Jan. 7, 2013

MANHATTAN, Kan. – Kansas State head coach Bill Snyder has been named one of five finalists for the 2012 Bobby Bowden National Collegiate Coach of The Year Award, the Over The Mountain Touchdown Club announced today.

Voting for the Bowden Award is done by the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association, and will begin after Monday’s BCS National Championship game.  Snyder is joined by Notre Dame’s Brian Kelly, Ohio State’s Urban Meyer, Alabama’s Nick Saban and Texas A&M’s Kevin Sumlin as finalists for the award.

Presentation of the award will take place in Birmingham, Alabama, at the Cahaba Grand Conference Center, March 3, 2013.  Bobby Bowden will present the award to the winner, along with honoring a Lifetime Achievement award winner.

Predicted to finish sixth in the Big 12 prior to the 2012 season, the Wildcats tallied an 11-2 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).

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 the Bobby Dodd National Coach of the Year, a finalist for the Liberty Mutual Coach of the Year and Bear Bryant Awards 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.

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 170-85-1 (.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.

The Bobby Bowden National Collegiate Coach Of The Year Award is given to those who have excelled on the football field while demonstrating perseverance, attitude, integrity, and determination. The same attributes that Bobby Bowden has exemplified throughout his coaching career and life.