MANHATTAN — Kansas State head football coach Bill Snyder announced Friday that his oldest son – former All-American punter and long-time staff member Sean Snyder – will take on a full-time coaching role and coordinate the Wildcats’ special teams units as associate head coach and director of football operations.
The former consensus All-American will enter his 17th year as a member of the Kansas State staff and his first as a full-time assistant coach. Snyder will also continue his role as director of football operations, a position he has held the past 15 years with the Wildcats.
“I am truly excited to have Sean on the field with us as our special teams coordinator and specialists coach,” Bill Snyder said. “He has been invaluable to our football program, our athletics department and our university. Sean has served this program with great integrity, competency, diligent hard work, tremendous insight and sincere loyalty for the past 20 years.”
Snyder received his start as a part-time assistant coach with the Wildcats in 1994 and served in that capacity until 1996, when he began focusing his efforts on the administrative side of the program as the director of football operations.
In 1999, Snyder was promoted to assistant athletics director for football operations. He was named as an associate athletics director in 2001 and senior associate Athletics director in 2010.
A member of Kansas State’s inaugural Ring of Honor Class in 2002, Snyder was one of the program’s most prolific punters during his playing days at K-State from 1991-92.
As a senior, Snyder earned first-team All-America honors from The Associated Press, Kodak and Athlon’s after averaging a school-record 44.7 yards per punt. In 1991, he was tapped as the Big Eight Defensive Newcomer of the Year after averaging 40.5 yards in his junior season.
A first team All-Big Eight selection in 1992 after earning honorable-mention honors in 1991, Snyder was also selected to play in the 1992 Blue-Gray Game.
K-State’s special-teams MVP in 1991 and 1992, Snyder held K-State’s record for punting average in a career (43.0) before having it broken by James Garcia in 1998, while his 3,572 punting yardage in 1992 still remains a school record.
Following his collegiate career, Snyder signed a free agent contract with the Phoenix (now Arizona) Cardinals in 1993 and the following year with the San Diego Chargers.
Sean earned his bachelor’s degree from K-State in money and banking in 1994. Married to the former Wanda Boyett, the couple has three children, daughter Katherine, and sons Tate and Matthew, and one grandchild, D.J. Tate is a redshirt freshman linebacker for K-State.