Cactus Bowl could be end for K-State’s Snyder
PHOENIX — Bill Snyder has coached Kansas State for 26 seasons, returning once from retirement to coach at the stadium that bears his name.
Tuesday night’s Cactus Bowl against UCLA could be his grand finale.
Snyder has a contract that automatically rolls over every season, but the 78-year-old coach has not decided if he wants to work a 27th season or retire.
“I’ve had some dialogue, and I need to have some more dialogue with my family, and more dialogue with our administration,” Snyder said. “Just needing to be more thorough with it. Because you know for me it’s a big decision.”
Snyder helped turn the struggling team into a nationally prominent program when he took over in 1989. He retired in 2005, but the program went into decline and Snyder returned to coaching in 2008.
Snyder has led Kansas State to eight consecutive bowl appearances and 19 overall, including three trips to the Fiesta Bowl.
The Wildcats (7-5) got their 2017 season off to a slow start, losing three of their first four Big 12 games. Kansas State closed well, with its only loss in the final five games to No. 23 West Virginia by five points.
UCLA (6-6) had a shaky start as well, costing coach Jim Mora his job one game before the season ended. The Bruins closed the regular season with a 3027 victory over California under interim coach Jedd Fisch to become bowleligible after missing the postseason a year ago.
UCLA hired former Oregon and Philadelphia Eagles coach Chip Kelly last month, but Fisch will lead the Bruins against Kansas State.
“I’ve known Chip for a while and he just said, you take this team until the bowl game is over,” Fisch said. “And then at that point in time, I’ll resume or I’ll assume the duties of being the head coach. So that’s kind of how we’ve made this thing work.”