In just one season on the job, Kansas State’s Ron Prince’s national perception has gone from ‘who’s he’ to being mentioned among the ‘who’s who’ in college football.

Named Kansas State’s 33rd head football coach on Dec. 5, 2005, Prince accomplished so much more during his first 12 months on the job than the experts had envisioned for the 2006 Wildcats that many considered the 37-year-old to be one of the leading candidates for Big 12 coach of the year.
Just the second Wildcat head coach in school history to win seven games during his inaugural season and the first to take his team to a postseason bowl, Prince became only the sixth Big 12 head coach (out of 18 to be hired since the league’s initial season in 1996) in conference history to guide his program to a bowl berth in a debut campaign.

Making the accomplishment even more noteworthy is the fact that just four of the six Big 12 head coaches to earn bowl bids in year one took over programs coming off losing seasons, including Texas’ Mack Brown in 1998, Colorado’s Gary Barnett in 1999, Oklahoma’s Bob Stoops in 1999 and now Prince.

“The growth of this team under coach Prince has been one of the best stories in college football,” said Fox Sports Net national play-by-play announcer Joel Meyers. “Especially when you consider the changes they made at key positions and the way his players responded.”

ESPN.com college football writer Mark Schlaback was equally as effusive in his assessment of Prince’s maiden season, proclaiming it “one of the greatest coaching jobs in the country.”

Prince inherited a team that had won just nine games over the previous two seasons, but quickly had the Wildcats believing they could be so much more. Three games into the season he had K-State off to a perfect 3-0 start. But losses in four of the next five games, including three against ranked opponents, gave many reason to believe that K-State’s preseason projection of a distant sixth place finish in the Big 12’s North Division hadn’t been that far off.

Prince, however, refused to buckle and the Wildcats continued to believe in their new leader. Kansas State snapped a two-game losing streak against Iowa State then went to Colorado and came away with its first win at Folsom Field since 2000.

The back-to-back conference victories were K-State’s first since 2003 and gave the program a huge lift heading into its Nov. 4 contest with defending national champion Texas. Still, few gave the Wildcats a chance to unseat the No. 4-ranked Longhorns. After all, K-State hadn’t knocked off a higher-ranked opponent at home since 2002.

But everything changed on that cold evening in November at Bill Snyder Family Stadium, as Prince ignited a fire in the Wildcats that raged all night long. Quarterback Josh Freeman, who would go on to set the school freshman passing record with 1,780 yards, threw for 262 yards and three touchdowns while a hard-hitting Wildcat defense collected five sacks and forced three turnovers as Kansas State sent shockwaves throughout the college football world with a 45-42 win over the Longhorns.

“Coach Prince has not only produced a winner, but he has done so in a manner that has impressed everyone,” said ABC Sports play-by-play announcer Gary Thorne, who broadcast K-State’s win over Texas. “Watching him go about his business on and off the field makes its easy to understand why his players believe in him.”

And it was that “buy-in” by the Kansas State players that was precisely the key to the Wildcats’ success during Prince’s debut campaign.

A year after having zero first team All-Big 12 selections, Prince produced three with defensive end Ian Campbell being a tapped by both The Associated Press and the league’s coaches, wide receiver / return specialist Yamon Figurs earning the nod from the coaches and linebacker Brandon Archer drawing accolades from the AP.

Running Back Leon Patton also set the K-State freshman rushing record with 609 yards and the Wildcats collectively returned more kickoffs for touchdowns than any previous team in school history.

The 2007 NFL Draft brought even more recognition for Prince and the Kansas State program. Three Wildcats – Figurs (Baltimore Ravens), Thomas Clayton (San Francisco 49ers), Zach Diles (Houston Texans) – were selected during the two-day draft, giving K-State its most selections since having four in 2003.

Throughout all the successes, there remained a consistent game plan and plenty of blood and sweat exerted behind the scenes. For Prince, however, it was all a labor of love.

When he stepped to the podium after being introduced as the head football coach, it didn’t take long for the native Kansan to reveal a long-held affinity for both the University and its football program.

“I’ve been preparing for this opportunity my whole life,” were among the very first words uttered by Prince as the Wildcats’ new head coach. You see, for Prince, serving as K-State’s head football coach is truly a dream come true.

Raised in Junction City, Kan., which is located just 20 miles west of Manhattan, Prince literally grew up in the shadow of Kansas State University. And as far back as he can remember, at least to the age of three or four according to his best recollection, he had dreamt of one day leading the Wildcats.

“I was one of those kids you all saw running around KSU Stadium and Ahearn Field House,” Prince recalls. “This University has always been a part of me.”

Now, heading into his second season at the helm, the ultra high-energy Prince continues to pursue excellence with a seemingly limitless level of passion and zeal.

Not nearly satisfied with Kansas State’s achievements during his inaugural campaign, Prince conducted a thorough review of his first season shortly after returning from the Texas Bowl. The assessment not only included a review of every snap taken by the Wildcats in 2006, but also broke down each practice in an effort to isolate areas of potential improvement.

All the while, Prince continued his efforts toward rebuilding Kansas State’s talent level and this February unveiled promise-laden class of newcomers that appears to be chalked full of early contributors.

He made time to redesign K-State’s off-season conditioning and team-building program, and even had the Wildcats train with the US Army at nearby Fort Riley.

“This is a year that I determined to see improvement,” Prince said. “We are committed to competing for championships and I will continue to evaluate every aspect of this organization as we strive to meet that goal.”

Though the goal of a championship was not reached in year one, there was still plenty to be proud of. And K-State’s accomplishments of 2006 received plenty of notice throughout the college football world.

“Ron Prince followed a coach that had the greatest turnaround in college football history in Bill Snyder,” said ESPN analyst Lee Corso. “He is doing everything the right way. The win against Texas was as good a win as I have ever seen and the coaching job that he and his staff did in that game was phenomenal.”

A voracious reader and a student of history as well as American business, Prince culled much of his leadership game plan during the first 13 years of his coaching career that saw him rise from a volunteer coaching position in the Kansas community college ranks to a principal role within one of the nation’s premiere BCS conferences.

Prince came to Kansas State from the University of Virginia, where he helped usher in a new era of success during a three-year run as the Cavaliers’ offensive coordinator and a total of five years as the offensive line coach on Al Groh’s staff.

In his time at Virginia, Prince developed a reputation as one of the nation’s top young coaching talents as he helped guide Virginia to four straight bowl berths from 2002-05. Along the way, his Cavalier offense set a dozen team and individual school records and had 10 offensive players drafted by NFL teams.

Currently the fourth-youngest NCAA Division I-A head coach in the country and one of just six African-American head coaches in all of Division I-A, Prince joined Groh’s staff as the Cavaliers’ offensive line coach in January of 2001 and quickly went about molding the unit into one of the ACC’s best.

In 2002, Virginia’s young offensive line provided solid protection for record-setting quarterback Matt Schaub, who was named ACC Player of the Year after throwing for a school-record 2,976 yards and 28 touchdowns. Tackle Mike Mullins – the lone senior starter on the offensive line – and Elton Brown each earned honorable mention All-ACC recognition in 2002. In addition, left tackle D’Brickashaw Ferguson received Freshman All-America distinction and guard Brian Barthelmes earned Freshman All-ACC honors.

By the 2003 season, his third at Virginia and his first as the program’s offensive coordinator, the Cavaliers’ front wall became a dominating force, allowing the ACC’s fewest sacks as it protected Schaub, who passed for 2,952 yards that season – the second most in school history.

Heading into 2004, Virginia’s line began to be considered not only among the best in the rugged ACC, but nationally as well. In fact, The Sporting News tapped Prince’s unit the No. 3 line in all of college football that season.

And with the offensive line leading the way, Prince’s 2004 Virginia offense rolled up over 423 yards of total offense per game, including over 240 on the ground, once again led the ACC in fewest sacks allowed and finished the year atop the conference charts in both total offense and rushing offense.

Virginia’s team accomplishments on the field during Prince’s stint with the Cavaliers were bolstered by the individual accolades received by UVa’s student-athletes. During his five-year tenure at Virginia, 37 Cavaliers earned All-ACC distinction, including 17 on the offensive side of the ball. Of those 17 offensive selections, 11 occurred with Prince at the controls of the Cavs’ offense.

In 2003, Prince’s offensive unit placed four players on the All-ACC squad, including future All-Americans Heath Miller (TE) and Brown (G), who received the prestigious Jacobs Blocking Trophy, which is annually awarded to the ACC’s top offensive lineman.

In 2004, Virginia’s offense placed five student-athletes on the All-ACC team, the most of any school in the league, including Brown, who was awarded the Jacobs Blocking Trophy for the second straight year, and Miller, who went on to win the John Mackey Award as the nation’s top tight end.

The spring of 2005 brought more recognition for Prince’s charges at Virginia as a school-record seven Cavaliers were selected in the NFL draft, including four offensive players. Miller was a first-round draft pick by the Pittsburgh Steelers, while Brown was selected in the fourth round by Arizona. Tailback Alvin Pearman was also picked up in the fourth round by Jacksonville and wide receiver Patrick Estes was taken in the seventh by San Francisco.

Prince capped his run at Virginia by producing three more All-ACC selections. Ferguson, who went on to become the No. 4 overall selection in the 2006 NFL Draft, led the way by earning first-team accolades for the second straight season and becoming the first Cavalier tackle named to the first team in back-to-back seasons since the 1990 and 1991 campaigns.

A 1988 graduate of Junction City High School, Prince played two seasons at Dodge City (Kan.) Community College, receiving All-Conference honors as an offensive tackle on the field and Academic All-America and National Dean’s List accolades for his performance in the classroom.

In 1990, Prince transferred to Appalachian State in Boone, N.C. He played two seasons for the Mountaineers and helped ASU to a Southern Conference championship and a berth in the NCAA I-AA playoffs as a senior in 1991 before earning a bachelor’s degree in history from the institution in 1992.

Prince received his start in coaching shortly after graduation, returning to the state of Kansas in 1992 to serve as a volunteer assistant coach working with offensive tackles and tight ends at Dodge City.

After just one season, Prince received his first offer to coach at a four-year institution and began his full-time coaching career as an offensive line, tight ends and strength and conditioning coach at Alabama A&M in 1993. During his lone season there, he helped produce three All-Conference players, including guard Joe Patton, who went on to become a third-round draft pick of the Washington Redskins.

A stop at South Carolina State followed in 1994. While at SCSU, Prince was instrumental in mentoring an offensive line that helped the Bulldogs lead the conference and rank among the national leaders (Division I-AA) in total offense, rushing offense and scoring offense that season. South Carolina State also captured the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference championship that season and went on to defeat Grambling, 31-27, in the postseason Heritage Bowl.

During his tenure at SCSU, Prince coached four All-Conference offensive linemen, including standout tackle Raleigh Roundtree, a 1995 fifth-round draft pick of the San Diego Chargers.

From 1995 to 1997 Prince served as the offensive line coach at James Madison and helped guide the Dukes to an NCAA I-AA playoff berth and two consecutive top-25 rankings before taking the reins of the offensive line at Cornell from 1998-2000.

The following season Prince was tapped to coach the offensive line, and later the entire offense, on Groh’s staff at Virginia.

In addition to his duties on the collegiate level, Prince has also served NFL Minority Fellowships with the Jacksonville Jaguars (1996), Washington Redskins (1997), Atlanta Falcons (1999) and New York Giants (2000).

Born in Omaha, Neb., but raised in Junction City by parents Ernest and Georgeanne Prince, he is married to the former Zoé Ahern of Valhalla, N.Y. The couple has four children, Deuce, James, Grace and John.