ST. LOUIS -- Bob Stull witnessed the Manhattan magician's first flick of the wand. Even then, back in 1989, the former Missouri coach knew Bill Snyder would be a wizard worth watching.
That fall, two paths crossed in the Big Eight Conference for the first time. Stull entered his rookie season at Mizzou, after head-coaching stints at Massachusetts and UTEP. Meanwhile, Snyder entered his first campaign at Kansas State, after nine years as Iowa's offensive coordinator under Hayden Fry.
Both inherited rebuilding jobs. But, boy, did their tools differ: One task required a paintbrush and the other a bulldozer.
Stull walked into a program needing a touchup after a five-year bowl drought. Meanwhile, Snyder walked into a program needing to be knocked to the dirt after one bowl berth since 1896.
"He took over a program that was really struggling -- I mean, it was really struggling," said Stull, who coached Missouri from 1989 to ‘93.
"The thing he did that I was really impressed with was he really had a good plan to go from where he was to build a program."
Funny how little has changed. Snyder's plan continues to pull rabbits from top hats in the Little Apple, and Stull admires the magic from afar.
The Wildcats travel to Baylor on Saturday, two victories from playing for a national title in South Florida in January. In ‘89, such a thought would have seemed as impossible as a view of the Atlantic Ocean from Kimball Avenue.
That flick of the wand Stull witnessed 23 years ago? Snyder still has it.
"Everybody," said Stull, UTEP's athletic director since '98, "has just been impressed with what he has done on an ongoing, consistent basis there."
The first result between the two men is dusty and largely forgotten, buried beneath more colorful chapters for each program. On Oct. 21 that year, Missouri won on the road, 21-9, handing Kansas State its third consecutive defeat in an eventual 1-10 campaign. When the season was over, the Wildcats had won one or fewer games for the fourth time in the last five years.
Meanwhile, the Tigers' muscle wasn't much stronger that fall. Missouri finished 2-9, limping into the winter with four consecutive losses following its march in Manhattan. When the season was over, the Tigers had failed to win more than three games for the fifth time in the last six years.
For both men, the '89 season was like walking through a nor'easter blindfolded in the dead of night. Both only began to grip the size of the tests before them, which were as large as Redwood trunks. Snyder's start was difficult, grueling, a struggle of the highest degree -- so it makes his climb to college football's peak all the more impressive.
"We had some good games," Stull said. "He just did a really nice job. You've got to give him all the credit in the world. He's been fantastic, and the team he has this year is dynamic."
Of course, their paths diverged in time. Stull went 3-2 against Snyder -- the former Missouri coach also won matchups in '90 and '92 -- but he was unable to quiet the cackles in Columbia. He was fired after the '93 season with a 15-38-2 record, never able to scratch out more than four victories in a single campaign (he went 4-7 in '90).
Meanwhile, Snyder kept his nose to the turf, eventually turning an anthill into a mountain. He made progress here, a small step there. There were facility improvements and savvy scheduling moves; each choice was calculated with a politician's wit.
In time, the record showed as much. There was the 5-6 season in '90 and the 7-4 season in '91. There were the consecutive nine-win seasons in '93 and '94. There was the 10-2 season in '95 -- the school's first double-digit-victory campaign since a 10-1 season 85 years earlier.
Now, more magic. Now, another Manhattan miracle.
"They just gradually got better," Stull said. "I think maybe their sixth year or so is when it launched them to a different level. Once they got to there, it was a whole different ballgame. … It would be great if he could get to that (BCS) championship game. It's always tough, but I think they probably have the best chance right now, quite frankly."
That flick of the wand Stull witnessed 23 years ago? Snyder never lost his touch.
You can follow Andrew Astleford on Twitter @aastleford or email him at aastleford@gmail.com.
