MANHATTAN, Kan. (AP) — Chris Klieman needed no better reminder of the monumental task ahead of him Wednesday than the one sitting in the front row of his introductory news conference at Kansas State: Hall of Fame coach Bill Snyder.

Klieman was hired this week to replace what Wildcats athletic director Gene Taylor called "a legend." Snyder won 215 games during two tenures lasting 27 seasons, and a large statue of him sits just outside the recently renovated football stadium that now bears his name.

"I've looked up to Coach Snyder since the early '80s, growing up in Waterloo, Iowa," he said. "Co...