For the third time in his career, Kansas State head coach Bill Snyder has been selected as the Associated Press Big 12 Coach of the Year, the organization announced Tuesday. Snyder, the unanimous choice for this year’s award, became the second three-time honoree in conference history after earning the nod in 1998 and 2011.
In addition to his accolade from the AP, Snyder was also named a finalist for the Liberty Mutual Coach of the Year Award for the second-straight season. He is one of 10 finalists for this year’s award, which was announced this morning at the National Football Foundation (NFF) press conference in New York.
Predicted to finish sixth in the Big 12 prior to the season, the Wildcats tallied an 11-1 record, including an 8-1 mark in Big 12 play to capture the school’s third conference championship and first since 2003. Snyder guided Kansas State to its seventh 11-win season, but only the second 11-win regular season (1998).
Snyder, who is also a finalist for the Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year Award and a semifinalist for the Maxwell Coach of the Year Award, led K-State to a school-record six wins against ranked opponents in 2012, including its conference-championship clinching victory over No. 18 Texas on Saturday. Additionally, the Wildcats obtained their first-ever No. 1 ranking the BCS standings earlier this year.
Named the 32nd head football coach at K-State on November 30, 1988, and again as the 34th on November 24, 2008, Snyder has amassed a 170-84-1 (.669) record during his tenure with the Wildcats, including an 97-65-1 (.598) mark in Big 8/12 games. His 170 victories are the 11th-most among active FBS coaches and are more than triple the man in second place on K-State’s all-time coaching victories list.
Fan voting for the Liberty Mutual Coach of the Year is open at www.CoachOfTheYear.com and will continue through December 20. Fans’ votes account for 20 percent of a coach’s final score, which will also include votes cast by national college football media and College Hall of Fame players and coaches. The winner will be announced January 7, in South Florida before the BCS Championship Game.
No. 5 Kansas State faces fourth-ranked Oregon (11-1, 8-1 Pac-12) in the 2013 Tostitos Fiesta Bowl on January 3, in Glendale, Ariz. The game will kick off at 7:30 p.m. (CT) at University of Phoenix Stadium and will be televised by ESPN.
— KSU Sports Information —