4:30 CT Update>
K-State just issued an odd statement in response to McMurphy's report, saying: As has been the case and stated many times, Coach Snyder is our football coach and will remain coach until he decides otherwise.
How often do you see a University say it is entirely the football coach's decision how long he will remain head coach?
Clearly K-State is refuting McMurphy's reporting that the then AD had struck a deal with Jim Leavitt; but man, everything about this feels odd.
Brett McMurphy Response>
Following McMuphy's report this morning, FootballScoop reached out to people who would have had knowledge if an agreement had been in place between Jim Leavitt and Kansas State / John Currie. Sources we spoke with were very clear & direct McMurphy's report was not accurate. Upon hearing this, knowing McMurphy's track record, Scott (aka @FootballScoop) called & text McMurphy seeking to understand how his report and what we heard from sources who would have known of such an agreement were so different. Scott did not receive a response from McMurphy before we published our article (below). Since publishing, McMurphy text Scott back saying the people we spoke with are "lying". "Go ahead and report what you have. My track record speaks for itself."
Original article>
On Thursday Brett McMurphy dropped a bombshell report stating Kansas State had an agreement in place for Jim Leavitt to come to Kansas State in a head-coach-in-waiting situation that was nixed at the eleventh hour by Bill Snyder himself.
From the report:
Sources said Kansas State’s top officials, including president Richard Myers, and the school’s highest-profile boosters were all on board with Leavitt, then a Colorado assistant, joining KSU's staff and then replacing the legendary Snyder after the 2017 season. Leavitt and the school had an agreement, guaranteeing Leavitt $3 million if he wasn’t named K-State’s coach by Jan. 1, 2018.
However, last December, Snyder pushed back on Leavitt, a former KSU assistant, being named his replacement because Snyder wanted his son Sean, currently KSU’s associate head coach and special teams coordinator, to replace him, sources said.
However, sources with knowledge of the situation told FootballScoop Thursday that no such agreement was ever in place between Leavitt and Kansas State.
Multiple messages from FootballScoop to McMurphy went unreturned on Thursday.
Leavitt served as a Snyder assistant from 1990-95 and remains good friends with him. A source who requested anonymity stated Leavitt would be open to returning to Kansas State as head coach but is not a believer in head-coach-in-waiting arrangements.
Leavitt joined Willie Taggart's Oregon staff in December as the highest-paid Pac-12 assistant on record, signing a 4-year contract worth $1.15 million annually but lets him out of the contract at no cost should he be offered the head coaching job at Kansas State.
Snyder, 78, has maintained that he wants his Sean to serve as his replacement.
Kansas State hired North Dakota State athletics director Gene Taylor as its AD on April 14 after John Currie left for the same job at Tennessee in late February. As noted in #NuclearWinter, whenever Snyder does step down, Leavitt, Clemson defensive coordinator and former K-State linebacker Brent Venables and North Dakota State head coach Chris Klieman are all thought to be viable candidates for the job in addition to current K-State staff members.
Kansas State is 5-5 on the season and needs to beat either No. 13 Oklahoma State or Iowa State to keep its 8-year bowl streak alive.
As always, stay tuned to The Scoop for the latest.