Kansas State will not renew Ron Prince’s contract

November 6, 2008 at 12:00a.m.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Kansas State coach Ron Prince was unable to rebuild the Wildcats into the Big 12 contender they were under his predecessor.

Now after 21‚Ñ2 seasons in Manhattan, Prince is on his way out and K-State is in the market for another coach who can do what Bill Snyder did in the Little Apple.

Kansas State athletic director Bill Krause fired Prince, effective at the end of the season, on Wednesday, just three months after signing the coach to a five-year contract.

Prince took over for Snyder in 2006, his first head coaching job after 14 years at six different schools. He never lived up to the standard Snyder set, going 16-18, including 4-5 this year.

“It’s a decision that we arrived at in the best interest in the institution and the program,” Krause said during a conference call. “All along I’ve looked at understanding we’re in a performance-based profession and in the final analysis we’re at a point that while our goal remains the same. A change is necessary.”

Snyder was a consistent winner in 17 years as Kansas State’s coach, turning a team that won one game from 1987-89 into one that racked up at least 10 victories seven times, and reached bowl games 12 straight seasons from 1992-2003.

He retired after a 5-6 season in 2006, handing the program over to Prince, Virginia’s relatively unknown offensive coordinator the previous three years.