When Bill Snyder became Kansas State’s head football coach in 1988, he inherited the worst football program in Division I-A history. Kansas State was 299–509–41 in 93 years and was the only college football program to lose 500 games. It had recorded one win in its last 38 games, was also winless in 27 straight games—the longest drought in college football at the time—and home attendance averaged about 13,000. The football program had a trophy case with one inside of it—the second-place trophy from the 1982 Independence Bowl. Little could anybody predict that Snyder would soon engineer a total transformation in Manhattan, Kansas.
From his humble beginnings in St. Joseph, Missouri, Snyder rose to greatness, bringing K-State up from the ashes to a No. 1 ranking, six 11-win seasons in a span of seven years, and one Big 12 Championship. He still wasn’t finished. After a three-year retirement, Snyder returned to lead the Wildcats to another Big 12 title.
He accomplished the greatest turnaround in sports by inspiring young men through his visionary 16 Wildcat Goals for Success and through a relentless work ethic. Snyder put in 18-hour days, not eating until a late-night dinner—once the workday had been completed—and subsisting on 10 cups of coffee a day. To further increase his productivity, he even tried getting hypnotized so that he could live completely without sleep.
In 2015, he became just the fourth person in history to be inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame as an active coach. In this new memoir, Snyder reflects on a successful yet complicated life, detailing the grueling work weeks and the virtues he doubled down on during his final years as head coach, all the while battling throat cancer.
Readers will discover a multi-faceted portrait of one of college football’s greatest leaders, his triumphs and defeats, his greatness and his flaws, and his passion to lead a championship team—not once, but twice—while developing young men.
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