Bill Snyder engineered perhaps the greatest turnaround in college football history. He took over a losing Wildcat program that was so pitiful that some wanted to kick them out of the Big Eight (now Big 12).

Part 1 of a 4-Part Series

Instead, Snyder won championships, went to bowl games and got ranked in the Top 10.

Now, Snyder has officially retired (for the second and final time) and has been replaced by Coach Chris Klieman.

Who?

Klieman was a highly successful coach at North Dakota State since 2014. But that wasn’t the same level of competition as the Big 12.

Klieman has coaching stops at Northern Iowa, Western Illinois, Missouri State, Loras College and Kansas. He started at North Dakota State as a defensive coach in 2011. He became defensive coordinator in 2012 and head coach two years later.

It’s obvious that Kansas State wanted someone who had won a bunch of games instead of a big name from a big school to replace Snyder.

Klieman inherits a Kansas State team that slipped to 5-7 (3-6 in the Big 12) and didn’t qualify for a bowl game.

How do you follow a legend?

“I wasn’t really following to see how everything was done in the past here,” Klieman said in the Big 12 Conference spring interviews. “I know how I’ve done some things in my past. I wanted to get our brand out there as much as we could. I didn’t  realize that it wasn’t out as much as in the last how ever many years.”

Snyder liked running the program his own way, which was at least a bit old fashioned. Snyder wasn’t much for public relations.

“I think we have a great thing to sell here,” Klieman said. “For us, we need to get out in front of it and show what K-State has to offer.”

Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy said it is unusual to have so many new coaches in the league.

“It’s kind of an unusual year with so many changes in our league.” Gundy said during the spring teleconference. “And you have a variety of guys. You have two guys coming from what was a lower level and moving up. You’ve got a veteran guy that’s coached for 45 years and then you’ve got Coach (Matt) Wells, who has been in it for awhile and has been familiar with this landscape, being from Oklahoma and very familiar with this part of the country. It’s going to be interesting. They are all quality coaches and deserving of their jobs and it will be an interesting year.

“We have been in a pattern in our league where we knew each other very well for a number of years, so this will throw a little curveball to everybody in the league for a couple of years. “

Klieman thinks the Wildcats are ready for a fresh start.

“I think our players have done a great job and our coaches of being out in the community as well as visiting with the fan base,” Klieman said. “For the first three months we have been on the job, we are continuing to build relationships with our players, relationships with the fan base, the media. I know it’s not going to happen overnight. We need to win some games and get off to a great start. I have pleased with the progress we’ve made so far.”

His exposure to his team so far has been limited to one set of spring practices but he likes what he saw.

 “I feel better in the fact that the kids really care,” Klieman said. “They play for each other and they enjoy being around each other. I didn’t see a lot of selfish guys or selfish plays. I saw guys that were working to try to learn an offense and defense and knew that they had a long ways to go between practice one and two.

“And I was really pleased with the progress we made. Now we are still light years away from being ready to play a game but I noticed how we wanted them to practice, the culture of how we were practicing, with the double rep stuff for the last four or five practices. I think the guys were really buying in.

“And they were having fun out there. I saw some playmakers and we obviously have some depth issues as a lot of schools do especially in the spring … but I am really pleased with the progress we’ve made. We just have to continue that progress from the spring into the summer.”

The toughest part of replacing a coach and a system that has been in place for decades is coping with change.

“The biggest challenge is to get the guys to understand our schemes offensively and defensively,” Klieman said. “The terminology – it’s foreign to them. I thought we did a nice job in the nonstop challenge that we more we give these guys, the more they are able to handle.

“I am pleased where we are at in the offensive and defensive line, with the guys returning. Obviously, if you are going to be successful in offensive stunts that we want to play, you need to be really good up front. I like our leadership in the offensive and defensive line.”

Can Kansas State fans expect a return to the glory years this fall?

“I think we will be a better team as the season goes along,” Klieman said. “As we put in more of our own offense, more of our own defense. I know there are some talented players out there.

“If we can keep them healthy, I think we have a chance to make a lot of plays on either side of the ball. I hope we will be a physically disciplined football team because that is probably what they have seen in the past at Kansas State – a physical, disciplined team that is well coached and enjoys playing and enjoys with each other.”