Once upon a time there was this famous bird that got tossed in a burning heap only to miraculously survive, fly up and away, and be named after a large U.S. city in a dry-heat, western state.....
Okay so the story of the Phoenix out of the ashes is a bit overused. Last season, coming on the heels of the worst win-loss record since John Mackovic's last season, Coach Mack Brown bridled the Tier 1 duties of adopting the team's motto: Brick-By-Brick. A bit trite but certainly sent the message. Do the little things correctly and the foundation for a better tomorrow will be established. The outcome on the year was certainly better but there is still a ways to go before reaching the halcyon days of double-digit wins and top-of-the-rankings bragging rights.
Most of you have already learned the duties of this year's team motto naming rights were transferred back to the team. A video presentation of the process reveals a democratic approach and Bill Little gave us a little insight (See what I did there?) into the history of team themes. I'll not reiterate, even for those who are acronymically challenged, as most will click over to these points of reference.
But as themes go, Kansas State is leaps and bounds ahead of the pack.
The fine creative staff of KSU Athletics has produced a very impressive video presentation of Snyder's 16 goals in which they are hopeful will lead them to the promised land this upcoming season (and help sell a few tickets along the way). Certainly these goals apply to any and all endeavors but somehow they mean a little more coming from the king of geriatric coaches. I found them very serious. I also found the players delivering the messages to be super genuinely serious in a, "just wait until I get to pound you mercilessly for four quarters" kind of serious.
Bill Snyder has been a constant to the Kansas State football program, from 1989 through 2005, and again from 2009 to the present. But within that constant have come 16 others that have formed the foundation of the K-State football family, and the life beyond those years of eligibility.
The 16 goals form the foundation for success, and create the work ethic and discipline that goes with them. With players and coaches from all backgrounds, having a single set of core values unifies them under one vision. If each adheres to the goals as individuals, then team success will follow.
Snyder believes the 16 goals are not only critical to success on the field, but also in everyday life. Once someone has dedicated themselves to doing things the right way, their chance of success in any field is dramatically increased.
Not all of the goal themed videos are yet published but you can link to the main page here to view the current selection. The quality of the production effort is top shelf grade.
For those of you not including Kansas State as a team worth reckoning (this does NOT include the ESPN preseason rankings folks), its probably best for you to go ahead and reconsider. Hopefully the Longhorns still have something in the tank when we play them on their turf the last regular season game on December 1st.