Head Coach
BILL SNYDER
22nd Season at K-State
currently ranked 4th Nationally in Wins among active FBS coaches Five-Time National Coach of the Year The 2009 season saw one of the greatest legends in college football return to the sidelines in hopes of revitalizing a program that he once built, piece by piece, into a national force. And, after four seasons back in charge, Bill Snyder has done just that – and then some. The architect of the “greatest turnaround in the history of college football” Bill Snyder returned to lead the Kansas State football program in 2009 after 17 ultra-successful seasons as the head coach from 1989-2005. And, following a 7-5 campaign in 2010 and a berth in the inaugural Pinstripe Bowl, the Wildcats climbed to heights only previously seen under Snyder as the Wildcats went 10-3 in 2011, finished No. 8 in the final BCS standings and earned their first Cotton Bowl invitation since 2001. The bar was raised again in 2012 as Snyder led the Wildcats to their third conference championship in school history and first since 2003. Kansas State, which won its first 10 games of the season and finished 11-1 with an 8-1 mark in Big 12 play, tied the school record for overall wins and conference victories while also ascending to No. 1 in the BCS rankings following its 10-0 start. Snyder went on to win the Bobby Dodd Coach of the Year Award as well as top Big 12 coach honors for the second straight season following the Cats’ memorable 2012 season that culminated with a berth in the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl. Quarterback Collin Klein became just the second player in school history to be named a Heisman Trophy finalist, while a school-record 20 Wildcats earned All-Big 12 honors including Klein (Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year), Arthur Brown (Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year) and Meshak Williams (Big 12 Defensive Lineman of the Year).
This season, K-State opened the year 2-4 with all four defeats being by 10 points or less. But Snyder’s charges continued to improve each week and went on to become just the fourth team in Big 12 history to bounce back from a 2-4 start to become bowl-eligible. 16
In fact, only 48 FBS teams out of 598 in the BCS era who started 2-4 or worse reached a bowl game prior to the 2013 Cats. In 2011, Snyder's Wildcats jumped out to a 7-0 start – the best in 12 years – which included big wins at Miami, against 15th-ranked Baylor and at Texas Tech. Following a two-game skid to a pair of nationally-ranked teams, the Wildcats got back into the win column with a thrilling fourovertime victory over Texas A&M before ending the year with wins at Texas and against Iowa State. For his efforts in 2011, Snyder was named the Woody Hayes National Coach of the Year, as well as picking up national coaching honors from Sporting News, Rivals.com and CBSSports.com, and the Big 12 Coach of the Year by the AP and Big 12 Coaches. He also tutored 11 players to All-Big 12 honors, including Defensive Newcomer of the Year Arthur Brown and Offensive Freshman of the Year and Walter Camp All-Americans Tyler Lockett and Nigel Malone. In 2010, Snyder’s Wildcats jumped out to a 5-1 start, which included big wins over UCLA, Conference USA Champion UCF and Iowa State, behind All-Big 12 running back Daniel Thomas, who became the fastest Wildcat in school history (in terms of games) to rush for 1,000 yards. In his first season back as the head man of the Wildcat program, Snyder led the Wildcats to a 6-6 record in 2009 and a second place finish in the Big 12 North. In fact, KState was just one win away from advancing to the Big 12 Championship game as the Wildcats played at Nebraska in the regular season finale with a championship game berth on the line. K-State claimed more First Team All-Big 12 selections on offense than any other school with four. Big 12 Newcomer of the Year Daniel Thomas led the league in rushing, while Nick Stringer, Jeron Mastrud and Brandon Banks also garnered first team All-Big 12 accolades.
SNYDER AT KANSAS STATE (1989-2013) Year 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 Totals
Overall 1-10-0 5-6-0 7-4-0 5-6-0 9-2-1 9-3-0 10-2-0 9-3-0 11-1-0 11-2-0 11-1-0 11-3-0 6-6-0 11-2-0 11-4-0 4-7-0 5-6-0 6-6-0 7-6-0 10-3-0 11-2-0 7-5-0 177-90-1
Big 8/12 0-7-0 2-5-0 4-3-0 2-5-0 4-2-1 5-2-0 5-2-0 6-2-0 7-1-0 8-0-0 7-1-0 6-2-0 3-5-0 6-2-0 6-2-0 2-6-0 2-6-0 4-4-0 3-5-0 7-2-0 8-1-0 5-4-0 102-69-1
Finish 8th T6th 4th T6th 3rd 3rd T2nd 3rd-N 2nd-N 1st-N T1st-N 1st-N T4th-N 2nd-N 1st T5th-N 6th-N T2nd-N 3rd-N 2nd 1st 5th