USC expected to hire longtime K-State assistant Sean Snyder as special-teams coach
After being linked to openings at Nebraska and Texas, longtime Kansas State assistant football coach Sean Snyder has decided to take a job with a different high-profile college football program.
The Southern California Trojans are expected to hire Snyder as their new special-teams coordinator, according to a source with knowledge of the move.
Snyder will depart Manhattan after a 26-year run with the Wildcats in which he helped the football team in several roles ranging from director of football operations to special-teams coordinator and associate head coach.
The Manhattan Mercury first reported the news on Thursday.
Snyder spent last season working for K-State as a senior special-teams analyst under current head coach Chris Klieman.
He is the son of former coach Bill Snyder, who guided the Wildcats to 215 victories, 19 bowl games and two Big 12 championships before retiring following the conclusion of the 2018 football season.
A former All-American punter for the Wildcats, Sean Snyder worked under his father as a special-teams coordinator for many years and regularly oversaw one of the nation’s best units. K-State won several games thanks to big plays on special teams. K-State ranked No. 1 nationally in special-teams efficiency in 2017.
But the Wildcats slipped on special teams in 2018. Sean Snyder switched to an analyst role after his father retired and continued to help the Wildcats away from the field last season.
He had a desire to return to an on-field coaching role, and interviewed for several openings this winter, according to a source.
Sean Snyder will replace John Baxter at USC under head coach Clay Helton. Special teams was not a strong suit for the Trojans last season, and Baxter was dismissed a day after the team lost to Iowa in the Holiday Bowl.
The Snyder family has a connection to USC. Bill Snyder worked as a graduate assistant for the Trojans in 1966 under then coach John McKay, whom Snyder considered a mentor as he rose up the coaching profession.
Sean Snyder’s salary was $200,000 as K-State’s senior special-teams analyst, according to a copy of his contract. It is unknown what he will earn at USC.
This story was originally published February 6, 2020 at 6:30 PM with the headline "USC expected to hire longtime K-State assistant Sean Snyder as special-teams coach."