K-State Football needs to think about life after Bill Snyder

K-State football got surprising news that head coach Bill Snyder would be returning to coach the team in 2018. The Wildcats still need to prepare for the future.

The 2017 season was supposed to be when the K-State football team took that jump into being a true contender for the College Football Playoffs. They were hot near the end of 2016 and fans were hoping that would carry over into a 2017 season that was being hyped up big time.

While there was never any official word, speculation among fans was that the 2017 season would be Bill Snyder’s final season coaching the Kansas State Wildcats. Instead, however, Snyder will be returning to the sidelines in 2018.

The Wildcats had an exciting end to their season, upsetting Oklahoma State on the road and beating Iowa State in the final seconds of the game to move to 7-5 on the year. K-State made it to the Cactus Bowl, where they’ll be squaring off against UCLA later this month.

Kansas State fans are obviously excited about Snyder coming back, but eventually, the team is going to have to move on from him. It’s understandable why fans would be afraid of letting go, as the last time Snyder left, Manhattan ushered in the “Ron Prince Era” and that did not go according to plan at all.

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Once Snyder leaves, there are going to hardships, yes. That happens with most coaching transitions. If Snyder really wants his son (Sean Snyder) to be the next head coach, then perhaps him returning next year is a plan to get Sean into the driver’s seat.

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If the Wildcats get off to a hot start, maybe Bill steps down and lets Sean run things to show that he’s capable of coaching on the big stage. The biggest question mark surrounding Sean Snyder has been that he just doesn’t seem ready to take on that role yet.

Even with a previous deal in place for another coach, the Wildcats still don’t have a backup plan after Bill Snyder. Even though he’s returning next season, he can’t be the Kansas State football head coach forever. Eventually a new era must be ushered in and while it probably won’t go as badly as Ron Prince’s did, it won’t be as successful as Snyder’s has been. At least not right away.

Snyder has done a lot for Kansas State and for Manhattan, that much is true. It’s time for the program to strongly consider looking for the next head coach candidate though and understand that the Bill Snyder era is coming to a close… even if he will be patrolling the sidelines again in 2018.