I'm still not sure what to think about Kansas State bringing back Bill Snyder. Snyder is responsible for the greatest turnaround in college football history at Kansas State. His legend and legacy are secure, so I'm not worried about him tarnishing his legacy if he isn't as successful this time around. Synder is a good recruiter and an excellent gameday coach, so from a coaching stadnpoint, his hire makes sense. Snyder is well-known and well-loved in Kansas, and is apparently invigorated and excited about coaching again after a three year layoff, so I can see why K-State was happy to hire him again.

The flip side of the argument is that Kansas State's football program needs to show that they can survive without Bill Snyder at the helm. In turning to the only person who has given them a prolonged period of football success, they are basically saying that they don't believe there is anyone else out there right now who can resuscitate their struggling program. Operating under the theory that you don't want to be the coach who replaces a legend, you want to be the coach to replace the coach who replaces a legend, Kansas State was in perfect position after firing Ron Prince, because Prince served as their sacrificial lamb. They could now go out and hire a decent coach and he wouldn't be expected to win 11 games and take the Big 12 North in his first season. A simple 7-5 season with a win over rival Kansas and a bowl game appearance would be an acceptable improvement after Ron Prince.

Looking at the hire from a scheme standpoint, Snyder might be returning at exactly the right time. With the Big 12 going very spread-heavy on offenses now, Snyder's reliance on a power running game mixed with some option and deep passing might be the perfect antidote to all the light, speedy defenses set up to stop the spread. Developing the offensive linemen and the defense to operate Synder's offense may take some time, though, so the K-State fans need to be patient.

Lane Kiffin's hiring at Tennessee is intriguing on several levels. Kiffin has no prior head coaching experience at the college level, having served as a head coach for 20 games in the NFL. Prior to becoming to youngest head coach in NFL history with the Oakland Raiders, Kiffin was known as the offensive guru leading USC's offense. Pete Carroll was a huge fan of Kiffin's, and Carroll's constant praise for Kiffin is rumored in some areas to have caused Norm Chow to leave USC for the NFL. Kiffin's lack of head coaching experience doesn't appear to be a problem for Tennessee, who apparently thinks his youth and connections to California can help recruiting. I'm assuming Kiffin will try to install a pro-set WCO attack at Tennessee, which will be interesting to watch since it will be the third offensive scheme UT's players will have had to learn in three years.

Considering that Kiffin had no winning seasons in the NFL, I find it interesting that he isn't being compared to Bill Callahan by the media, comparisons that Mike Sherman experienced when he was hired at A&M. I wonder if it is the fact that Kiffin is apparently beloved by the West Coast media that he is being treated with kid gloves. I'm guessing that Tennessee is depending on Kiffin's NFL connections from his brief tenure with the Raiders to help in recruiting.

Of the two hires, I think Kansas State obviously did a better job, because you can make a convincing argument that they have the best coach in the Big 12 North right now. What happens in the next three to five years as the 69-year-old Snyder ages remains to be seen. Tennessee went with the promise of youth, but I can't help feeling that they could have waited a bit, and hired someone better.  With Florida, Georgia, and Alabama all on the upswing in the SEC, Tennessee had better hope they made the right hire for their program.