By J.T. Keith
As students sit in class, friendships are bonded and dreams are forged. No one knows what each student’s potential is and what reality will become of his dreams.
In 1965, a young graduate assistant named William Snyder was working on a master’s degree from Eastern New Mexico University. Snyder later would earn a place in the pantheons of the football coaching greats alongside Bear Bryant, Joe Paterno, Woody Hayes, Knute Rockne, and Bobby Bowden.
Kansas State hired Snyder in 1989 to turn around the worst program in Division I football. Snyder, who has been named National Coach of the Year five times, transformed his team into consistent national-title contenders. He has 179 victories in 22 years on the sidelines, a total that ranks him ninth all-time for Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) coaches.
This summer, Chase Sports Editor J.T. Keith caught up with Snyder in his office and asked about his time at ENMU.
Chase: What are your thoughts on your time spent at ENMU?
Snyder: I enjoyed my time at Eastern New Mexico University. Dr. Joe Dixon was the Director of Physical Education at the time and gave me the opportunity to serve in that department as a grad assistant. I did not have anything to do with the football program. I taught some classes there. I enjoyed my time immensely at ENMU. I was around good people. One of my roommates was Gene Murphy. He played for the golf team and was very successful. It was an enjoyable time for me to come to ENMU, and I was fortunate to come here and get my Master’s degree in a year’s period of time.
Chase: What made you decide to come to ENMU to get your degree?
Snyder: The athletic director and football coach at William Jewel College, where I had received my bachelor’s degree, was a really good friend with Dr. Joe Dixon, and he encouraged me to come to Eastern, to get my master’s. He and Joe Dixon made the arrangements for me to get some assistance and financial aid. I wasn’t aware of ENMU at the time, but Dr. Norris Patterson recommended it and opened the doors for me. I have great admiration for him and the people at ENMU who helped me on my way.
Chase: What advice would you give any coach trying to break into college coaching?
Snyder: My recommendations would be to be who you are, to do what you believe is the right thing to do for the kids in your program, and to care about them and how they play the game. Trust what you believe in, and all things will work out.
Chase: Do you see a big difference in athletes today versus when you were in school in 1962?
Snyder: There certainly is as far as a divide in our society is concerned about young people and people from my generation. However, as I’ve share with our players, if they genuinely care and are willing to work hard, and they believe in discipline, and if they are responsible young people, then there will be no divide. Those are the same things that I believe in. I think young people in this day and age want to succeed in life, not just football possesses those particular values. That may not touch every youngster in the country, but I think those that invest themselves in athletics, certainly if they don’t have those traits when they start in an athletic program, will eventually develop those traits to become successful in life. That’s the value of interscholastic or intercollegiate athletics, football in particular. Those values and many more values are almost mandatory to have success in any of those venues; consequently, it assists them greatly in life. Yes, there is a difference in the modern-day athlete and when I played back in 1962, but, by the same token, I think the athletes of today do not learn those lessons until later in life.