Which Kansas State University Coach Is Considered To Have Turned The Football Program Around?

Which Kansas State University Coach Is Considered To Have Turned The Football Program Around
‘ Coach Snyder has had an immeasurable impact on our football program, Kansas State University, the Manhattan community and the entire state of Kansas, and it has been an honor and a privilege to get to know and work with him the past two years,’ K-State athletic director Gene Taylor said.

How long did Bill Snyder coach Kansas State?

It is difficult, if not impossible, to see Bill Snyder wearing an other color on his clothing than purple or coaching a different college football school than Kansas State. Once K-State hired Snyder as its head coach in 1989, he famously remained loyal to the Wildcats for 29 seasons and continued working in Manhattan until he initially retired in 2005 and later quit for good in 2018.

During his time as head coach at K-State, he won a total of four national championships with the Wildcats. You are presumably familiar with the backstory. Snyder revitalized a football team that had been in decline when he took over and turned it into a perennial champion. Along the process, he racked up a total of 215 victories, earned berths in 19 bowl games, and won a pair of Big 12 titles.

His career at Kansas State University was so successful that the school’s football stadium was renamed in his honor, and he has since been inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame. But the course of his trip definitely might have been very different.

After seeing his early success at Kansas State University, a number of other colleges and at least one NFL team made attempts to hire him away from K-State. In a book that Snyder and D. Scott Fritchen are now working on together, which is scheduled for publication later this month, Snyder will, for the first time, at least publicly, divulge some of the circumstances surrounding those employment chances.

When UCLA indicated interest in hiring Snyder in 1995, it was the closest Snyder ever got to quitting his position at Kansas State. Snyder gave the idea some thought because he got his start in coaching in California and served as an assistant at USC, which is located in the general area.

Even so, he gave the Bruins the go-ahead to have an interview with him, under the condition that the Wildcats’ season was over and they won the Holiday Bowl. “I had a history within the state of California both at the high school level and during my brief time under Coach (John) McKay at USC,” Snyder wrote in his upcoming book, “so the opportunity was intriguing.

I had a history within the state of California both at the high school level and during my brief time under Coach (John) McKay at USC. But at some point, somewhere along the way, Snyder had a change of heart and wrote that K-State “had been faithful to me, and I wanted to reciprocate that loyalty.” Because it was a pointless program, the majority of his buddies encouraged him to transfer out of K-State as soon as feasible.

  1. But he had a different opinion.
  2. Snyder said that despite the fact that “we never sat down for an interview” despite the fact that “I was their top choice.” “I told UCLA no.” When K-State kept winning, it didn’t stop other colleges from attempting to woo him away to play for them instead.
  3. Two years later, when Michael Bishop was set to lead K-State on a run of brilliance and Frank Broyles was about to give him the quarterback job at Arkansas, Broyles approached him with the offer.

Snyder reconsidered the idea, but ultimately decided against accepting it. Snyder noted that despite the position’s attractiveness, he could not accept it because he felt “a feeling of commitment to our program, our players, our institution, and our supporters.” When the Wildcats won 11 games in each of the following four seasons, things heated up even further on the employment front.

Snyder did not identify any additional schools, but he did tell an interesting anecdote about one NFL club that showed such much interest in him as a head coach candidate that the owner of the organization told him he could take over as head coach without even going through the interview process. “One NFL team phoned me and said, ‘The contract is in the mail,’ and for the life of me I never understood why,” Snyder wrote.

“For the life of me, I never understood why.” “The very first thing that they shared with me was that. Undoubtedly, an NFL contract was waiting for me when I got home today. I have the contract stashed away in a drawer somewhere.” Snyder chose not to reveal the identity of the National Football League team in his book; nonetheless, sources have indicated over the years that the Jacksonville Jaguars expressed interest around the same period.

Snyder writes, “There were some appealing offers, but I did not allow myself to be enticed.” “There were some attractive offers.” Snyder placed a high emphasis on coaching loyalty, and when he first resigned in 2005, he worked to ensure that K-State hired numerous of his former assistant coaches. According to his book, the following individuals are on his list of prospective successors: Sean Snyder, Jim Leavitt, Phil Bennett, Dana Dimel, and Del Miller.

When it became clear that K-State preferred Ron Prince for the position, Snyder phoned Leavitt and made a plea to hire him despite the fact that he had been Snyder’s primary competitor for the job. But according to what Snyder wrote, Leavitt, who was working as the head coach at South Florida at the time, informed him that he had recently signed a contract extension with the Bulls and that the timing wasn’t going to work.

  1. Snyder wrote that Leavitt was working as the head coach at South Florida at the time.
  2. Snyder returned to the K-State sidelines when Prince was let go from his position as head coach after just three seasons on the job, and he remained there until the conclusion of his coaching career.
  3. When Snyder announced his second retirement, he once more backed Leavitt and his son as possible candidates to take over for him.

Leavitt was given the opportunity to interview with K-State, but ultimately he was not chosen to move on to the finalist level. Chris Klieman was selected for the role. It is interesting to note that Snyder claimed that he frequently contemplated retiring during his first term as coach and that he almost gave up at the conclusion of numerous seasons, especially 2003, since the job was getting too difficult.

  • However, he was adamant about coming back for the remainder of his encore.
  • It’s possible that the team’s defeat to Texas A&M in the Big 12 Championship game in 1998 was a contributing factor.
  • Snyder devoted a significant portion of his work to the examination of the anguish that followed the death of his wife.
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If they had been victorious, the Wildcats would have been in the running for the national championship. Snyder claimed that he wasn’t able to truly savor the occasion even after K-State won its first Big 12 title in 2003 because of the following reasons: “that void had not yet been filled.

  • The effects of it had begun to show.” “I would like to think that the 1998 Kansas State football team was the best squad in college football history to not compete for a national title,” he wrote.
  • I would like to think that the 1998 Kansas State football team was the best team in college football ever.” Perhaps gaining some distance from the coaching world for a few years helped bring some perspective.

The second time around, I was less affected by the losses I suffered than I was the first time. Even though he was fighting cancer at the end of his career and butting heads with former athletic director John Currie, which is something about which Snyder recounts a few anecdotes in the book, he still wanted to keep coaching.

  1. Snyder discusses these experiences.
  2. It wasn’t until a nightmare season in 2018 complete with coaching upheaval, quarterback controversy, a pair of devastating losses (51-17 at Oklahoma and 42-38 at Iowa State), and a losing record came along that he reluctantly agreed it was time for him to hang up his headset.

The season was filled with all of these things. His tenure as head coach came to an end at the same school where it had begun. He remained faithful up until the very end. This article was first published at 10:09 in the morning on November 12th, 2021. Kellis Robinett is a sports writer for the Wichita Eagle and the Kansas City Star.

How much does Chris Klieman make?

Chris Klieman

Current position
Team Kansas State
Conference Big 12
Record 22–17
Annual salary $3.5 million

Is Bill Snyder still coaching?

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — As a football player, Bill Snyder was never able to reach his full potential; nevertheless, as a coach, he did. The coaching career that Snyder had at Kansas State University is legendary, but it was dangerously close to not happening at all.

Following a series of relocations, Snyder eventually arrived at the University of Iowa, where he made a commitment to remain. “When I got to Iowa, I decided that was enough, so I stopped. We have relocated, and I have moved my family several times; but, I plan to remain in this location “Snyder remarked.

Snyder was certain about his choice, despite the fact that there were several efforts and proposals from teams around the country, including Kansas State. However, the athletic director at K-State at the time, Steve Miller, was not happy with the results.

  1. Following the conclusion of the football season, Snyder traveled to Manhattan, Kansas, where he selected a location on the university campus at which he would stop and question individuals about the local culture.
  2. They were all so very nice and they obviously were representations of people of the institution, whether it was faculty members, students, etc., and so that was really what made the difference for me,” Snyder said.

“They were all so extremely gracious.” After leaving Iowa in 1988, Snyder moved on to become the head football coach at the school, where he took over the poorest program in the country. The Wildcats were the only team in history to have a losing record of more than 500 games.

  1. The Wildcats led by Snyder immediately set to work.
  2. Because Snyder had so much going on, he even visited a hypnotist in the vain hope that it would prevent him from needing to get any shut-eye.
  3. In that aspect, I was able to make some connections, and one of the experts I spoke with advised me that approach is doomed to fail.

You can’t do that, and doing so won’t benefit you in the least; hence, the success was fleeting “Snyder stated. “The major purpose was that each and every young kid in our program would get better every single day of his life as a person, as a student, and as a player,” Snyder remarked after the Wildcats ended their first season with a record of 1-10 under his leadership.

Before taking his first retirement in 2005, Snyder guided Kansas State to their first 10-win season in school history in 1995. Along the road, he achieved several more milestones before taking his first retirement. Snyder went back into coaching after a hiatus of four years, and he remained in that role until his second retirement in 2018.

Still residing in Manhattan, Snyder has stated that he maintains a professional distance from the program, although he does attend games at the stadium that bears his name. Snyder stated, “I talk to a lot of coaches across the nation on a pretty frequent basis, and my greatest encouragement to all of them is just, do what you believe is best.” “I talk to a lot of coaches around the country on a very frequent basis.” After a long and successful career, the things that are less significant but nonetheless important to the coach are the ones that stand out the most.

Snyder stated, “I have a storage room full of boxes that are full of nothing but letters, cards, and letters and a huge number of them are from former players and I appreciate them.” “I have a storage room full of boxes that are full of nothing but letters, cards, and letters.” “The gist of almost each and every one of them, all of which were expressed in various ways, you know coach, I didn’t really grasp it then, but I definitely get it now,” she added.

Regarding his legacy, there is just one thing that is important to him. Snyder claimed that he had “simply always wanted to do what would make my mum pleased.” Snyder, who is 82 years old, has stated that “nobody wants an 82-year-old coach,” despite the fact that he would still be coaching if he could.

Is Bill Snyder in the College Football Hall of Fame?

Coach Bill Snyder has established an enduring legacy at Kansas State University and is held in high esteem by both his players and the people that attend games there. He is credited with orchestrating the “biggest turnaround in the history of college football.”

How much did Bill Snyder make?

Kansas State

Year School Total Pay
2019 Kansas State $3,500,000
2018 Kansas State $3,205,000
2017 Kansas State $3,106,000
2016 Kansas State $3,000,000

How good was Bill Snyder?

When you coach in a stadium that has your name on it, you’ve got to be very good, and nobody denies the fact that Bill Snyder was a great football coach. On the other hand, Mike Gundy stated in a podcast he did with Dave Hunziker that Snyder was the all-time great of college football, which is a remark that may cause some people to raise their eyes.

  1. Gundy stated that in his perspective, Bill Snyder is the finest college coach that has ever lived.
  2. He does not currently own a national championship title.
  3. I don’t think he even came close to winning.
  4. I can’t recall if they finished seventh, eighth, or ninth in the country at one point, but I believe they did at some point.
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But if we took, and I’ll just throw some coaches out there, Woody Hayes, Bo Schembechler, and Tom Osborne — how successful could they possibly have been at Kansas State when he accepted the job?” If you’ve spent too much time listening to Gundy, you probably already know that he has a soft spot for Snyder.

Gundy’s reasoning for why Snyder is the finest coach to ever do it is very straightforward: Snyder won in situations in which coaches aren’t often successful. Snyder finished his 27 years as head coach at K-State with a record of 215-117-1, good for a winning percentage of.646. K-State has a record of 276-499-34 without Snyder at the helm of the Wildcats’ program, which equates to a winning percentage of.341.

It’s a model that Gundy has sought to implement in his own coaching style in Stillwater. When Gundy is coaching Oklahoma State’s football team, the Cowboys have a winning percentage of.683, but without him, that number drops to.468. Gundy also mentioned Frank Beamer as a person who should receive more credit than he already does.

  1. Between the years 1987 and 2015, Beamer led Virginia Tech to a winning percentage of.659, while the Hokies now have a winning percentage of.553 without him.
  2. Here is a look at that statistic with a wide variety of high-caliber college football coaches from different decades.
  3. The disparity between how strong K-State was during Snyder’s tenure and any other time in the school’s history is startling, and a young coach at Clemson who is on the rise might soon reach that level with national championships to back it up.

Although several of these coaches had many stops, I only included their record at the institution with which they are most closely connected. The records are from Sports Reference and do not include any victories that were annulled.

Name School Record at School School’s Record Without Winning % Difference
Bill Snyder Kansas State 215-117-1 (.646) 276-499-34 (.341) 0.305
Dabo Swinney Clemson 150-36 (.806) 608-422-44 (.566) 0.240
Mike Gundy Oklahoma State 149-69 (.683) 438-456-41 (.468) 0.215
Tom Osborne Nebraska 255-49-3 (.831) 618-335-35 (.626) 0.205
Bobby Bowden Florida State 315-98-4 (.755) 218-158-12 (.562) 0.193
Nick Saban Alabama 183-25 (.880) 773-282-42 (.705) 0.175
Knute Rockne Notre Dame 105-12-5 (.861) 768-304-28 (.698) 0.163
Barry Switzer Oklahoma 157-29-4 (.826) 718-282-43 (.688) 0.138
Frank Beamer Virginia Tech 238-121-2 (.659) 489-353-42 (.553) 0.106
Bear Bryant Alabama 232-46-9 (.808) 724-261-33 (.711) 0.097
Bo Schembechler Michigan 194-48-5 (.785) 756-286-30 (.705) 0.080
Joe Paterno Penn State 409-136-3 (.746) 478-260-34 (.738) 0.008
Woody Hayes Ohio State 205-61-10 (.743) 629-201-26 (.735) 0.008

The difference between Joe Paterno and every other coach at Penn State appears to be rather little when viewed through this lens. This is not to say that it does not matter who runs these blue blood programs; it does matter. In the instance of Snyder in the Big Apple, this was not the situation.

In a few of situations, you might be able to predict what one of the conventional powerhouse coaches might do if they were hired at a school that is not a blue blood. During his first five seasons at Michigan State, a younger Nick Saban posted a record of 34-24-1. This winning percentage of.576 is actually worse than Michigan State’s.588 victory % when Saban was not coaching.

And throughout his time at West Virginia, where he played for six seasons, Bobby Bowden amassed a.618 winning %. Without Bowden, West Virginia’s winning percentage is.575, which is only a little difference of.043 points. There are some parallels between Gundy’s case for Snyder and the one I made for Mason Rudolph being a more accomplished college quarterback than Brandon Weeden.

What might Snyder have been able to accomplish if he had a larger budget? What would have been possible for Rudolph if he had had greater protection? Gundy did an excellent job of summarizing his concept, essentially stating that each individual is unique. There are several aspects of the game that Michael Jordan was superior to LeBron James in, and vice versa.

It’s possible that Snyder (or Gundy) was never supposed to take over a blue blood program. Perhaps they were supposed to develop programs in the middle of the United States. If he had been the coach at a school with a budget of $225 million, how successful do you think he would have been? Gundy said.

  • I’m not sure, but it’s possible that he’s not made for anything like that.
  • That is something that occupies a lot of my thoughts.
  • Perhaps I’m not cut out to work in an environment with a budget of two hundred million dollars.
  • It’s possible that my personality is suited to working in an environment that requires me to recruit young guys like Tre Sterling, Jason Taylor, Brock Martin, and Malcolm Rodriguez; it’s possible that this is what I do.

The main idea here is that we can all find a suitable role for ourselves and that we all have something to contribute. In my opinion, that is a far more important factor than what individuals really grasp.”

How much does k State head football coach make?

Every time the K-State Wildcats football team wins six or more games during the regular season and then competes in a bowl game, the athletics department at K-State honors its football coaches. This practice is common in sports departments around the country. The head coach, Chris Klieman, was given an additional $50,000 on top of his salary of $3.1 million as a reward for his performance.

Did Bill Snyder win a National championship?

References –

  1. “Scholarships from specialized organizations and collaborative partners” College of William and Mary Jewell This page was retrieved on January 16, 2022. This award was founded in memory of William D. Snyder’s mother by Jewell University alumnus and former head football coach at Kansas State University, Bill Snyder, who graduated from Jewell in 1962.
  2. ^ Snyder hiring The article was retrieved from the Wayback Machine on December 2, 2008.
  3. kstatefootball.com has an article titled “Head Coach Bill Snyder.” This version was retrieved from the archive on October 6, 2014.
  4. Jump to: a, b, c, or d “Rivals.com – Bill Snyder: 75 & counting” is a headline that can be found on the website rivals.com. You may view the original post from October 23, 2014 by clicking here. This page was retrieved on October 23, 2014.
  5. According to the article, “K-State coach Bill Snyder’s success founded in skills gained from his mother,” Snyder’s mother was a teacher. The site NewsOK.com.
  6. “St. Joseph ought to be happy to claim Snyder,” the citation reads. St. Joseph News-Press and FOX 26 KNPN are two local news outlets.
  7. ^ Follow this link for more information: a and b “Bill Snyder Bio – kstatesports.com – The Official Athletic Site of Kansas State” kstatesports.com, This page was retrieved on August 9, 2020.
  8. “Austin College Will Honor Bill Snyder,” reads the headline.
  9. The name Douglas Looney (September 4, 1989). The article “Futility U” was published in Sports Illustrated.
  10. ^ Snyder, Bill (August 30, 2017). “The Master of the Class” This is known as The Players’ Tribune. This version was archived on August 31, 2017 and can be accessed here. Retrieved on the 1st of September, 2017.
  11. —- Kelly Whiteside (November 18, 2005). Snyder has announced his retirement, but the K-State stadium will remain in the Snyder family. USA Today, The page was retrieved on April 26, 2010.
  12. ESPN ran a story with the headline “They Said It Couldn’t Be Done.” This information was retrieved on February 25, 2008.
  13. Snyder was given the position as head coach. The document was saved to the Wayback Machine on December 3, 2008.
  14. “Kansas State’s Bill Snyder has new agreement till he’s almost 80” is the headline of a recent article. CBSSports.com,
  15. “K-Bill State’s Snyder Signs New 5-Year Deal, Runs Through 2022,” by Nick Viviani, which can be found here. Retrieved on the 9th of August, 2018.
  16. According to the staff of KMBC 9 News, “Kansas State football coach Bill Snyder is retiring.” Retrieved on the 2nd of December, 2018.
  17. “Bill Snyder of Kansas State University has been selected Coach of the Year by Sporting News.” The latest sporting news. This page was retrieved on January 11, 2012.
  18. “Snyder, Bill (Inducted 2006)” is what the citation reads. Located in Kansas, the Kansas Sports Hall of Fame. This information was retrieved on February 12, 2016.
  19. “Staley School of Leadership Studies – Kansas State University” “Staley School of Leadership Studies” www.k-state.edu,
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Where is Snyder coaching?

On Tuesday, the University of Illinois made the announcement that Sean Snyder would serve as the special teams coordinator and specialists coach for the 2022 season. Ben Miller, an assistant coach for the team, has been diagnosed with colon cancer and will be on medical leave through the 2022 season as he takes treatment for the disease.

  • He will be replaced by this individual.
  • Although Snyder spent the previous two seasons as the special teams coach at USC, he spent the most of his career at Kansas State, where he worked under the tutelage of his famed father, Bill Snyder, who was the head coach of the Wildcats.
  • Between the years 2011 and 2018, he was KSU’s associate head coach and coordinated the special teams.

Illinois During the 2002–2003 school year, Bret Bielema served as co-defensive coordinator under Bill Snyder at Kansas State University, where Sean Snyder was serving as senior assistant athletic director at the time. After moving from Iowa to Kansas State, Sean Snyder became a standout punter for his father and earned All-American honors.

  1. After playing for two years in the National Football League, he began working as a part-time assistant coach at Kansas State in the 1994–1995 school year.
  2. After spending the previous five years working in football operations at Kansas State University, he joined the athletic department in 2001 as an assistant athletic director and remained there until 2010, when he returned to the football staff.

After his father’s retirement in 2018, he continued working for the special teams department of 2019 for one more season before moving on to become the special teams coordinator for USC for two years. During Snyder’s tenure as head coach, the special teams units at Kansas State University established or equaled eight team records and 20 individual marks.

  1. He was awarded the Big 12 Special Teams Coach of the Year title four times, including three years in a row (returners Tyler Lockett in 2013 and 2014, Morgan Burns in 2015 and Joshua Youngblood in 2019).
  2. According to Football Outsiders’ national rankings in 2020, USC’s special teams were ranked first in the US.

In a statement, Miller said the following: “Being away from football for the past several months has been challenging, but on the bright side, I’ve had more time to spend with my family and concentrate on improving my health. Despite the fact that I still face a few obstacles in the future, the news regarding my diagnosis is positive.

I have finished my treatment of chemotherapy for four months and am now preparing for liver surgery in August. As a result of the further chemotherapy treatment I will be receiving in the autumn, I will be absent for the duration of the 2022 season. My therapy is proceeding according to plan, and I feel really fortunate to be working with experts who are at the absolute top of their fields.

In addition, I count my membership in a prestigious group at the University of Illinois among my many blessings here. Without the support of my family, Coach Bielema, Josh Whitman, the Illini football famILLy, and of course, Illini Nation, I would not be where I am today.

I am very thankful for all of you. I-L-L!” Bret Bielema stated in a statement: “In his approach, his willingness to fight, and his faith, Ben never ceases to amaze me and the rest of our football family. Although his presence on the sidelines will be much missed, we are thrilled that he will be able to spend as much time with our student-athletes as his treatments and the NCAA’s regulations would permit.

What Went Wrong For Kansas State Football In 1998

Since February, Ben and I have been aware that the occurrence of this scenario is a distinct probability. Together, we devised a strategy that we are positive would provide our student-athletes with the best opportunity to achieve their goals, while at the same time keeping his health as the first concern.” We are delighted to have Sean Snyder join our Illini FamILLy as our special teams coordinator and specialists coach as part of that strategy, and we can’t wait for him to get started! Since we first worked together as players and later as assistant coaches, Sean and I have a long relationship, and during that time, he has been someone who I have respected.