Bill Snyder
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Date of birth | October 7, 1939 | |
|---|---|---|
| Place of birth | Saint Joseph, Missouri | |
| Sport | Football | |
| Overall Record | 136-68-1 | |
| Awards | College football COY (1998) Big Eight Conference COY (1990, 1991, 1993) Big 12 Conference COY (1998, 2002) |
|
| Championships won |
Big 12 Conference Champion (2003) | |
| Coaching Stats | College Football DataWarehouse | |
| School as a player | ||
| 1959-1962 | William Jewell College | |
| Position | Defensive Back | |
| Coaching positions | ||
| 1989-2005 | Kansas State University | |
Bill Snyder (born October 7, 1939, in Saint Joseph, Missouri) was the head football coach for Kansas State University from 1989 to 2005.
Contents |
[edit] Coaching Career
Snyder had his first collegiate coaching experience in 1966, serving as a graduate assistant coach for the USC Trojans. He then worked as a California high school coach for several years. From 1976 to 1978, Snyder was an assistant coach at North Texas State under Hall of Fame coach Hayden Fry. Snyder and Fry moved together to the University of Iowa in 1979, with Snyder serving as Fry's offensive coordinator for the next ten years. Snyder was hired as head coach of the Kansas State University Wildcats following the 1988 season.
[edit] Kansas State University
When Snyder arrived at K-State, he took over a program that had lost 510 games and won only 299 games in 93 years of play. The program had been to only one bowl game (the 1984 Independence Bowl), won only one Big Six Conference title (in 1934), and had enjoyed only two winning seasons in the last 34 years.
In 17 years, Snyder led Kansas State to eleven consecutive bowl games (1993-2003), including six wins. Snyder's legacy at K-State also includes winning the Big 12 championship in 2003 and sharing four Big 12 North titles since conference play began in 1996. During the 1998 season, Kansas State posted an undefeated 11-0 regular season and earned its first ever number 1 ranking in the national polls.
Following the successful 1998 campaign, Snyder's mentor Hayden Fry retired from the University of Iowa. Many considered Snyder the frontrunner to return to Iowa and take over the prestigious Big Ten program. Instead, Snyder chose to remain at Kansas State.
Snyder retired at Kansas State on November 15, 2005, capping the end of one of the greatest turnarounds in college football history. The day after Snyder announced his retirement, K-State renamed its football stadium Bill Snyder Family Stadium in his honor. Ron Prince, formerly an assistant coach and offensive coordinator at the University of Virginia, was named Bill Snyder's replacement on December 5, 2005.
During Snyder's 17-year tenure, a number of his former assistants became head coaches at other Division I-A school. Some of these names include Jim Leavitt (University of South Florida), Mark Mangino (University of Kansas), Bob Stoops (University of Oklahoma), and Mike Stoops (University of Arizona).
[edit] Awards
In 1998 Snyder was recognized as the National Coach of the Year by the Associated Press and the Walter Camp Football Foundation, and was awarded the Bear Bryant Award and the Bobby Dodd Coach of the Year Award. Of lesser note, ESPN selected Snyder as its national coach of the year in 1991 and CNN selected him as its national coach of the year in 1995.
Coach Snyder was also selected Big Eight Conference Coach of the Year by the Associated Press three times (1990, 1991 and 1993), joining Bob Devaney as the only two men in Big Eight history to be named Coach of the Year three times in a four-year period. Snyder was named Big 12 Conference Coach of the Year twice, in 1998 (Associated Press, coaches) and 2002 (coaches). In 2003, Snyder was named to the Board of Trustees of the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA).
In 2006, Snyder was enshrined in the Kansas Sports Hall of Fame and the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame.
[edit] Coaching record
| Year | Overall | (Conf./place) | Bowl Game |
| 1989 | 1-10 | (0-7/8th) | None |
| 1990 | 5-6 | (2-5/6th) | None |
| 1991 | 7-4 | (4-3/4th) | None |
| 1992 | 5-6 | (2-5/6th) | None |
| 1993 | 9-2-1 | (4-2-1/3rd) | Copper |
| 1994 | 9-3 | (5-2/3rd) | Aloha |
| 1995 | 10-2 | (5-2/2nd) | Holiday |
| 1996 | 9-3 | (6-2/3rd N)^ | Cotton |
| 1997 | 11-1 | (7-1/2nd N) | Fiesta |
| 1998 | 11-2 | (8-0/1st N) | Alamo |
| 1999 | 11-1 | (7-1/1st N) | Holiday |
| 2000 | 11-3 | (6-2/1st N) | Cotton |
| 2001 | 6-6 | (3-5/4th N) | Insight |
| 2002 | 11-2 | (6-2/2nd N) | Holiday |
| 2003 | 11-4 | (6-2/1st) | Fiesta |
| 2004 | 4-7 | (2-6/5th N) | None |
| 2005 | 5-6 | (2-6/6th N) | None |
^The Big Eight became the Big 12 in 1996
[edit] Player accomplishments
In the Snyder era, Kansas State players won the following national awards:
- Lou Groza Award (Outstanding kicker) - Martín Gramática, 1997
- Davey O'Brien Award (Nation's top quarterback) - Michael Bishop, 1998
- Jim Thorpe Award (Outstanding defensive back) - Terence Newman, 2002
[edit] Personal life
Snyder is a 1962 graduate of William Jewell College, where he played defensive back (3 letters) from 1959 to 1962. Snyder also received an M.A. at Eastern New Mexico University in 1965.
In addition to his work as the football coach, Snyder was active in raising funds for the library at Kansas State University. Snyder also currently serves as chairman of the Leadership Studies Building Campaign, honorary chairman of the K-State Changing Lives Campaign, and is past president of the Friends of the Libraries organization at K-State.
Snyder and his wife Sharon have five children. They live in Manhattan, Kansas.
| Preceded by Stan Parrish |
Kansas State Wildcats Head Football Coaches 1989-2005 |
Succeeded by Ron Prince |
| Preceded by Lloyd Carr |
Paul "Bear" Bryant Award 1998 |
Succeeded by Frank Beamer |
| Preceded by Lloyd Carr |
Walter Camp Coach of the Year 1998 |
Succeeded by Frank Beamer |
| Persondata | |
|---|---|
| NAME | Snyder, Bill |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | |
| SHORT DESCRIPTION | Football coach |
| DATE OF BIRTH | October 7, 1939 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Saint Joseph, Missouri |
| DATE OF DEATH | |
| PLACE OF DEATH | |
