K-State's Snyder named AP Big 12 coach of the year
BY DAVE SKRETTA Associated Press
Wednesday, December 05, 2012
12/05/12 at 5:35 AM
Bill Snyder said he returned to Kansas State four years ago to "calm the waters."
Instead, he stirred up college football.
The 73-year-old coach, refreshed and rejuvenated after a brief retirement, has once again raised a downtrodden program to national prominence. The seventh-ranked Wildcats won only their second Big 12 title and the third conference championship in their 117-year history, and will play Oregon in the Fiesta Bowl next month.
His star quarterback, Collin Klein, is among three Heisman Trophy finalists, and several other players on a team whose only loss came at Baylor late in the season have futures in the NFL.
It's no surprise that Snyder was the unanimous choice as AP's Big 12 coach of the year.
"There's a lot of people who invest a lot of emotion, a lot of spirit, and probably who as much as anything genuinely care," Snyder said. "Certainly that embraces all of our players and all our staff and all the support people that we have in our program."
Snyder joined Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops as the only three-time winners of the award on Tuesday.
The award was voted on by 18 reporters who regularly cover the conference. The players of the year and All-Big 12 teams will be announced Wednesday.
Kansas State (11-1, 8-1) was predicted to finish this season in the middle of the Big 12, a league that featured three returning conference champions in Oklahoma State, West Virginia and TCU.
The turnaround from a five-win team in the final year of Ron Prince's tenure to a shot at the first 12-win season in school history with a Fiesta Bowl victory mirrors Snyder's initial turnaround, dubbed by many the "Miracle in Manhattan."
Kansas State had been winless the two seasons before his arrival in 1989, but slowly became one of the most gritty, consistent and well-coached programs in college football.
Original Print Headline: K-State's Snyder named Big 12 coach of the year
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