Charlie Strong, Texas Taking Page from Bill Snyder's Playbook on Molding Players

Charlie Strong and Kansas State head coach Bill Snyder are similar in more ways than one. So far, winning streaks aren't one of them, but that can change in time thanks to some lessons learned from Snyder.

Snyder has arguably done more with less than any other head coach in college football history. He doesn't get the 5-star recruits and oftentimes relies heavily on walk-ons and junior college transfers to start for his typically underrated teams.

But he finds a way to win, and his team's No. 11 ranking this season proves it.

Strong is looking to build his program at Texas in a similar way. When he took the job at Louisville, he called Snyder to get his advice on being a head coach.

"When I took over the program at Louisville, I called him because I wanted that program to be like the one he has built at Kansas State," Strong said. "It's a balanced attack. There's nothing fancy about what they do. They line up, play with good fundamentals and technique and are a very disciplined team. ... They play within themselves and that's what you really like about them and respect about them so much."

But the conversation wasn't all about X's and O's. The most important advice Snyder gave was for Strong to be himself.

"Coach Snyder said, 'You just have to be yourself. You're the coach, you know who you are, you cannot be anyone else. You can always take ideas and share ideas, but at the end of the day, it's how you run your program,'" Strong said. "That's what it's all about. Running your program the way you think it should be run."

It's obvious Strong is running Texas the way he wants it to be run, and him dismissing nine players for violating his rules proves just that.

However, the Longhorns head coach appears to be taking some pages from the Snyder playbook.

Strong and his staff look at Snyder as one of the great coaches in the game. Not just because he finds a way to utilize the talent he receives better than any other coach in history, but because he knows how to develop football players.

"You talk about a disciplined team, accountable players and dependable players, those are the things we're trying to bring to the University of Texas," defensive coordinator Vance Bedford said. "Coach Snyder has gotten that done at Kansas State. We're trying to get to where he is. I respect everything he has done, and he has done it for years."

Texas and Kansas State are two very different programs. The Longhorns reside in Austin, which is arguably one of the greatest cities in America. The Wildcats are in Manhattan, Kansas, which is not the easiest place to travel to.

There is not a lot of allure for the top athletes to want to go to Manhattan, which makes Snyder's job all the more difficult.

But he somehow finds the diamond-in-the-rough athletes whose goals reside around one major topic: playing football.

"You don't see a lot of 5-star guys on his football teams. A lot of times, you have to break a 5-star down to get him right. He doesn't worry about what the media says or what recruiting services rank his team. He really doesn't care. What he can say is, 'I have football players. They're going to do exactly what I ask them to do or they're not going to play.' So if you go into his program, you either do exactly what he tells you to do, or you're going to be on the sideline," Bedford said.

"That's the type of kids that he has. Guys who are hungry, who have a chip on their shoulder, who want to do the right thing, who go to class. You talk about the details of the game, that's what I see with Coach Snyder. Coach Strong and him are a lot alike."

Some critics questioned if Strong could recruit the state after he was announced as the head coach at the University of Texas.

The Longhorns have dropped some in the recruiting service rankings over the previous few years. Texas went from signing a No. 2-ranked recruiting class in 2012 to 24th in 2013 and 20th in 2014.

But it's not all about signing the 5-star prospects anymore.

Strong is looking for good athletes who want to develop into great football players and great men by the time they leave his program.

Sue Ogrocki/Associated Press

"Coach Stoops has built his program a lot like Coach Snyder, and that's what Coach Strong wants to do. He wants to get the type of guys in the program that love the game of football. Guys who are disciplined and work hard and buy into the team aspect of the game and not worry about their stats."

The Longhorns have a lot of things to be worried about this weekend against Kansas State, and the individual stats should be last on the team's mind.

Playing at Kansas State was not an easy task for the previous head coach at Texas. The Longhorns have only won one game in Manhattan, and it happened 12 years ago.

Strong and his team will look to end the losing streak in Bill Snyder Family Football Stadium, but the task will be one of the tougher challenges of the season.

"They're tough, smart and dependable. They're a very disciplined football team, they don't get many penalties, don't give up many turnovers and look at how hard they play. Look at the quarterback (Jake Waters)—he may not be the most talented guy, but when he takes the field, he has a presence about him. He directs the offense and makes plays," Strong said.

"That's a solid football team."

All quotes were obtained firsthand. Recruiting information courtesy of Rivals.com.

Taylor Gaspar is Bleacher Report's featured columnist covering the Texas Longhorns. Follow Taylor on Twitter @Taylor_Gaspar.