Stoops always believed in Snyder, K-State’s Manhattan Miracle
Thank you, Bobby. With a smirk and half-smile, Bill Snyder would look at young Bobby Stoops and thank him for the Styrofoam container from the dining hall.
Each autumn evening, Snyder walked straight from the Iowa practice field into the football building to watch practice tape.
Snyder was the offensive coordinator in the Hawkeyes’ great revival; Stoops was a young graduate assistant who would set up the scoutteam defenses for Snyder.
Stoops wasn’t going to miss dinner. But Stoops always would feel bad for Snyder, figuring he hadn’t eaten all day, and usually would bring back food.
Then two or three hours after dinner, Stoops would leave, pass by Snyder’s office and there would sit the Styrofoam container, unmoved, on the corner of the desk.
Sunday, Snyder announced his retirement as the Kansas State head coach, after 27 seasons of the most remarkable turnaround perhaps in sports history.
The nation’s laughingstock program became a proud winner on the Flint Hills; K-State and Snyder are the greatest story ever told in college football.
And Stoops swears he saw it coming from the start.
“When we first went there, everyone continued to try to convince the coaching staff, all of us, that we wouldn’t win,” Stoops said. “I never doubted it for a minute. I knew Coach Snyder knew the formula.”
Snyder had more than a smirk for Stoops. Thank you, Bobby.
Snyder had a job for the precocious young coach.
Stoops went with Snyder to Kansas State in 1989; a program that had posted three victories in four years was 5-6 by 1990, 7-4 by 1991 and 10-2 by 1995.
Stoops totally believed the Manhattan Miracle was possible. Why?
“Incredibly smart, intelligent,” Stoops said. “Persistent. Tough.”
Snyder was no small part of the Iowa success.
The Hawkeyes had gone 17 straight years without a winning season when Hayden Fry arrived as head coach, with Snyder in tow, in 1979.
The Hawkeyes were in the Rose Bowl by 1981 and have maintained a winning tradition ever since.
“When they came in, it all changed,” Stoops said. “They had a method, they had a schedule, and we got it done. That’s what you knew, that he would do the same thing.”
Stoops branched out. Went to Florida as defensive
coordinator, then to Oklahoma 20 years ago last weekend, building the Sooners back into national powers.
A monumental achievement. But not the equal of what Snyder did at K-State.
“When I got there with him, I had never seen a team, a community, a program that needed to win so bad,” Stoops said. “They just hadn’t had it.”
Snyder stayed in the game longer than did Stoops, who retired from OU in June 2017. That hard work and persistence never wore out Snyder. Until now, at age 79.
“He took over one of
the most downtrodden programs that’s maybe ever been and built it into a respected opponent for everybody and a winner,” Stoops said. “Forever I’ll be grateful and thankful for the opportunities he gave me as a young coach.”
Thank you, Coach Snyder, says Stoops and every OU fan and every K-State loyalist and anyone who loves college football. Berry Tramel: Berry can be reached at 405-760-8080 or at btramel@oklahoman.com. He can be heard Monday through Friday from 4:40-5:20 p.m. on The Sports Animal radio network, including FM98.1. You can also view his personality page at newsok. com/berrytramel.