Q&A with Bill Snyder

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The problem with miracles is you never know where to look for one. Here's a clue. Take I-70 west, approximately two and one-half hours from Kansas City, turn right on exit 313 and head eight miles north to find home to one of the real miracles in the history of college football . . . Manhattan, Kansas.

The stories of the turnaround have been told over and over again, but to put it plain and simple, Bill Snyder -- the quiet, professorial, unassuming and non-self-promoting head coach of what is now the K-State powerhouse -- deserves to mentioned in the same breath as Bryant, Hayes, Warner, Rockne, Stagg, Schembechler, Paterno and all of the greatest of all-time.

Until 1989, the football team at Kansas State University never even got close to good. Consider that in the 92 years of football B.S. (before Snyder), K-State was 299-511-39 (.369). To put it another way, if the Wildcats had managed to go a 19-year unbeaten streak, at 11 games per year, they would have still been two games under .500 all-time. But, things have changed.

Snyder did what scant few ever do. He saw potential and didn't just leave it there. He saw it in the rubble of what most everyone called "the worst job in America," dug in and worked to reach his goals. The lessons of his successes are examples of what can be accomplished and will survive for generations of coaches to examine and emulate.

Coach Snyder, a man of few words, recently answered a few questions for AFM.

Q. What was the single most important thing in the turnaround at KSU?

A. Good people, trust, discipline and hard work.

Q. How much input do you have in terms of x's and o's ?

A. I accept responsibility relative to the success and failures of the schemes and their execution.

Q. What are your personal ideas on motivating staff and team when you are the underdog, favorite, etc.?

A. Remain consistent . . . all successes are determined by how well "we" prepare as a team.

Q. What are the things you look for in players?

A. Genuine desire to succeed and the ability to accept responsibility.

Q. What are the qualities you look for in assistant coaches?

A. A genuine concern for youth. Communication skills that are real. An overwhelming desire to succeed. Respect from their peers. Loyalty. Work habits. Creativity.

Q. What are you ideas on self-scouting?

A. We scout ourselves exactly the same way that we scout our opponents.

Q. What are you ideas on how much game film of opponents to watch vs. making certain your team is ready to play "your game" each week?

A. You can do both simultaneously. It is all about balance . . . one relates to the other.

Q. Describe what you said to your players and staff after the Texas A&M game?

A. We talked about dealing with bitter disappointments, and in the face of this bitter loss, maintaining the same class and dignity that has become a trademark of our program. We realize that the greater the emotional investment, the greater the pain if you do not succeed. We did not want the players to overlook the undefeated regular season record and their achievements. We told them that surely they will have greater disappointments in life; they can learn a great deal from this experience.

Q. Did you see the letdown coming against Purdue?

A. Yes.

Q. What was it like to coach your son (Sean) and now work with him?

A. Marvelous. He is a tremendous young man and I am very proud of him. It has been a joy to have him in our program and to have had the opportunity to be with him every single day. It is something that I would not trade for anything.

Q. How do you want your players to perceive you. . . be afraid, like you, as a father-figure, etc.?

A. No one particular way. Everyone's perception may differ. I would like them to think of me as fair, honest, open and caring because this is how I try to be with each and every one of them.

Q. What advice would you give young assistants looking to move up the ladder?

A. "Be where you are." Do the very best you can. Look for more responsibility in the program you are in. If you are half-in and half-out (always looking), you will not be near the coach you could be, and it will effect your opportunities for the future.

Q. What do you prefer in players, character vs. talent?

A. Character . . . character . . . character, but not without ability.

Q. Who were your greatest mentors and why?

A. I have learned from every individual I have worked for and with. Certainly in the 13 years of coaching with Hayden Fry, I learned a great deal. My college coach, Norris Patterson, and high school coaches Jerry Hampton and Bob Matheson were important in my development. But, I have had so many people outside of coaching who have influenced my life in such a dramatic fashion: Bartlet Sims, an administrator at Indio High School, Bump Elliott, Athletic Director at Iowa, Bob Mason and Ralph McCord of Austin College, along with my current administrators at Kansas State, President Jon Wefald, vice-president, Bob Krause and athletics director Max Urick, as well as our former

A.D., Steve Miller. All of these people have influenced my career. The same can be said of the staff I worked with at Iowa and those who have been with me here at Kansas State; I have learned from each of them. And, above and beyond all others, my Mother (Marionetta Snyder) and Grandfather (George Owens) were the most influential people in my development.

Q. What is your greatest achievement?

A. My family.

Q. And, your greatest failure?

A. Not spending enough time with my family.

Q. The stories of your attention to detail are legendary. Is this a part of an overall philosophy that, "if you take care of the little things, the big things will fall into place?"

A. Basically that is true, but primarily, we must take care of all things, big and little, to have a chance at success.

Q. Tell us about your project to help promote role models within inner-city communities.

A. We will initiate a Black Leadership Academy at Kansas State. This is an attempt to train and develop leaders from the throughout the nation, who can go back into the inner-city communities and give guidance and direction to the local youth.

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