The Kansas State football program under Bill Snyder has officially gone off the rails and is careening toward an unseemly end for an otherwise classy head coach.
Earlier this week, Corey Sutton, who decided in early May to transfer from K-State, revealed in an interview that the athletic department in general and Snyder specifically had banned him from transferring to any of the 35 schools on a list he had submitted. After filing an appeal, the university upheld the initial banning.
A day later, the Wildcats head coach essentially confirmed Sutton’s side of the story with some convoluted logic in a radio interview. Later that day, the head coach added to the burgeoning controversy by publicly revealing that the wide receiver had twice failed drug tests ahead of his transfer.
“He’s a young man who’s been in trouble twice, tested positive twice,” the 77-year-old coach said. “Ya know, I’ve never kept a player in our program who’s tested positive two times... drug tested, but we have some rules in the athletic department that allowed that to happen this time.”Bill Snyder goes on a dissertation about the decision to deny Corey Sutton the opportunity to transfer. @KCTV5 #KState #KstateFB pic.twitter.com/qTUkfnb7bO
— Andrew Carter (@Andrew__Carter) June 2, 2017
Unacceptable and appalling.
It’s wholly unacceptable that, for whatever reason, Snyder is petty enough to deny a transfer to nearly three dozen football programs -- some of whom compete at the FCS and Div. II level, and none of whom are members of the Big 12 or on K-State’s schedule this season.
It’s utterly appalling that Snyder inexplicably decided to publicly air such private information.
It’s also confusing and baffling as to why Snyder would want a player who (allegedly) twice tested dirty to remain on his football team. What’s Snyder’s end-game with this tack? Sully a player’s reputation so that he’s not welcome elsewhere, or sully it so that he’s not welcome in his own program?
Regardless of how this situation ultimately plays out, Snyder’s legacy has been irreversibly tainted. And that’s just sad, on multiple levels.