What’s it like watching K-State football as a retired coach? Bill Snyder says it’s fun
You will still find Bill Snyder inside the football stadium that bears his name whenever Kansas State plays at home in the fall, but you might not recognize his gameday demeanor now that he is no longer coaching the Wildcats.
These days, Snyder watches K-State play from a suite high above the field surrounded by family and friends rather than players and coaches. He wears a suit instead of a windbreaker. He sometimes drinks wine instead of coffee or water.
After 27 years of living and dying by the result of every play as the most successful coach in K-State history, Saturdays are now a time for him to kick back and relax.
“I’m probably a different kind of fan,” Snyder said. “I watch the game, but I don’t I don’t assess anything. I just watch as an enjoyable experience and I don’t critique anything. I don’t try to call my own plays up there. I have a lot of guests, so when it’s a full box I’m spending more time talking with people than I am watching the game. It’s an enjoyable time. I don’t get too caught up in what’s happening on the field.”
Three years have passed since Snyder coached his last game in Manhattan following a legendary run at K-State that included 215 victories, 19 bowl games and two conference championships.
Many wondered how he would adjust to retired life after dedicating his professional career to building the Wildcats into a consistent winner, not once but twice. But he seems to be embracing things just fine. He is eating more than he used to and now finds himself stealing bacon off his wife’s breakfast plate in the mornings instead of eating just one meal each night. He sleeps better now, too.
Snyder says his days are “extremely busy” and there is always something to do with a grand total of 29 children, grand children and great grand children in his family. He also makes time for speaking engagements and recently co-authored a book about his coaching career with longtime K-State sports writer D. Scott Fritchen.
But football is no longer a priority. That’s why you won’t find Snyder dropping by Chris Klieman’s office with a notebook full of advice.
“I told Chris at the very beginning that I was going to stay out of his way,” Snyder said. “I didn’t want to be a detriment. If he ever wants to visit I am certainly available.”
Perhaps Snyder meant it when he said “I don’t wake up thinking, ‘Boy do I miss football,’” last year.
Still, he wasn’t sure things would be going this smoothly when he reluctantly decided to retire following a losing season in 2018. Remember, Snyder was diagnosed with throat cancer late in 2016 and decided to continue working as he received treatment mostly because he feared what might happen to him without football.
In his book, he said he considered retirement several times before he briefly called it quits in 2005. But he seemed bound and determined to keep coaching during his second stint with the Wildcats.
He thinks his job saved him.
“It was just hard knowing that your life was in the balance,” Snyder said. “But I worked out a rehab plan that allowed me to stay close to home for my treatments so I could continue to coach. I did that because the last thing I wanted to do was sit around and worry about what was going to happen. I just wanted to stay active and get other things on my mind. There were still moments, but by continually coaching I was able to keep cancer off my mind. I think that helped me. I truly do.”
Avoiding bad thoughts was always a challenge for Snyder as a coach.
Several times in his book, he spent entire pages detailing the pain of his worst losses with K-State but only spent a few sentences talking about the joy of his biggest victories. He says it took “an awful long time” for him to get over the Wildcats’ loss to Texas A&M in the 1998 Big 12 championship game.
“All coaches, I think, remember their losses more readily than they do their victories,” Snyder said.
But he dedicated a few minutes during a recent interview to recall some of his favorite games. His first victory at K-State (a 20-17 win over North Texas in 1989) came to mind.
“The reason that one stood out in my mind for so long was the response of the student-athletes and the fan base,” Snyder said. “There weren’t many people there, but they celebrated like we had won a national championship.”
He also remembers K-State downing Nebraska for the first time in decades in 1998. He framed a picture of fans storming the field after that game was over and still looks at it from time to time ... in awe.
Snyder didn’t like to reflect on moments like that when he was a coach. He can appreciate them more now that he is retired.
“There’s virtually 100 yards sideline to sideline of our fan base all in one shot,” Snyder said. “Seeing how much certain things meant to the people of Kansas State and seeing their joy was very pleasing to me.”
This story was originally published November 30, 2021 at 5:00 AM with the headline "What’s it like watching K-State football as a retired coach? Bill Snyder says it’s fun."