Three and out: Gene Taylor not expected to leave Kansas State
WILL HOWARD MAKING DIFFERENCE FOR KANSAS STATE
Kansas State starting quarterback Will Howard isn’t just making a difference with his arm or his football IQ on the field. He is having a large difference off of it as well, and that doesn’t just extend to leading by example, setting a high standard and being a resource for his K-State teammates.
He is every part of the reason that the fabric and the culture has remained the same in Manhattan. In fact, his infectious personality and ambition, drive and desire to win big has rubbed off on his coaches and those around him.
If it wasn’t for the draw of Howard, Kansas State offensive coordinator Collin Klein might be coaching at Notre Dame this season. Though love of his alma-mater was prominent in Klein’s choice to remain in Manhattan, most believe that he just had a difficult time coming to grips with leaving Howard and others.
Additionally, running back Treshaun Ward recently credited Howard with his decision to commit to K-State during his appearance on the 3MAW Podcast. The Florida State transfer shared that the entire starting offensive line was a big deal, but the tipping point was messages from Howard soon after he left his Kansas State visit.
ACC REVENUE-SHARING
I won’t dive into the weeds of the new legislation going forward in the ACC, but the meat and potatoes of it all is that the television revenue that is distributed to the league’s members for the revenue-generating sports will no longer be equal.
Instead, it will all be performance-based. Obviously, that was to stem the tide of some of the unhappy schools, which are reported to be Florida State, Miami, Clemson, Virginia, Virginia Tech, NC State and North Carolina.
Because of the grant-of-rights and television contract that are sewn in until 2036, and an antiquated deal with ESPN at that, the conference is stuck without much leverage or flexibility to increase its financial situation.
The Big 12’s new television contract, or extension of one, will even be leap-frogging the ACC. And we all are well aware of how much ahead the Big Ten and SEC are from a lucrative standpoint. With that being said, the new model that is going to be instituted by the ACC is just a band-aid that won’t stick.
A few million dollars here and there, that isn’t even guaranteed, is not moving the needle.
My takeaway of the entire situation is that the Big 12 stands in a stronger position than both the ACC and the Pac-12, and that is good news for programs like K-State. There is nothing stable about college athletics in general, but they are more stable.
The ACC is stuck in an agreement that seems unable to be maneuvered and has 13 years remaining on it, the Pac-12 can’t find a television contract and the Big 12 just signed their biggest television deal in the league’s history with two media giants in ESPN and FOX.
A race to being No. 3 won’t satisfy everyone, and the rewards of that are limiting, but it is the best that the Big 12 can do and they are ahead by several car lengths at the moment. He’s not perfect, but commissioner Brett Yormark has pushed a lot of the right buttons and benefited from great timing.
Brett Yormark (Photo courtesy of the Big 12)
TAYLOR NOT EXPECTED TO LEAVE K-STATE
Not that it is a secret at this point, but Kansas State athletic director Gene Taylor is not expected to leave his post with the Wildcats. Obviously, that banter started to be discussed once his previous mentor Gary Barta announced his retirement as athletic director at Iowa.
Taylor worked under Barta at Iowa City.
Just in case, we did reach out to sources connected to the Hawkeyes. KSO discovered that there wasn’t expected to be much of a search process at this point. Most with knowledge of the operation fully anticipate Beth Goetz to be the replacement.
She was second in charge at Iowa and was hired a year ago after a stint as the athletic director at Ball State.
The post Three and out: Gene Taylor not expected to leave Kansas State appeared first on On3.
