K-State’s Snyder, North Texas’ McCarney cross paths again

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“Coach Fry did such a good job of unifying the staff and keeping us humble, we were always on edge and I don’t mean that in a disrespectful way at all,” McCarney said. “It was an around-the-clock job, and you never felt like the work was quite done.

“Bill was immensely organized and he had such a tremendous attention to detail. In the 10 years we spent coaching together, every last night Bill was the last one out of the office. He was always looking for another idea that might help us win, and he never lost that work ethic. That’s why he’ll be remembered as one of the best to ever coach the game … how could you not remember somebody like that?”

McCarney faces a rebuilding project at North Texas, where he went 5-7 in his first season. But he has $78 million Apogee Stadium, which opened in 2011, and a move to Conference USA in 2013 to aid his cause.

“I think it was just a terrific hire by North Texas,” Snyder said. “The time we spent together, I got to know him really well. He’s a good guy, a good coach who comes from a good family.”

A good guy and a good coach who might be in for a rough day when he brings his 1-1 team into Snyder Family Stadium on Saturday in front of a sellout crowd of 50,000.

“I’ve told my players they’re getting ready to go into one of the great atmospheres in college football, which makes it one of the worst places to go and play,” McCarney said. “That’s the truth. I don’t need to recruit for Bill, that’s just the facts.

“But isn’t that what you want as a player and as a coach? To go and play against the best?”

Reach Tony Adame at 316-268-6284 or tadame@wichitaeagle.com.

Read more here: http://www.kansas.com/2012/09/13/2488050/k-states-snyder-north-texas-mccarney.html#storylink=cpy