With Bill Snyder likely retiring, who are five candidates that could replace the Kansas State football legend in Manhattan for 2019?
With the looming announcement of Bill Snyder’s second retirement, Kansas State is looking for a new coach for the first time since 2005. That coaching search ended with the hiring of then-Virginia offensive coordinator Ron Prince, who had served as Al Groh’s offensive coordinator for three years and offensive line coach for five years. It appeared that the Wildcats had hired what they hoped to be another Bill Snyder.
Instead the Ron Prince era turned out to be anything but as the Wildcats accumulated a mediocre 17-20 record and only one bowl appearance in Prince’s three years as head coach in Manhattan. Prince was fired following the 2008 season. Less than a month after his firing, it was announced Bill Snyder would return to the sidelines in Manhattan. In his second tenure as head coach, Snyder went 79-49 with a Big 12 Championship in 2012.
Almost no one has ever matched, and will likely never match what Snyder did at Kansas State, taking the worst football program in America in his first season in 1989 and making them contenders for, not only conference championships but for national championships. Whoever is the next head coach for the Wildcats has enormous shoes to fill. It may not be a huge list, but there are some intriguing candidates that could be thrown around.