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Bill was a coach for the record books, a legend in his time. Amassing over 150 wins during his tenure at Kansas State, Bill had earned honors as the Big 8 Coach of the Year, Big 12 Coach of the Year. He was even named the first AP Coach of the Year. All of this was merited as his Wildcat players were equivalently decorated as national award winners, including Heisman trophy finalists, and first team All-Americans. Bill was so beloved for his life's work with the Wildcats' football program, the university named the stadium after him. Despite Bill Snyder's storied past, he left his program on a low note, back-to-back losing seasons. The Wildcats' football program had regressed significantly since their 2003 Fiesta Bowl appearance, a team that won 11 games. With the aging Bill Synder gone. The Wildcats' football program could move on. Or could they? The first year without Bill, the Wildcats won seven games. But thereafter, the Wildcats were just a five win team (a losing record) in 2007 and 2008. Could Bill Snyder, passed the full retirement age for Social Security, have done better? Rather than just kick the can around on message boards for decades, Kansas State decided to put speculation to rest. Bill Snyder was hired out of retirement. Returning to coaching in 2009 at the ripe-old-age of 69, Bill Snyder proved that he was back where he belonged. Although his 2009 and 2010 teams managed just six and seven wins respectively, the 2011 team won ten games and finished the season ranked #15 in the AP poll to end the season. But Bill wasn't done. In 2012, the 72 year old coached his Wildcats' to a 10-0 start, and a #1 overall in-season ranking. That 2012 team would finish 11-2, highlighted with a Fiesta Bowl appearance and a #12 AP ranking. Bill still coaches today at age 74. Bill's 2013 team won a bowl game. And this year the Wildcats are off to a good 2-0 start,ranked #19 in the country. When Bill Snyder retired in 2005 he was two years removed a Fiesta Bowl appearance. But he was old, and he was coaching losing teams. Through a series of fortunate events, Bill was able to return out of retirement and coach once again. And here we are today, in the year 2014, almost a decade after Bill's first retirement, and once again (74 year old) Bill Snyder is two years removed from a Fiesta Bowl appearance. Back to Top The Situation General User Member Since: 7/12/2010 Location: Columbus, OH Post Count: 957 Status: Offline     RE: A Story About 'Cats, Football, and an Aging Head Coach    Posted: 9/14/2014 6:47:08 PM  Some elements of Bill Snyder's story so closely parallel elements of Frank Solich's story that I decided to go a step further. I Googled Bill Snyder's offensive coordinator for each year of his career. Kansas State's athletic website currently lists co-offensive coordinators Dana Dimel and Del Miller. Dana and Del were with Bill for years before leaving K-State for head coaching jobs elsewhere. They both came back at different times, and left when Bill retired in 2005. But, when Bill came back in 2009, both Dana and Del returned from other universities to operate as co-offensive coordinators. Points scored per game (PS/G) and rank of PS/G data is listed below, 1989-2013. Year W/L PS/G RANK OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR 1989 1-10 12.2 104 Del Miller 1990 5-6 23.2 57 Del Miller 1991 7-4 23.9 44 Del Miller 1992 5-6 17.7 89 Del Miller 1993 9-2-1 28.3 12 Del Miller 1994 9-3 26 44 Del Miller 1995 10-2 38 5 Dana Dimel 1996 9-3 28.3 41 Dana Dimel 1997 11-1 34.8 11 Ron Hudson 1998 11-2 46.9 1 Ron Hudson 1999 11-1 38.1 4 Ron Hudson 2000 11-3 39.2 6 Ron Hudson 2001 6-6 27.5 51 Ron Hudson 2002 11-2 44.8 2 Ron Hudson 2003 11-4 36.6 9 Del Miller Greg Peterson 2004 4-7 29.6 36 Del Miller 2005 5-6 26.3 62 Del Miller 2006 7-6 22.8 69 James Franklin 2007 5-7 35.2 18 James Franklin 2008 5-7 34.9 19 Dave Brock 2009 6-6 23 87 Dana Dimel Del Miller 2010 7-6 33.6 22 Dana Dimel Del Miller 2011 10-3 31.8 34 Dana Dimel Del Miller 2012 11-2 38.8 11 Dana Dimel Del Miller 2013 8-5 33.2 37 Dana Dimel Del Miller Note that Bill Snyder wasn't head coach from 2006-2008. We can see that Bill Snyder primarily relied on three men as offensive coordinator for his entire career (Greg Peterson, a fourth man, operated in this role as a co-coordinator briefly). Dana and Del overlapped as employees for most of their time with Bill (in other positions). They were both with Bill from the start in 1989. And Bill only turned to Ron Hudson for OC duties after Dana and Del both left for their own head coaching positions. Last Edited: 9/14/2014 6:51:35 PM by The Situation Back to Top BillyTheCat General User Member Since: 10/6/2012 Post Count: 9,471 Status: Offline     RE: A Story About 'Cats, Football, and an Aging Head Coach    Posted: 9/14/2014 7:01:41 PM  Bill Snyder also built a program off of JUCO's and props Back to Top OhioCatFan General User Member Since: 12/20/2004 Location: Athens, OH Post Count: 14,016 Status: Offline     RE: A Story About 'Cats, Football, and an Aging Head Coach    Posted: 9/14/2014 7:10:24 PM  Situation, thanks so much for posting this life story of Coach Snyder. It certainly is a good antidote for some of the ageist comments made in the last 24 hours on this board. As a fellow war baby with Frank, I have to stick up for those of my generation when they receive criticism that implies that their faculties are failing when that's not really true. The only BLSS Certified Hypocrite on BA "It is better to be an optimist and be proven a fool than to be a pessimist and be proven right." Note: My avatar is the national colors of the 78th Ohio Veteran Volunteer Infantry, which are now preserved in a climate controlled vault at the Ohio History Connection. Learn more about the old 78th at: http://www.78ohio.org Back to Top The Situation General User Member Since: 7/12/2010 Location: Columbus, OH Post Count: 957 Status: Offline     RE: A Story About 'Cats, Football, and an Aging Head Coach    Posted: 9/15/2014 12:10:49 PM  Another fun fact to add to the story: In 2003 Kansas State won the program's first conference title since 1934. The 69 year drought was the longest span between conference titles in FBS history at the time (I would guess that it still is, even if OHIO nabbed one this year). Again that conference title was immediately followed by back to back losing seasons and then Bill Snyder's retirement. K-State was able to win a another conference title in 2012 after Bill Snyder came out of retirement. Back to Top The Situation General User Member Since: 7/12/2010 Location: Columbus, OH Post Count: 957 Status: Offline     RE: A Story About 'Cats, Football, and an Aging Head Coach    Posted: 9/15/2014 12:14:22 PM  What am I alluding to with this thread? I would argue that anyone who wants the OHIO football program to move on from Frank Solich as head coach without addressing the Bill Snyder story has not sufficiently defended their argument. 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