I thought it might be appropriate to post this today. This is my farewell column to Coach Snyder that ran in the Nov. 16, 2005, edition of the Kansas State Collegian when I was the sports editor. Kind of funny to read through it again after all that has transpired since then, but the sentiment, I think, remains the same...
Dear coach Bill Snyder,
As I write this, a tear is making its way down my cheek, because I can't quite come to terms with the fact that after Saturday's game against Missouri, you will never roam the K-State sideline again.
I know I'm supposed to be an "unbiased" reporter, but not today. Today, I am a K-State fan. I am the K-State fan I was raised to be.
I can't even begin to say how hard it is to see you go. I don't think I'm ready to see another coach on that sideline, directing the program you built from nothingness.
Coach, what you have done for K-State — not just for the football team, but for the university that so many love and cherish — will never be forgotten.
You came in with a vision: that one day, K-State would have a football team its fans and alumni could be proud of.
Before you, K-State barely had a football team.
You envisioned a football program that stood for integrity, class, dedication, hard work, all while winning games, and lots of them.
Well coach, you won more than just games. You won the heart of every true, purple-bleeding Wildcat fan out there, and that will be what sticks with us the most.
More than the wins, the titles and the bowl games, we K-State fans will remember how you cared about every last one of us. And quite frankly coach, that means more than 1,000 Fiesta Bowls.
To the doubters who said it could never be done at K-State, enjoy knowing that you did the impossible.
You made winners out of losers, dreamers out of realists, and most importantly, you made believers out of nonbelievers.
At the press conference to introduce you as the K-State coach in 1988, when you said the opportunity exists at K-State for the greatest turnaround in college football history, you might have been the only one to believe those words.
I want to apologize for every last one of us who thought, "It simply can't be done."
We should have never doubted you, and those of us who are true fans have never doubted you since. Those who did were fools.
I hope you realize you've touched the lives of so many more people than the ones who have filled soon-to-be Bill Snyder Family Stadium each Saturday.
So often, the little things you did for people went unnoticed.
When former Wildcat defensive coordinator Phil Bennett's wife, Nancy, was struck by lightning, you were there to offer your support and love.
When former K-State running back Darren Sproles' mother died from cancer, you offered your time and a shoulder to lean on.
When a young K-State fan approached you at a K-State basketball game and asked you for an autograph, and you obliged him by signing his photo and talking with him for several minutes afterward, you did more than sign a piece of paper; you filled his heart with joy.
That young boy was me, and quite frankly coach, you are my role model.
At a recent press conference, you spoke about how young people today don't have very many role models in this day and age.
Well coach, every little Wildcat fan, every kid who paints a Powercat on his face every Saturday, every "youngster" who played for you these past 17 years had at least one role model they could depend on: you.
You have given us 17 amazing, inspiring, incredible years at K-State, and on behalf of every K-State fan out there, I want to thank you from the very bottom of our hearts.
There will never be another like you, coach.
K-State was never the same once you arrived, and K-State will never be the same after you're gone.
Thanks Bill. For everything.
Forever Snyder.
That last tear was for you, coach.
Dear coach Bill Snyder,
As I write this, a tear is making its way down my cheek, because I can't quite come to terms with the fact that after Saturday's game against Missouri, you will never roam the K-State sideline again.
I know I'm supposed to be an "unbiased" reporter, but not today. Today, I am a K-State fan. I am the K-State fan I was raised to be.
I can't even begin to say how hard it is to see you go. I don't think I'm ready to see another coach on that sideline, directing the program you built from nothingness.
Coach, what you have done for K-State — not just for the football team, but for the university that so many love and cherish — will never be forgotten.
You came in with a vision: that one day, K-State would have a football team its fans and alumni could be proud of.
Before you, K-State barely had a football team.
You envisioned a football program that stood for integrity, class, dedication, hard work, all while winning games, and lots of them.
Well coach, you won more than just games. You won the heart of every true, purple-bleeding Wildcat fan out there, and that will be what sticks with us the most.
More than the wins, the titles and the bowl games, we K-State fans will remember how you cared about every last one of us. And quite frankly coach, that means more than 1,000 Fiesta Bowls.
To the doubters who said it could never be done at K-State, enjoy knowing that you did the impossible.
You made winners out of losers, dreamers out of realists, and most importantly, you made believers out of nonbelievers.
At the press conference to introduce you as the K-State coach in 1988, when you said the opportunity exists at K-State for the greatest turnaround in college football history, you might have been the only one to believe those words.
I want to apologize for every last one of us who thought, "It simply can't be done."
We should have never doubted you, and those of us who are true fans have never doubted you since. Those who did were fools.
I hope you realize you've touched the lives of so many more people than the ones who have filled soon-to-be Bill Snyder Family Stadium each Saturday.
So often, the little things you did for people went unnoticed.
When former Wildcat defensive coordinator Phil Bennett's wife, Nancy, was struck by lightning, you were there to offer your support and love.
When former K-State running back Darren Sproles' mother died from cancer, you offered your time and a shoulder to lean on.
When a young K-State fan approached you at a K-State basketball game and asked you for an autograph, and you obliged him by signing his photo and talking with him for several minutes afterward, you did more than sign a piece of paper; you filled his heart with joy.
That young boy was me, and quite frankly coach, you are my role model.
At a recent press conference, you spoke about how young people today don't have very many role models in this day and age.
Well coach, every little Wildcat fan, every kid who paints a Powercat on his face every Saturday, every "youngster" who played for you these past 17 years had at least one role model they could depend on: you.
You have given us 17 amazing, inspiring, incredible years at K-State, and on behalf of every K-State fan out there, I want to thank you from the very bottom of our hearts.
There will never be another like you, coach.
K-State was never the same once you arrived, and K-State will never be the same after you're gone.
Thanks Bill. For everything.
Forever Snyder.
That last tear was for you, coach.
