For the second straight year, Kansas State head coach Bill Snyder has been named a finalist for the Marathon Oil Corporation Paul “Bear” Bryant Coach of the Year Award, the American Heart Association announced today.
Joining Snyder as 2012 Coach of the Year finalists are James Franklin, Vanderbilt; Urban Meyer, Ohio State; Bill O’Brien, Penn State; David Shaw, Stanford and Kevin Sumlin, Texas A&M.
The 27th annual event slated to take place on Thursday, January 17, in Houston, Texas, will bring together the nation’s top performing college coaches and sports enthusiasts to raise funds for heart disease in the name of Paul “Bear” Bryant.
In addition being named the 2012 Big 12 Coach of the Year by both the Associated Press and his fellow coaches, Snyder was also named a finalist for the Liberty Mutual Coach of the Year Award for the second straight season as well as being a finalist for the Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year Award and a semifinalist for the Maxwell Coach of the Year Award.
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 led K-State to a school-record six wins against ranked opponents in 2012, including its conference-championship clinching victory over No. 18 Texas. 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.
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 —