Bill Snyder Bill Snyder ( born October 7 , 1939 ) is the head football coach at Kansas State University . He served as head coach at the school from 1989 to 2005 , and then was rehired to the position on November 24 , 2008 , making him one of the rare college football head coaches to have non - consecutive tenure at the same school . Snyder has won several conference and national coach of the year awards . The football stadium at Kansas State University , Bill Snyder Family Football Stadium , is named in honor of him and his family . Coaching career . Snyder had his first collegiate coaching experience in 1966 , serving as a graduate assistant coach for the USC Trojans . He next worked as a head coach for several years in the California high school ranks . From 1976 to 1978 , Snyder worked as 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 the 32nd head coach of the Kansas State University Wildcats following the 1988 season . Kansas State University : first tenure , 1989 – 2005 . When Snyder was hired at K - State for the first time on November 24 , 1988 , he took over a program that had a cumulative record of 299 – 510 ( ) in 93 years of play , which was easily the most losses of any team in Division I - A at the time . The school had been to only one bowl game ( the 1982 Independence Bowl ) , had not won a conference title since 1934 and had enjoyed four winning seasons in the previous 44 years ( including two in the previous 34 years ) . The program had also not won a game since October 1986 , going 0 - 26 - 1 in that time . Prior to Snyder ' s first season in 1989 , " Sports Illustrated " published an article about Kansas State football entitled " Futility U , " which labeled the school " America ' s most hapless team . " Snyder won only one game in his first season , beating the recently - renamed North Texas , but it was a significant win because it was K - State ' s first win in three seasons . The game was especially thrilling , with a touchdown pass coming on the last play of the game . In Snyder ' s second season , in 1990 , the Wildcats improved to 5 – 6 . The five wins posted by the team had been matched only twice in the prior 17 years at the school , in 1973 ( 5 – 6 ) and 1982 ( 6 – 5 ) . The 1991 season saw another breakthrough , when the Wildcats finished with a winning record of 7 – 4 and narrowly missed a bowl bid . It was only the second winning season at Kansas State since 1970 , and the team ' s 4 – 3 conference record was only the third winning conference mark since 1934 . Two years later , Snyder led the Wildcats to the school ' s second bowl game – the 1993 Copper Bowl – and their first bowl win ever . The season also marked the second 9 - win season in school history and the team ' s first ranking in the final top 20 poll . The 1993 bowl game was the first of 11 consecutive bowl games , as Kansas State went to bowl games every season from 1993 to 2003 – one of just seven schools to do so . K - State won six of those bowl games . 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 , just ten years after being named the worst program in the country by " Sports Illustrated " , before finishing 11 – 2 . In the 2003 season the team won the Big 12 championship – the school ' s second major conference title ever . They beat # 1 ranked Oklahoma in the 2003 Big 12 Championship Game , by a score of 35 – 7 . Leading up to the game , many college football analysts called Oklahoma one of the best teams ever . With an 11 – 4 record in 2003 , Kansas State also became the only team in the country to win 11 games in six of the previous seven years , and just the second program in the history of college football to win 11 games six times in a seven - year stretch . Following disappointing seasons 2004 and 2005 , when the Wildcats went 4 – 7 and 5 – 6 , respectively , Snyder retired from Kansas State on November 15 , 2005 , with an overall record of 136 – 68 – 1 ( ) . The day after Snyder announced his retirement , K - State renamed its football stadium Bill Snyder Family Football Stadium in his and his family ' s honor . The school had originally wanted to rename it simply Bill Snyder Stadium , but when Snyder got word of the plans , he insisted that they name it after his family - - " the people I care about most . " Ron Prince , formerly an assistant coach and offensive coordinator at the University of Virginia , was named Bill Snyder ' s replacement on December 5 , 2005 . Snyder ' s first tenure at Kansas State is still considered one of the most successful rebuilding projects in collegiate history . In recognition of his rebuilding work , Hall of Fame football coach Barry Switzer once stated , " He ' s not the coach of the year , he ' s not the coach of the decade , he ' s the coach of the century . " Kansas State University : second tenure , 2009 – present . After being out of coaching for three years , on November 24 , 2008 , Bill Snyder was named to a second term as head football coach at Kansas State University , beginning in the 2009 season . He is one of the only coaches to ever coach in a stadium named after him , due to the fact that it was renamed after him upon his original retirement in 2005 . In the first season of Snyder ' s second tenure , the team posted a 6 – 6 record overall and finished tied for second in the Big 12 North division with a 4 – 4 conference mark . In his second season in 2010 , the team had a 7 – 6 record and played in the inaugural Pinstripe Bowl at Yankee Stadium in New York City . During the 2011 season on September 3 , Bill Snyder earned his 150th win with a season opening victory over Eastern Kentucky . During the same season , Snyder became the first FBS coach to have a son ( Sean ) as an assistant and a grandson ( Tate ) playing for him at the same time . By season ' s end , Coach Snyder again showed results when the team went 10 – 2 in the regular season , finishing second in the Big 12 , and earned a berth in the Cotton Bowl where the team lost to the Arkansas Razorbacks . The Cotton Bowl was K - State ' s first " major " bowl since the 2004 Fiesta Bowl . Following the season Snyder was named Woody Hayes Coach of the Year . In the 2012 season , Snyder led the team to its first Big 12 Conference championship since 2003 . By winning the head - to - head game with Oklahoma K - State earned the conference champion ' s berth in the 2013 Fiesta Bowl , even though they were officially co - champions . Snyder has held the head coaching position at Kansas State longer than any other coach , and his 170 career wins are more than his 11 predecessors at K - State won from 1935 to 1988 combined . He is far and away the winningest coach in Kansas State history ( no other coach has crossed the 40 - win mark ) . During his tenure , K - State has produced 33 AP All - Americans , 42 NFL Draft picks , and 46 first - team academic All - Americans . On January 31 , 2013 , it was announced that Snyder ' s contract was extended through the 2017 season . Former assistants that became head coaches . Eight of Snyder ' s assistants have also gone on to become head coaches at other Division I schools , including : Phil Bennett ( SMU ) , Bret Bielema ( Arkansas ) , Jim Leavitt ( South Florida ) , Mark Mangino ( Kansas ) , Dana Dimel ( Wyoming ) , Bob Stoops ( Oklahoma ) , Mike Stoops ( Arizona ) , Carl Pelini ( Florida Atlantic ) . 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 . In 2011 Snyder was named the Woody Hayes Coach of the Year and the " Sporting News " National Coach of the Year . In 2012 Snyder won the Bobby Dodd Coach of the Year Award for the second time in his career . Additionally , 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 . He was also a finalist for the Bear Bryant Award in 1993 , 1995 , 2011 and 2012 ; a finalist for the " Sporting News " National Coach of the Year Award in 1995 and 1998 ; a finalist for the AFCA National Coach of the Year Award in 1993 and 1998 ; and a finalist for the Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year award in 1993 , 1995 , 1998 , 2011 and 2012 . In the conference , coach Snyder was 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 also named Big 12 Conference Coach of the Year four times : in 1998 ( AP , coaches ) , 2002 ( coaches ) , 2011 ( AP , coaches ) and 2012 ( AP , 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 . Controversy . Booster infraction . On February 18 , 1999 , Kansas State self - reported to the NCAA ' s Committee on Infractions that Kansas State boosters had provided a football player with money for his personal use , in violation of NCAA regulations . The committee expressly found no fault whatsoever on the part of Snyder or the institution itself , and said the institution ' s response to the reported violation was " exemplary . " The university voluntarily disassociated itself from seven athletic boosters , and the NCAA extended an existing probation on the school for one year . Player misconduct at 2004 Fiesta Bowl . In the early morning hours of New Year ' s Day , 2004 , police were called to the Kansas State team hotel in Paradise Valley , Arizona , by a woman who accused quarterback Ell Roberson of sexually assaulting her . Roberson and the rest of the Kansas State team were in town to play Ohio State in the Fiesta Bowl . Police did not arrest Roberson , and later determined that no crime had been committed and no charges should be filed , but an investigation by the Kansas State athletic department concluded that Roberson and several other players had violated unspecified team rules . As a result , Snyder stripped Roberson of his scholarship , denied the players their Fiesta Bowl rings and required them to perform community service . Snyder also issued an open letter of apology to the people of Kansas and supporters of Kansas State ' s football program for the conduct of his players in the days leading up to the bowl game . Compensation . On June 19 , 2009 , the Kansas Board of Regents released the results of an audit that was performed by Grant Thornton LLP as an exit analysis for outgoing Kansas State president Jon Wefald . Included among the findings in the audit was that the university paid thousands of dollars to a corporation owned by Bill Snyder rather than to Snyder personally . Additionally , the university made some of its payments to Snyder from a contingency fund rather than the athletic department ' s general operating fund . The audit does not state that any of the payments were illegal , and Snyder has denied that any of the payments he received from the university , either directly or through his corporation , were improper . The new university president and athletic director later released a joint letter that states , in part , " In our opinion , there are no grounds to even begin to insinuate that Coach Snyder has ever benefited improperly from his relationship with K - State . " Personal life . 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 . In the window of retirement , Coach Snyder invested his time in a Kansas State Department of Education endeavor called Kansas Mentors , becoming the chair . Snyder and his wife Sharon have five children : Sean , Ross , Shannon , Meredith , and Whitney . Head coaching record . Record against Big 12 Conference opponents . < / div > < / div > Record against former conference opponents . < / div > < / div > Player accomplishments . During the Snyder era , Kansas State players won the following national awards : Heisman Trophy : All Americans : During the Snyder era , 30 different players have received All American Honors , including 9 consensus All Americans . † - 2nd team All American