Report: Bill Snyder planning to coach Kansas State in 2018
Bill Snyder’s tenure at Kansas State looks to be continuing into 2018.
According to a report by Rivals’ K-State Online, the 77-year-old coach is planning on coming back next season. Snyder is in his second run at Kansas State and his team won its final two games of the season against Oklahoma State and Iowa State to finish the season 7-5.
The Wildcats will play UCLA in the Cactus Bowl on Dec. 26.
The news of Snyder’s likely return comes amidst a newsy final part of 2017 for Kansas State. In November, a report emerged that Snyder had offered Oregon defensive coordinator Jim Leavitt a job to make him the head coach in waiting.
Days later, after attempting to dismiss the report, Snyder said he offered Leavitt an assistant role as a position coach but that he turned it down. Leavitt was Colorado’s defensive coordinator in 2016 and went to Oregon before the 2017 season. His Oregon contract allows him to leave for Kansas State to be the Wildcats’ head coach without penalty.
Earlier this month, Kansas State offensive coordinator Dana Dimel left the school to become UTEP’s head coach. Dimel has been Kansas State’s offensive coordinator for nine seasons.
Snyder’s son, Sean, is the team’s special teams coach and he’s been mentioned as the man whom Bill Snyder prefers to take the program. Here’s what Yahoo Sports’ Pete Thamel had to say about the Kansas State coaching situation on Monday.
LOSER: KANSAS STATE
Bill Snyder still appears to be clinging to the dream of passing the program on to his son. This has gone from selfish to sad to toxic, as the entire administration at Kansas State is ready for a change. But Snyder, 78, is still living in nepotism fantasyland that his son, Sean, is qualified to take over. That’s hurt the program, which is 20-16 the last three seasons and lacks an identity nationally outside of mediocrity and uncertainty. Every year Snyder stays and tries to bully the handoff to his son further tarnishes his legacy. This is the anti-Frank Beamer succession. (For example: With offensive coordinator Dana Dimel gone to take the UTEP job, what qualified offensive coordinator would want to work under these conditions?) It will be interesting to see if Kansas State administrators have the collective guts to engage with Snyder about his departure after Kansas State’s bowl game on Dec. 26. Snyder has had a great run, as his accomplishments can’t be overstated. But he’s completely unaware of how bad this whole situation looks or simply doesn’t seem to care.
Bill Snyder started at Kansas State in 1989 and coached through 2005 when he retired. After Ron Prince was fired as Kansas State’s coach, Snyder returned to the program in 2009 and has been the team’s coach ever since. He has a career record of 209-110 with the school.
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Nick Bromberg is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at nickbromberg@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
