Kansas State’s Snyder Wins Coach of Year : Football: Big Eight poll lauds second-year coach for turnaround. Rival at No. 1 Colorado concurs.

Bill Snyder, who led Kansas State to more victories this year than they had the previous five seasons combined, was an easy winner over Colorado’s Bill McCartney for Associated Press Big Eight coach of the year.

Snyder, 5-6 in his second year at Kansas State, polled 10.5 votes from a panel of media observers. McCartney, whose Buffaloes finished No.1 and won the conference title a second straight year, got 3.5 votes. Kansas’ Glen Mason had one vote.

“We had the most talent,” McCartney said of Snyder. “He did the best job. I really feel that way.”

Coaches throughout the conference were raving about the way Kansas State played this year.

“I’ve seen them before when they were pretty good at Kansas State,” said Oklahoma State’s Pat Jones. “But I’ve never seen a Kansas State team play with such intensity. They were so obviously well-organized and well-coached. I think Bill and his staff have just done a marvelous job. I think he should be national coach of the year.”

Perhaps the most impressive thing about Kansas State’s season is that the 5-6 record was molded by essentially the same players who had just come off a 30-game winless streak.

“I appreciate people like Bill and Pat and the kind things they say,” Snyder said. “But I’m kind of humbled by this award because there are so many deserving people. It’s not just me. It’s the people all around us.