MANHATTAN — Michael Smith was ready to leave.
Smith spent his freshman season on Kansas State’s football team going through a winless season in 1988 and his coach, Stan Parrish, had been fired. He had never heard of the man hired to be the Wildcats’ new coach and wasn’t too interested in sticking around to see what would happen.
That all changed with one phone call Smith received from the new coach, Bill Snyder.
“I was going to transfer and coach called me on Christmas Day and offered me a scholarship and a chance to come back and play,” Smith said.