Prince: No More Candy 4 U
Posted: May 28th, 2009 | Filed under: Other Sports | 56 Comments »
You may or may not have heard about this … but I cannot stop thinking about this story happening at Kansas State University in Manhattan, Kansas. The story so remarkable — so bloody remarkable — that my mind cannot even wrap around it.
To give you a sense of balance, the big college corruption story these days is that the NCAA is officially charging Memphis with “knowing fraudulence and misconduct” revolving around an SAT Test (people seem to be inferring that the player involved was Derrick Rose) and about two thousand dollars in free travel. That’s usually what you get from the NCAA — a few thousand dollars misspent, unauthorized transportation for a player or a family member, smoke where there might be fire.
The Kansas State story is all fire. The story is about a secret pact involving a failed coach and $3.2 million. Repeat secret pact. Failed coach. Three point two million dollars. I suspect there has never been anything quite like it.
We’ll start with background: Kansas State used to have the worst football program in America. The worst, bar none — when I was in Augusta, my friend Ed Price and I ranked every Division I school in America based on about 10 different variables, including victories, bowls, All-Americans and so on. Kansas State wasn’t just last, the school was last by hundreds of points.
There are a million Kansas State stories that fill out the details, my favorite being the time the Wildcats were in New Orleans playing Tulane in 1988, and they were actually leading 16-13 with less than two minutes left. Everyone was on the Kansas State sideline celebrating — celebrating because the Wildcats had not won a game in almost two years — and by EVERYONE, I also mean the Kansas State defensive coaches who had decided to come down from the press box.
That was a bad thing. Tulane — thanks in large part to TWO 12-men on the field penalties — came back and scored the game-winning touchdown with seconds left. And Kansas State did not win a game in 1988 either. Like I say, there are a million stories like that.
Only then, Kansas State hired an Iowa assistant coach named Bill Snyder. Bill did not especially look like a football coach — he always seemed more professor than jock — but he had this preposterous work ethic (he rather famously went to a hypnotist to see if he could live without sleep), and he had this crazed attention to detail (when Kansas State played in Japan, he worked it out so his team got the shady side of the plane going both ways) and he was, well, I still think he pulled off the greatest coaching job in the history of college football. He reworked every single aspect of Kansas State football — from scheduling to recruiting to practicing to strength training to academics to EVERYTHING — and slowly Kansas State got better, and then better, and then the Wildcats became one of the best football teams in the country. The Wildcats were one fumble away from playing in the national championship game in 1998. They won 11 games or more six out of seven years from 1997-03.
Then, the team flattened out. Snyder stepped down — we’re slowly getting to the story — and the Wildcats hired a Virginia assistant coach named Ron Prince. From the first day, it seemed like a strange hire. Prince was from Kansas. But — at least from afar — he seemed utterly un-Kansas State. He seemed aloof, maybe arrogant. He seemed pretty certain that he had the answers. This was quite the opposite of Snyder, who was always quick to remind us that he was not a very smart man. I like Kansas State quite a lot — my wife went there — and I think there’s a certain Midwestern level-headedness about the place. Prince did not seem to fit that at all.
Then again, there’s nothing fundamentally wrong with football coaches who seem aloof, maybe arrogant — some of the best coaches in America are like that. I mean, seriously, Nick Saban? So, Ron Prince recruited supremely talented quarterback Josh Freeman, who was just the 17th pick in the NFL Draft. Kansas State finished 7-6 in his first year. The Wildcats beat Texas that year. Things looked OK.
Only, they weren’t. Assistant coaches, for one reason or another, began to flee. The recruiting process was, well, I guess you could call it muddled. And the Wildcats began to lose. They beat Texas again in 2007 — if not for Texas, the Ron Prince years would have been pretty disastrous — but they also lost to a mediocre Nebraska 73-31. They finished 5-7 and there were some bad signs. For bizarre reasons, Prince was given a raise and contract extension and — more to the point — there was a larger buyout put into his contract. A much larger buyout. A $1.2 million buyout. We’ll get to that in a minute.
In 2008, the Wildcats lost six out of seven games in the middle of the year, and these included scores like 58-28 (Texas Tech), 58-35 (Oklahoma), 52-21 (Kansas), 41-24 (Missouri) and 56-28 (Nebraska). The Wildcats were getting humiliated again. At first, Kansas State athletic director Bob Krause said that Prince was doing well, he needed more time, this was a big job. And then, as these things go, Krause fired Prince after the Kansas loss. There was no real uproar about it — Kansas State fans generally seemed to accept that Prince wasn’t the right fit. And sure, it would cost the school $1.2 million (rather than the $300,000 buyout that was in the original deal) but it seems like that’s the price of doing business at big-time football schools. About three weeks later, Prince was simply forgotten as Kansas State hired … Bill Snyder to become the head coach. I love that story too.
Anyway, we get to the present. About a week ago, Kansas State announced that they had “learned” of a secret deal. They have not made clear how they learned about it … maybe they were doing some spring cleaning and just came across it.
Cleaning person: “What’s this?”
Cleaning person 2: “Looks like papers.”
Cleaning person: “No, I think it’s some sort of secret deal.”*
*Brilliant reader update from Kougar24: One small correction: K-State officials did say how they suddenly came across this deal. It was during the discovery process for a pending lawsuit formed by “a former assistant football coach” whom we all assume is Tim Tibesar.
The secret deal was for Kansas State to pay Ron Prince $3.2 million in deferred payments beginning in 2015. This, by the way, was on top of the $1.2 million buyout.
And by “secret deal,” I do mean SECRET DEAL — the story that they’re selling us is that the only person at the school who was aware of this deal was renegade former athletic director Bob Krause (yes, he’s former now). The president didn’t know. The other people in the athletic department didn’t know. The financial people at the school didn’t know. Nobody knew. The story they’re selling is that a loose cannon named Bob Krause (who was president Jon Wefald’s close friend for more than two decades) offered Ron Prince $3.2 million — I believe this is more than Kansas State paid Prince in ALL THREE YEARS he was coaching — and managed to not let anyone know about it.
Like I say: I simply cannot get my head around this story.
1. I find it almost impossible to believe that an athletic director could work out a $3.2 million deal without signatures and approval from the school president and various other money people. I mean, we’re not talking about getting a new treadmill for the weight room. I appreciate that athletic directors need autonomy … but really? Three point two million? Without anyone knowing? Please.
2. I cannot come close to figuring out why the school would give Prince this money. I mean I’m not even close to figuring it out. Prince was, at best, a mediocre football coach without much support in the community. I can’t even figure out why they put a $1.2 million buyout in his contract, much less why this would come up. My only theories involve extreme, extreme corruption — kickbacks, lies or an attempt to cover up something so heinous that it would be worth $3.2 million to cover it up.
3. How did ANYONE think this was actually going to work? Did they think that nobody would find out? Did they think that by the time anyone noticed it would be ok? (Future AD: “Hey, what’s this? It looks like a contract to pay Ron Prince three point two million dollars. Who is Ron Prince? Oh well, might as well just pay it.”).
4. There’s a whole other comic twist … apparently the payments were supposed to be made to Prince’s LLC which is called “In Pursuit of Perfection” or “IPP.” Well, that’s a big OR in the middle there. Apparently the original reference in the contract is to pay “In Pursuit of Perfection.” But Prince had not yet formed the company when he signed the contract … and when he did form it, he called it “IPP” and not the full “In Pursuit of Perfection.”
So Kansas State has now formed its own LLC called “In Pursuit of Perfection,” in some sort of “Free Parking Gets All The Fines” legal maneuver so that they can claim that they can pay the $3.2 million to themselves. It seems apparent now that Barney Fife should give the bullet back to Andy.
And so on. It’s the story with everything … and nothing at all. Best I can tell, the timeline of the story has been: (A) School finds out about secret $3.2 million pact; (B) School goes to Ron Prince and says, “Um, we didn’t even KNOW about this deal, can we just cancel it?” (C) Prince goes, “Um, actually, no. I’d like my money.” (D) School takes contract to court and tries to get it invalidated. (E) School forms the “In Pursuit of Perfection” LLC in an funny effort to trick everyone.
And that’s where we are now. I know people are into this Jon and Kate thing, but I cannot imagine a better reality show than this one. Will Kansas State have to pay Prince the money? Will it come out why Kansas State offered him that money in the first place? How can I get on the Kansas State deferred payment plan? Tune in next time, same Bat Time, same Bat Channel.
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i just can’t type it
i could use $3.2 million right now….
Nice post. I think you’re right, I don’t recall anything similar to this. Luckily Memphis and Derrick Rose is there to take the national spotlight (although the K-State thing came out beforehand, and its unlikely that K-State will face any kind of sanctions, since it was a secret deal).
I really like your blog, its really original. Definitely will be returning.
I think you mean “same Cat Time, same Cat Channel.”
(1) I knew I should have become a football coach.
Joe Kuharich, who didn’t have the greatest track record, had some sort of a lifetime coaching deal with the Eagles. But that was the pros. He did coach at Notre Dame and compared to him Charlie Weis is Ara Parseghian.
Talk about a whoops! Prince hadn’t yet formed the LLC that he referenced in the “secret deal”?? Idiot! Same idiot who tried to make Lamark Brown a running back. He’s an idiot! Krause is an idiot! And I’m assuming there may be many more idiots in the higher-ups at K-State Athletics right now. Geesh….embarrassing for us KSU Alumni.
Since this is a state school I’d imagine a whole bunch of laws were violated. Although I guess the rules are different for football teams.
What could possibly be worth 3.2 Million to cover up? That’s not “simple recruiting violations” hush money, that’s “Bill Snyder killed Jimmy Hoffa and buried his body in one of the end zones” hush money!
IPP is what the bean counters did when they discovered the secret pact
I think this is a better sports joke than anything in the prior thread.
How did Coach Dennis Franchione not set up this sort of deal with Alabama or Texas A&M?
The corruption that is involved with the NCAA and its schools’ athletic programs boggles the mind… It’s ALL ABOUT MONEY!!
I think we need to reanimate the corpse for Kennesaw Mountain Landis and put him in charge of the NCAA.
1) Could anyone tell the difference between him and Myles Brand anyway?
2) At least he had a sense of justice and intellegence in running a sport with numerous issues, which is more than can be said about the aforementioned Dishonorable Mr. Brand.
Joe, I don’t know why I feel compelled to say this, but here goes. I love sports, but for the most part I can’t stand sportswriters (or people who write about sports, which is a different thing). Most of what’s written is (a) unoriginal, (b) unsupportable, and (c) unintelligible. On top of that, much sportswriting seems to be more about the writer than the subject (yes, I’m thinking of Rick Reilly, among others). But I love your writing. Both the content and the style stand out from anything else I’m aware of out there. You have a distinct voice and keen observations. Kudos.
Dan
I always thought it was “IP Freely.”
What a gigantic embarrassment. With the sorry state of affairs that Prince left behind, the Mizzou and kansas resurgence, and K-State’s limited resources, Snyder will have his hands full.
I still get a mild chuckle remembering all the “scary smart” comments from K-State fans online regarding Prince’s ability and accumen. It reminds me a lot of the same mistakes my fellow Mizzou fans made regarding Quin Snyder.
Dan is right, JoePo is in a class by himself. You can tell when his BLOG is better than the columns of 99% of the sportswriters out there. Outstanding work, Joe.
And how long before the hammer falls on USC? I know, they really sell a lot of tickets and advertisers and all that. But between Reggie Bush and O.J. Mayo, don’t they deserve a couple of years off of competitive sports? Or is the NCAA actually going to realize that punishing the university if (as in the Bush case; Mayo is just plain wrong if accurately reported) some poor kids folks accept a lot of money from an agent expecting the kid to sign with that agent is not a reason to punish a school that’s trying to keep kids in school and legit?
What the NCAA should really do is put in a clause that each student athlete must sign stating, “If you or any close family relative (parent, spouse, or sibling) accepts anything from any agent or company in violation of this code before you have played your last NCAA game, and you benefit from that illegal transaction (live in the house, drive the car, spend the loot) and do not report that transaction to the NCAA, then you are responsible to pay that amount of money, however much it was, to the NCAA.” Gets the schools out of the policing business, lets the kids and the kids parents know that they won’t get to keep that early money if the agent blows the whistle on them, and will reduce the problem. Or at least keep cheating kids honest to the cheating contract. In Bush’s case, if he stayed with his folks in the crooked house, then if he reported it to the NCAA, he’s reasonably in the clear, but if he doesn’t report it, then he owes the NCAA.
I know, probably won’t stand up to scrutiny. I’m 19, on full scholarship, my parents have no responsibility for my education or expenses, my parents sign the crooked deal, I hate my parents and all my success came in spite of rather than because of what they did, but this deal basically enables them to accept a zillion dollars from some agent and I have to repay this deal. It probably is illegal. But the NCAA *needs* to change the way it exploits student athletes, especially the really poor student athletes.
My Ron Prince story, coming at me in a very roundabout manner and with no corroboration. Why did the assistants run? Ron was fond of other men’s wives. He was pushy, and threatening, and assertive, and demanding, and the boss. And people didn’t like working for that kind of boss. Favors were demanded.
I was incredibly dubious about this, though the rapidity with which they left was amazing. Sounded like a 1950s story that couldn’t be done today. But this new tale makes me think; this guy was truly all about himself. Nothing else mattered. And I sure hope gets what he deserves.
This story is weird and I can see why someone would think Krause was not the only one in the know. One thing I do know for sure is that no competent attorney looked at the contract. The contract is so lacking in the basic elements of an enforceable agreement that I cannot imagine anyone at K-State, with a law degree, looked at it.
K-State is the last non-conference team to beat USC in a regular season game.
One small correction: K-State officials did say how they suddenly came across this deal. It was during the discovery process for a pending lawsuit formed by “a former assistant football coach” whom we all assume is Tim Tibesar.
Joe, as always, you’ve nailed the utter stupidity that this entire situation reeks of. Hell, even sitting near Boulder, the stench reaches me.
Of course, on top of what KSU may have to pay Prince, what they’ve got in place for Weiser, the school also is now paying Snyder more than a million/per and lavishing the believed-to-be highest salary given to a hoops assistant on Martin’s recruiting “genius”.
I thought this was the kind of disorganization that Mizzou trademarked.
Dirty Coach: I need the money sooner
Dirty AD: How soon??
Dirty Coach: Last week.
Dirty AD: We are going to have to go to court and work out a settlement.
Dirty Coach: Thats the best you can do?
I just hope that Frank Martin does not have a “still secret agreement”.
Well, this was a pretty much straight down the line reporting of what we already knew with pillow-soft jabs thrown into the mix.
But for Joe I suppose that’s pretty hard-hitting.
I am a die hard KSU fan and this blog is absolutely hysterical! Joe P you are one of the best writers this city has ever seen. This situation really is comical since al the key players have either left or are leaving.
Maybe what Prince knew had something to do with Bob Higgins’ and/or Michael Beasley’s brief cups of coffee in Manhattan. (Not sure how this would work, but it could be a funny angle just to day dream about.)
Brian Marr #26 –
Don’t know what your problem is with this column, but I (and I’ll bet an overwhelming majority of the readers here) did not know about this, certainly not in this detail.
In addition, the same story with the same basic info can be told in many, many different ways (e.g., see previous post on Official Blog Joke) with wildly varying results. Given Joe’s familiarity with Kansas and his unparalleled writing skills, I would have read his version of this story with pleasure even if I knew everything about it.
This is not intended to be the second coming of Woodward/Bernstein.
I’m a UK alum, that is the University of Kentucky, and it is amazing how the Kansas State story parallels UK’s football (and basketball, except we’ve been relatively successful over the years in b-ball anyway) journey. Spooky? UK Wildcats!
Doesn’t Occam’s Razor have a use here? Although I sure can’t figure out the simplest answer. There is no possible way that Krause did this on his own, for all the reasons Joe neatly outlines. You can’t hide a $3.2 million payment at a public institution, and nobody is crazy enough to think you can.
Seems to me that the simplest reasonable explanation is that this goes above Krause and he is getting thrown under the bus for it. Otherwise, it makes no sense whatsoever.
And, isn’t the complete national ambivalence about this story the biggest slap in the face to KSU imaginable? Derrick Rose’s “companion” gets a free flight gets about a million more lines of type than “KSU’s ousted AD and football coach shake hands under the table in inexplicable multi-million dollar pact.” I mean, what else do the Wildcats have to do to get some press?
Jeff (#31) – you nailed it with the Occam’s Razor reference.
Bob Krause became athletic director because Tim Weiser refused to give Ron Prince an extension. Basically, Wefald had to choose between Prince and Weiser.
He chose Prince. Krause had one line in his job description – Give Ron Prince an extension.
If the only line in your job description was, “Flood the Grand Canyon,” wouldn’t you make damn sure northern Arizona became a small ocean? Bob Krause did the same with Ron Prince.
@ Jeff [#32]. Dude, right on. No longer should we (I’m a KSU alum) complain about not getting enough press when our school wins, if the same applies when our school embarrasses itself.
As a KU alum, I’m admittedly biased about this situation, and I know full well that it’s only a matter of time before the tables turn and one (or more) of KU’s programs does something monumentally stupid as well. It’s happened before, and I’m sure it will happen again. When it does, K-State fans will mercilessly torture me and every other KU alum I know, as they have never disappointed in that regard before. These are all known quantities.
Sadly, none of this knowledge has prevented me from laughing my middle aged Irish ass off at K-State on this one.
Yes to Jeff #31… it has to seem that there would be some limit as to how much Krause could authorize – not that I know, but being a state institution there must be rules for virtually everything. But, if Krause could, then isn’t this technically legal? And then again, you have to wonder… why 2015? Some significance perhaps about liability and enforceability it being 7 years past 2008? Or maybe something that happened (like burying Jimmy Hoffa in the end zone) that when this would come to light in 2015, as planned, Kansas State would be in the clear (is there such an NCAA rule?).
It is a very odd story…. there’s no way a coach gets that kind of money. And AD or not, I can’t imagine Krause having that kind of approval power. I don’t take conspiracies very seriously, but if there’s not more to it this takes the cake for “incredibly stupid people”. I’m not sure which is more plausible.
Joe writes: “Prince was from Kansas. But — at least from afar — he seemed utterly un-Kansas State.”
Why didn’t they just hire a coach from the Pittsburgh-Youngstown-Akron triangle?
That’s a crazy story.
After that first year I always wondered why no one did exit interviews of all those coaches (and players) who left. If they had they would have found out that Prince was a narcisistic tyrant. I bet former coach Wallerstedt (now at Air Force) could/would/should shed some light on that.
Also, I vividly recall Krause’s remark to the press upon the hiring of Prince: “This hire was a no brainer”.
We now know who had NO BRAIN — or did he?
Krause is married (for now) to the daughter of Jack Vanier – one of the athletic department’s largest donors and namesake of the KSU football complex. One has to wonder how much this impacts alumni donations in the future.
You down with IPP, ya you know me.
$3.2 million was how much Miles demanded from Ben to tell Widmore he was dead. Maybe the Island is in Manhattan!
This story is absolutely unbelievable. As much as I would love to laugh hysterically about this happening to K-State, I can’t help but feel badly for them. Posnanski says it all perfectly: the program climbed from the abyss of college football, nearly pulled off the miracle of playing for a national championship 10 years after going 2-30-1 over a 3-year stretch, then after a slide and Snyder’s retirement, they not only hire the wrong coach, but one that is turning out to be an utter disaster even long after he has been canned and left town.
Posnanski’s point number two that there has to be some incredible corruption the likes of which college football has maybe never seen is what I thought the moment this story broke. One other thing that Joe forgot to mention that is as “hard to wrap a person’s head around” in this story as anything is: what in the name of Holy Moses made Ron Prince think that he deserved this kind of money from K-State, when he by all accounts failed in his tenure as head coach? Bill Snyder’s words during and after Spring ball say it all. And if I am Al Groh at UVa right now, I am having some serious considerations of firing this guy on the spot, such that he is NEVER allowed to coach anywhere in college football again.
The Prince-Krause so called “secret agreement” is very similar to the Wefald-Weiser agreement. Both make absolutely no sense?
Wefald, “okay Tim as your boss, if I interfere with your job, you can quit (or be bought out) for roughly 2 million dollars in compenstation”. Hello ???
Of course the Krause-Prince agreement makes even less sense.
It does make you wonder if there is some kind of big cover-up going on. There is no reasonable explanation. It’s clear that K-State’s best interests were not taking into account, then again, nothing is clear in this plot.
I don’t see anyway K State should owe him the money. It’s a shady backdoor move by Krause. I don’t know if Krause wanted to screw the school over or what, but this screams of corruption. If more people had agreed to the deal and it had gone through proper channels this story wouldn’t be in the media and the lawsuit wouldn’t have been filed.
I didn’t like Prince when they hired him. He is way too arrogant for K State. I was very confused when they have him the contract extension, esp. about the 1.2 million buyout. He wasn’t winning, so why an extension? Very upsetting as a K State fan.
Lew Perkins and KU do the same thing, don’t pretend that they don’t.
Bentard typed this, not me.
Dax
As I was browsing Phagtard.net, as I do several times day, I noticed the hypocricy or the tards. The Validators are really validating their opinions of KSU. DocSTALK, Hox, and Bentard just can’t stop talking about this. I check Phagtard.net at least 20 times a day to see what they are saying because I am obsessed with everything KU. Sad…
KSU will win a national championship in the next 4 years in football or basketball.
lol fatty is right. KSU will win a national championship in football in the next 2 years. No doubt. KSU has the best d-line in the league. Period.
lol at KU and their migit QB, who is more talented than any player on KSU’s roster. lol
lol at KU and their young, but talented OL. lol
lol Harper and Smith are coming and that will make us the favorites in the north for 2010. These 2 players are studs and will completely turn around the program. I should know, because I played college football at Tulsa…..lol
Everything is fine financially at KSU. I always compare KSU to KU and everything about KU and we are not as far back of KU, like most would think. Of course, Bentard will tell you that KU won the national championship in ‘08, but thats false. KU cheated. I am obsessed with everything KU and Bentard and DocSTALK.
Don’t KU fans have anything better to do than troll around on stories about K State or MU?
K-State HAS won a Natl Championship — Soil Judging in 2007
I guess one of the many books Prince claimed to read every week wasn’t “An Idoit’s Guide To Setting Up an LLC”!!
[...] These are the stories Andrew was talking about regarding the [...]
Holy holy holy cow. wow — some follow up in mucho needed. ncaa anyone?????