Comparing Dan Hawkins to Ron Prince, Former Kansas State Coach

by Bob_Bell on Nov 5, 2008 8:54 PM MST

As a result of Kansas State head coach Ron Prince being removed from his post today, we decided to put a little comparative chart up that shows how Dan Hawkins has fared compared to Prince. No this is not entirely intended to say Hawkins is on the hot seat rather, Dan Hawkins and Ron Prince have always been linked because they were hired within 10 days of each other in December of 2005. That being said, many of these numbers are really close. You really have to give the experience and the "he has done it before" nod to Hawkins. His tenure at Boise State was impressive, something that Prince did not have when accepting the KSU job at 36 years of age. That being said, experience or no experience, this chart does indeed show the coaches are pretty similar in statistics. Do these statistics necessarily equate to a coaches success? No. Some aren't even relevant. But some are definitely part of the equation. What these numbers say is next year, Hawkins needs to have a strong campaign. I am not talking 9 or 10 wins and in contention for a conference championship. I think all Buffs fans would jump right on board with a sign of progression. If this year continues as we think it will, it will be a step down from last year's six win season and a bowl appearance. I will give coach Hawkins that this year has been full of youth, inexperience, injuries, suspensions, defections and key players not playing up to their potential. I don't think that excuse/reason will fly next year. Again, The Ralphie Report is not calling for any coaching change, I still think coach Hawk is the man for the job. He may need to shake some things up to make it work but we are a full supporter of Dan Hawkins.


Dan Hawkins	Comparison	Ron Prince
48	Age	39
Dec 16, 2005	Date of Big 12 Hire	Dec 5, 2005
3	# of Years in Big 12	3
2-10	2006 Win/Loss Record	7-6
6-7	2007 Win/Loss Record	5-7
4-5	2008 Win/Loss Record	4-5
12-22	Win/Loss	16-18
35.3%	Win/Loss %	47.1%
7-14	Big 12 Win/Loss	8-13
33.3%	Big 12 Win/Loss%	38.1%
0	Conference Championships	0
1	Bowl Appearances	1
3**	Upset Wins	2**

Yes	Previous D1 Head Coaching Experience	No
53 - 11	Win/Loss	0
82.8%	Win/Loss %	0.0%
4	Previous Bowl Appearances	0


1,100,000	Salary	1,100,000
54	DI Salary Ranking	54

32	2007 Rivals Recruiting Ranking	38
2.68	2007 Average Recruiting Stars	2.67
15	2008 Rivals Recruiting Ranking	27
3.24	2008 Average Recruiting Stars	2.94

11	*5/4* Recruited**	7

102	2006 Offensive Ranking	85
72	2007 Offensive Ranking	40
100	2008 Offensive Ranking	27
91	Average Ranking	51

65	2006 Defensive Ranking	70
64	2007 Defensive Ranking	69
72	2008 Defensive Ranking	109
67	Average Ranking	83

20 - 18	3yr Record of Team Before Hire	20 - 17

Go play intramurals, brother	What Each Coach is Known For	Signing 19 JUCO Players
1-2	Record Against Each Other	2-1
Yes	Received Contract Extension in Yr 3	Yes

Poll

Should Ron Prince have been fired?

Yes, he wasn't getting the job done! He signed 19 JUCO's in an attempt to save his job. This day was foreshadowed last year.

36 votes

No, he wasn't given a fair shake and could see improvement in the program. He deserved four years, every coach deserves four years at least.

29 votes

I don't know, what I do know is that I am sick of the slogan, "Change, Yes We Can!"

12 votes

77 votes | Poll has closed

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Comments

crazy

I remember when you had the Q&A with the KSU blog guys and I asked them why is Prince on the hotseat while Hawkins just got an extension when Prince leads Hawkins in pretty much every statistical category and (in my opinion) the standards for success should be higher at CU. I kind of feel bad for the guy…

by nebraskasux on Nov 5, 2008 10:07 PM MST reply actions

2006 is skewing the numbers

While there can be no doubt that 2-10 campaign was awful, every fanbase should expect a new coach to have a tough first year. Now, 2-10 may be an extreme example, but it’s not outside of the realm of possibility. While Hawkins has shown progress in recruiting, Prince’s recruiting has been an unmitigated disaster.

I have said it for a while at BOTC, but it bears repeating. Every fan base wants to see progress. Under Prince, K-State was clearly not progressing, it was in fact regressing to a serious degree. Hawkins showed significant progress in his second year, and probably would have this year if not for the disastrous injury bug that has hit his team. While the numbers may be relatively equal, these are two coaches whose teams were clearly going in opposite directions.

We'll carry the banner high!
Bring On The Cats

by TB on Nov 5, 2008 10:22 PM MST reply actions

well...

if you think CU and KSU are going in opposite directions KSU is probably gonna win the national championship next year :-)

But… it’s your team, if you’re good with him being fired that’s good enough for me.

by nebraskasux on Nov 5, 2008 10:57 PM MST up reply actions

Haha

No doubt you guys are having a tough year. But I look at some of the players you have their (Darrell Scott and Rodney Stewart are the easy examples) and I see a program that is bringing in good, four-year talent. Our coach took a flier on a bunch of JuCo guys and it didn’t work out. We may have a fighting chance to be decent next season with the right coach, but we’re also going to graduate 30+ players. Recruiting better improve quickly, or we’re going to hit rock bottom soon, and those 2-10 season you suffered in Hawkins’ first year could become commonplace.

I really think you guys could have made a push for the North but for the injuries you’ve suffered this year. When the injury bug hits your offensive line, there’s not much you can do. Without a good offensive line, you can’t pass protect and you can’t open holes for the running backs. Makes it pretty difficult to do anything. You should be a lot better next year if you can stay healthy.

We'll carry the banner high!
Bring On The Cats

by TB on Nov 6, 2008 8:58 AM MST up reply actions