Bill Snyder says he’ll wait until after season to decide coaching future at Kansas State

Will Kansas State football coach Bill Snyder return next year? Will he retire at the end of this season?

The potential answers to those questions have been the subject of much debate among K-State football fans, but Snyder said Monday he is in no hurry to make a decision.

“I’ve put those things off until the end of the season so that I truly can stay focused,” Snyder said on the weekly Big 12 football coaches’ teleconference. “That is very time consuming to make those kind of decisions.

“For me, there’s a lot of people that are involved in that — my family, certainly my health and the players in the program, and how responsive they are. There’s a number of things to process and people to visit with, along with the administration. So I’ve put those things off until the end of the season when I can do due diligence to it.”

When asked about the possibility of retirement earlier this season, Snyder said K-State’s record would not influence his decision. As long as he thought he could continue to make a positive impact at K-State and help his players, he said he would continue coaching.

Snyder, 76, is nearing the end of his 24th season as K-State’s coach. He has a record of 192-100-1. He will be inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame at a ceremony next week in New York. He was elected to the hall in January. He briefly retired after the 2005 season, but returned after a three-year hiatus. He has coached the Wildcats to 55 victories since 2009.

He has said he hopes his son, Sean, will follow him as head coach whenever he decides to retire. But it is unclear how much input he will have in that decision, which will be made by athletic director John Currie.

Sean is currently the team’s associate head coach and special teams coordinator.

The Wildcats, 5-6 overall and 2-6 in the Big 12, have won two games in a row and will push for bowl eligibility on Saturday against West Virginia.

Snyder said coaching through a six-game losing streak this season was difficult, but he is proud of the way his team fought back against Iowa State and Kansas.

“I’ve never been through a season at Kansas State like this,” he said. “It’s been difficult, not just for me but for our staff, for our fans, for our players and people around the program. It’s been hard on everybody, but the positive thing is ... I’ve been awfully proud of the young people in our program, because they’ve responded quite well.”

This story was originally published November 30, 2015 at 2:25 PM with the headline "Bill Snyder says he’ll wait until after season to decide coaching future at Kansas State."