The many lessons of Kansas State band director Dr. Frank Tracz as he heads into retirement
NCAAF College Football News, Photos, Stats, Scores, Schedule & Videos...
MANHATTAN — Pulling into the Bill Snyder Family Stadium parking lot on a cold morning in a recent year, Dr. Frank Tracz was getting ready to direct another performance that makes attending a Kansas State football game so special.
The K-State band director, who didn't anticipate living in Manhattan for more than a couple of years when he moved to the college town off of Exit 313 in 1993, had all of the electronic equipment in his car. He watched the snow fall as the thermostat in his car read it was 19 degrees.
Just a few hours earlier, he had gotten home after The Pride of Wildcat Land made its traditional tour around Manhattan, playing at the different restaurants and in the produce aisles at the two Dillons supermarkets, preparing the purple-bleeding community for the next day's game.
There was no time to sleep. The anxiety over oversleeping wasn't going to let him shut his eyes, but he set three alarms anyway. He wanted to be in the office by 3:30 a.m. to set up the electronic equipment. He had a 6 a.m. rehearsal to direct on the field, and if he was going to hold his students to a high standard of being at the stadium plenty early, he was going to be, too.
But on this particular morning, Tracz looked over at one of his assistants and admitted that he didn't know how much longer he could do it.
"This is a young man's job, and I'm terribly overqualified," Tracz laughed. "But you know what? I'm 18 when I go to the stadium on Saturdays. I just have fun; it's stupid college kid fun, and I mean that with all the love that I could muster."
Before the 2025 K-State football season, Tracz announced that this season would be his last. After 33 seasons, he will direct his final halftime performance on Saturday, Nov. 29, when the Wildcats host Colorado at Bill Snyder Family Stadium.
It will mark the end of a career that saw him help build The Pride of Wildcat Land from an initial small group of about 100 into one that now has over 400 members and is considered among the best in the country.
He was one of the few who saw what Kansas State could be and helped build it into what it is today. Right alongside Bill Snyder, Jon Wefald, Pat Bosco, and others, Tracz stayed in Manhattan and poured everything into the Powercat logo.
"The right people were here," Tracz said. "They were all here at the same time, and they were all here building. This place wasn't what it is now; they were building, and I thought it would be cool to be a part of that, so we stuck around."
Memories are aplenty for Tracz, who loved the Wildcats' bowl game appearances the most. He was there for the Wildcats' first bowl win in the 1993 Copper Bowl, and then the 10 bowl appearances that immediately followed.
The 2003 Big 12 Championship against Oklahoma may have stood out the most. K-State was a 28-point underdog and then went on to score the game's final 35 points, winning by 28 points itself. He felt throughout that week that "something special" was going to happen.
Collin Klein was his favorite player to watch, as was Darren Sproles. He's proud of his 29-4 record as the band director whenever K-State played KU. From Cleveland, Ohio, and growing up with the Ohio State Buckeyes in his heart, thumping Michigan in the 2013 Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl behind Tyler Lockett's three receiving touchdowns wasn't bad either.
Along the way, he has also developed special relationships with those on the various coaching staffs. He and Snyder spoke plenty. He even had one with Ron Prince. Immediately after beating Kansas 42-17 in Lawrence on Oct. 25, Chris Klieman gave a shout-out to Tracz, knowing how important it was to send him out with yet another win over the Jayhawks.
"I went right up to him and I told him 'I was not going to let you retire on a loss to KU,'" Klieman said. "He's almost in tears. I have so much respect for The Pride and Dr. Tracz. He and I have become really good friends; they love K-State football. Our kids love what the band and The Pride. That was for Frank."
Like the coaches, Tracz felt the pressure of those in the audience.
The 53,000 in attendance who were judging him, plus those who caught glimpses of the band on national television, motivated him. For so long, he has woken up at random times in the middle of the night and felt the need to get up, walk into the office, and jot down notes on a piece of paper, hoping it'd improve the band in some way.
He recalls Snyder visiting him in his office long ago, peaking his head in and comparing the two.
"He told me 'we do the same thing,'" Tracz recalled. "I said, 'Well, first of all, it's not the salary, Coach,' and he started laughing.
"He said that we both work really hard for six days in a row, and on the seventh day, we put all of our love and respect and talents and everything about us on the field in front of large audiences, and we have no control over what the kids do. And he is absolutely right. He said they're in control of our future and our well-being, so we have to be great teachers and great motivators.
"He's not making tackles, he's not catching the ball, but we're not responsible for it. He is absolutely right, so we have to do the best we can, and that's what the teaching profession is, it's the greatest act of optimism there is in being a teacher."
Tracz admits that he can be demanding and that he's not for all students. Those who don't meet his standards tend not to stick around, but there's a reason the Wabash Cannonball sounds as flawless as it does after each touchdown, and why they're walking in the correct formations at halftime.
Thousands of students have come through his program. Although he can't remember what he had for breakfast this morning, Tracz could recall a student from decades ago if they were to write to him and say they played the trombone in the 1994 band. Now, some of his former students have kids playing for him in the current day.
"We're demanding and sometimes it doesn't go well with kids, but I'm getting a lot of notes saying that, 'Appreciate the push,' 'Appreciate you for believing' and 'Appreciate you for caring enough to always tell the truth,'" Tracz said. "That's the way I taught. It's the way we do things here, and the culture here is pretty strong. We have 425 kids in the band, so we're doing something right."
What Tracz doesn't tolerate is tardiness. No one wants to talk to him if they are late.
That's when Tracz thinks back to the cold, 19-degree morning when he pulled up to Bill Snyder Family Stadium for a 6 a.m. rehearsal, knowing his days of directing the band and his typical 89-hour weeks were probably running out. He looked at those on the field, knowing some were probably out having fun the night before, and they were all there.
Drum lines were practicing. The tubers were doing… whatever tubers do. The Classy Cats were working hard, and the trombones were playing against the baritones in football. Kids were flirting, some were even making out, and others were playing hacky sack. For college kids, all of that was encouraged, but Tracz still looked in awe, knowing there was something incredible about what he built.
For 33 years, Tracz has known he's done something right.
"These are special people," Tracz said.
Wyatt D. Wheeler covers Kansas State athletics for the USA TODAY Network and Topeka Capital-Journal. You can follow him on X at @WyattWheeler_, contact him at 417-371-6987 or email him at wwheeler@usatodayco.com
This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Kansas State band director Dr. Frank Tracz reflects on career
More at NCAAF College Football News, Photos, Stats, Scores, Schedule & Videos